Essay On African American Culture

Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.

Throughout American history, African Americans fought to establish their own culture. Even though they were silenced by white laws and stereotypes, African Americans created their own distinct culture, to a certain extent from 1800 to 1860. By mixing their African American traditions and Christian ideas, they formed a religion, their own version of Christianity. African American rebellions, though small and infrequent, were used to express their beliefs on slavery and add to their distinct culture. And, with the constant fear of being split up by being sold, African American families managed to form within plantations through marriages and children. Despite

Culture is not a fixed phenomenon, nor is it the same in all places or to all people. It is relative to time, place, and particular people. Learning about other people can help us to understand ourselves and to be better world citizens.

African American Studies is a very complex subject. To confuse African American studies with black history is a common occurrence. African American studies is much deeper and more profound than just Black history alone. There are many unanswered and unasked questions among the Black American culture which causes confusion and misunderstanding in modern day society. In unit one there were many themes, concepts, and significant issues in the discipline of Africana studies. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Vivian V. Gordan touched on many concerns.

The 20th Century presented its own problems and temporary solutions for Blacks. Those years impacted all Blacks, male and female, northerner and southerner, soldier and civilian. Migration, military service, racial violence, and political protest combined to make the 20th century one of the most dynamic periods of the Black experience. Black people contested the boundaries of American democracy, demanded their rights as American citizens, and asserted their very humanity in ways both subtle and dramatic. Let's walk through this century together as we take it one episode at a time.

“Cooning” was a TV show or Film usually they act like idiot behavior that misrepresents African American culture. I think idiot because that shows a deliberate act. Many people called “coons.” Yes, I saw some examples today’s culture some white people still discriminate black people. Some white people were enjoying it, and that seems to some people they insulted African- American behaves. African-American got angry. It was not fair at all that behavior. All are good examples.

As Americans, we are privileged with diverse experiences. With this comes a perceived understanding of many cultures and their influences but in fact full cultural literacy is impossible to achieve.

There are very many different groups of culture in America; one in particular that represents about 15% of the general population in America is African American culture (Center Of Disease Control, 2002). The African American culture was derived from the country Africa. The African people have been in and out of slavery from many different countries since the beginning of time. The English were not the first to enslave the group of people, but they were the last. When the Africans came over to the Americas in the early 1600’s, they were forced to give up many of their traditions and adapt to whatever their masters gave them to learn from although some of their native culture and history was hidden in their spirituals. When coming over to the

The American culture is define to everyone in their own way. Everyone grows up differently in a particular community that shares the same languages, values, rules, and customs. The American Culture on that is consider to be a “melting pot”, because of all the different cultures that reside inside of it making it so diverse. Race in this country has never been a great topic throughout history. African Americans play a huge role into defining what our culture is as a whole, as well as being a part of racism for the past 250 years.

Actually, Africans contributed to the construction of the first church in Jamestown, Virginia in 1647 among many other people. Africans were treated better before the first African slaves arrived in 1619. African slaves could marry through their church, they could practice the settler’s religion during earlier years of the sixteen hundred. However, the African slaves were limited after servitude was becoming the social norms of society. Despite the restrictions African slaves faced on a daily basis, slaves were able to continue to practice their religious beliefs from their place of origin. Furthermore, African American were able to adapt parts of the Christian faith with their own personal practice of religion that was also contributed to their political stance of slavery overall.

The African American culture was formed after slavery. According to hernandezslave.weebly.com, (2017), “ African American culture was a blend of African and Western practices.” The blending of the African and Western practices created an entirely new and unique culture considered the African American culture. Some of the factors that contributed to this is their ways of music and their beliefs. Most of the slaves couldn’t read or write so, they compensated with other forms of communication including storytelling and music.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

African-American culture is unique due to their miserable history of slavery that was generated within United States and is related to the history of this nation. Most historians agree that African people arrived in the colonial area, called New World, which is now the United States in the seventeenth century. They came here with British and Dutch settlers through a system of involuntary servitude (Chandler, 2017, p.160). In the early colonial period, African slaves officially enjoyed equal rights with white indentured servants. However, within two or three generations, the situation drastically changed. The slave trade developed; imported African slaves became popular in several colonies with the principle that slaves were properties. Black people at that time were in a position from which they could not escape and their children were born in slavery.

Scholars have dedicated their time and attention to furthering the discipline of African American Studies and can define the field with many different definitions. Through looking at the origins and development in the study we can see how it became a legitimate academic field. As we study the writings of the African American intellect, it will fully explain the importance of the discipline. Their work will justify the study of cultural and historical experiences of Africans living in Africa or the African Diaspora. When examining the scholar’s arguments we can develop our own intellectually informed rationalization of the field of African American Studies.

African American literature is the body of work produced in the United States by writers of African descent. This particular genre traces back to the works from the late eighteenth century by writers such as Phillis Wheatley to later reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and thus continuing today with authors such as Colson Whitehead and Maya Angelou. Among the themes and issues explored within African American literature are the roles of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and equality. African American writing has also tended to incorporate oral forms such as spirituals, gospel music, jazz, and rap. Dating back to the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a creative dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in culture and social insight. These pieces offer illuminating assessments of American identities as well as its history. Since the time of early slavery African American literature has been overlooked within the literature criticism. This essay thrives to show that within the English profession African American literature does belong alongside the great works such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and poetry as A Road less taken by Robert Frost. I will dive deep into history to not only investigate what critics think about African American literature, but why is it not held to a higher standard just as American