African American Culture: Shaping America And Bearing The Link To Africa

Black people have impacted and shaped the communities, countries, and lives of people around them. African Americans have come to this country forcefully, being removed from their homelands in West Africa and made as slaves. Putting forth systems that will continue to oppress and keep black people in these positions. Continental Africans living in their countries but continue to experience the lasting of effects of colonialism. The history and perspective of black people in the United States provides one of the most eye-opening lenses to what our current climate and culture is like. The Black Diaspora is the mass dispersion of the people of Africa from the 1500’s to the 1800’s and the Transatlantic Slave Trades. Having took millions of Africans to Central and Western Africa to all kinds of regions and places in the Caribbean’s and Americas.

Despite all this black people have continued to shape the American culture and its effects are global. African Americans have influenced and shaped music, foods, language, movies, dance, politics, institutions, literature, art, fashion, and aesthetics. The impact black people have is revolutionary. America is the greatest exporter of cultural capital in the world. The American Industries export movies, music, and so much more and these medias unfortunately become the dominant narrative and depiction of what people of color, in this case, specifically, African Americans and blacks, to be lazy, shiftless, gangsters, thugs, hoochies, and the list of stereotypes can go on. This is a huge issue because this causes not just other black people in the diaspora but people of color in other countries to internalize these negatively portraying stereotypes of what African Americans, Blacks, and other people of color to be like. This leads to mistreatment of people and condescending behaviors based on the media, which can evolve into larger issues.

Black people in America and in many western countries are viewed as one big group, giving blackness a rather broad definition. It is a racial category having begun with the forceful removal of Africans to the Western Hemisphere. Being black, Asian, or white, has no real value because there is no gene for any of those identities. Meaning someone from Ethiopia can have more genetic disparities than a person from Nigeria or of the same racial group. Michelle M. Wright explains in her book Becoming Black, “Despite there being no biological basis for any sort of racial categories… Blacks in the west have had their history shaped by the very concrete effects of the Western racism”. In spite of all this, black people in America are not viewed for their ethnicities. Africans, African Americans, and Caribbean’s are very different in terms of their individual cultures, how they have come to identify themselves and how this effects the rift between them. All these shapes the black experience in America. Looking deeper into these differences and the personal experiences of people on all sides.

Having already briefly discussed the culture of African Americans, it is still complex and rich with history. African American artistry and creativity came from the deep expression of their black ancestors who had struggled, endured, fought, longed, and achieved from being forcefully removed from Africa into the Americas. Having created and influenced jazz music, hip hop, dances, style, and lingo it had shaped and made a lasting impact on American popular culture. An example of something that has impacted the current culture of African Americans today is soul music. Music in the 1960’s and 1970’s is recognized for how it impacted expression and the social and political change for all Americans. Soul music however encouraged black pride and unity; this led to reforming their view on things such as their natural hair emphasizing their African roots, their style of fashion, and it inspired individuality. Within these lyrics’ singers brought awareness to socio-economical issues affecting their communities and actively sought out solutions for change. One singer recognized for this is James Brown, who is referred to as the “The Godfather of Soul”. He is known for his social activism in his music such as “Black and Proud” using his music to help destroy the racial segregation in the 1960’s and advocating for civil rights organizations. This paved a path for accepting black music in its pure form.

The Black Power Movement played a large role for it being the approach taken for the black revolution during the Civil Rights Movement. In the Journal of Popular Culture, it stated, “The rise of the Black Power Movement represented the first nationally unified group efforts by blacks to directly counteract these and other forms of discrimination. ‘As black people became more immersed in social concerns and developed greater political activism, noticeable changes began to occur in their music’. The African American culture is so important because it has shaped America; American culture is African American culture. The structure of black families has also changed since those times. Society affected the values through generations in ways such as growing independence and self-governed women, shifting gender roles in both home and workplaces, and generally a liberal outlook on children born out of wedlock and having single parents leading the household. This however is not the only thing that has impacted the black families. There are systems that were put in place that have destroyed black communities; leaving them stuck, unable to grow and develop (Franklin 10). A few reasons stated by Professor Franklin, a scholar on the African-American family, are, “…five historical factors include slavery, the northern migration that resulted in the loss of communal institutions, AFDC policies, decreasing job opportunities for lower-class black men, and social isolation in neighborhoods of high poverty concentration”. However, middle class black families have the ability to strengthen and provide a healthy environment for the next generation because of the social and economical resources available.

Africans in American came to this country with their own culture and traditions. Depending on what country and region they are migrating from will vary these traditions. Every country containing a rich history, unique sound and language, culture, and style. However, Africans alike seem to have a similar perspective and set of values living in America. Focusing on mostly east Africans, this encompasses twenty-one countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, North Sudan, South Sudan, and Eritrea. Often times some of these countries overlap with other regions of Africa. There is a strong connection between colonialism and Africa today. Many of these communities are still reeling from the affects. European colonialism much like colonialism in Africa is very similar to European colonialism in the Americas; colonizers wanting to exploit natural resources and the free labor. It also yielded similar results. This shows that continental Africans did in fact not have a seamless experience of culture. Along with them came missionaries. They spread mainly Christianity and Catholicism; Islam was also spread through Africa. “…Christian missionary penetration had begun in the 1870s and missionaries established strong lobbies to advocate new political arrangements that would further commerce with Europe…”. This shaped the current culture and values of continental Africans. Africans are very family oriented and value their tradition along with their history. Education is a huge belief. Having interviewed a women in her late 40’s who had grown up in Sudan and immigrated to the United States in her 20’s about how your people value education she said, “Pursuing a higher education and getting a degree and become a doctor, or lawyer, or professor is the respect. It is what the people value. This is success, but if you become successful without the degree you are still respected but people talk. They say you might have earned this money the wrong way”. African culture allows for a different perspective for immigrants who have come to America.

Identity is important to see how we view and perceive ourselves. It shows us what we believe defines us, the characteristics that shape us, and how the world may look at us. Our identities can have heavy consequences on an individual. Social identity can be composed of ethnic, racial, or religious identities. Black people in America have been treated as if they were both an ethnic and racial group with no interracial differences, while White Americans look closer into the ethnic differences within the white racial group.

There is a stark contrast between the new and old generation of people. The way they perceive, approach, and handle situations is very clear. The rift that occurs between Africans and African Americans is real. There are many reasons for them existing, some which have already been mentioned. Africans have had the opportunity to trace back to their country of origin and have a physical connection to Africa. To have a community in America and in their home country regardless of generation. Continental African’s motivations for coming to America are usually centered around education, economic prosperity and better lifestyle, escaping terrible conditions, and for opportunity. Continental Africans do not necessary assimilate all the way to American society. They have a need for cultural preservation, and they come to America with an agenda; to do well and take advantage of what the country had to offer, but also preserve their heritage. Preservation is important because they are no longer connected to that land physically, which is by choice, and that might play a role in their condensation.