Short Essay 1 AFR303

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Collin County Community College District *

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303

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History

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by BarristerTeam8046

Beauvoir-Reategui 1 Myah Beauvoir-Reategui Accommodation and Resistance The economic and legal guidelines instilled within institutions of slavery laid the groundwork for the dominance of Black enslaved people by European and Euro-descended colonists in the United States. The system instilled not only created an environment that politically, legally, culturally, and physically dominated the Blacks living in the United States, but also led those who were enslaved to live in a survival mode, as they navigated the horrors and dehumanization of slavery through accommodation, resistance, and syncretism. What were the conditions under which Black enslaved culture emerged? As stated in the crash course video, There was a small settlement of people who migrated to the state of Virginia, in the city of Jamestown in 1619. This was the first settlement of slaveholders in the US. The enslaved people were subjected to inhumane living circumstances, such as overcrowded living spaces, limited food supply, and poor healthcare. Through experiencing this collectively, this made them realize that their experiences were shared, generated a sense of community amongst them. In lecture, the creation of identity and relationships were discussed. The stripping of these slaves from their families, and place of comfort to a new place across the world where they were being treated as less than human impacted their idea of the self and their identities. They now all have a collective idea of their relationship between their slave holders as people who were above them, and themselves as people below them. They were not even sure of who they were anymore, and this was

Beauvoir-Reategui 2 something they all had in common. Although back in the homeland, they may have been part of different tribes, spoke different languages, and had very different cultures, the one thing that they had in common was that they were all brought here to work, and that politically, and legally they were all seen as incompetent, and were natally alienated. The fact that they all shared this created union. In the lectures, the Constitution was also mentioned. The Constitution made slavery and their treatment legal. This prevented the African Americans to even be seen as a full human legally, also known as general dishonor, as mentioned in lecture. This further justified the unjust treatment that they were receiving and forced them to become victims of the abuse they were receiving. In attempts to strip them of their identities, the slaveholders made continuous attempts to repress enslaved people's cultural practices, languages, and customs. The enslaved resisted against this in various ways, including preserving African cultural aspects, developing new cultural expressions, and secretly practicing traditional practices. Enslaved people used their perseverance, shared experiences, and cultural history to forge a distinct and lasting cultural identity that continues to impact African American culture today. Which were the cultural materials that acted as the sources of this new Black enslaved culture and how were they combined? In terms of the cultural materials that acted as the sources of this new Black enslaved culture, it was influenced by both the already existing African culture, but also from the Europeans. This is known as syncretism, the merging of different cultures, religions, and ideologies. As stated in the lectures and in the readings, Africa is a very big continent, and the

Beauvoir-Reategui 3 people of this nation were distinguished by their tribes and languages spoken. As these slaves were taken from various parts around Africa and all brought to this new land where not many spoke their language, they were forced to all speak the language of their captivator, which in this case was English. This led to the creation of various types of dialects, known as creoles, dialects unique amongst the captivated. Additionally, religion played a big role in the formation of their unique culture. Christianity was introduced to those who were enslaved by the Europeans, their slaveowners. Though this otherwise Eurocentric religion was integrated amongst the African Americans, they still retained their culture by having their own specific spirituality and form of worship. An important quotation from Faola states “Whether in Cuba, Haiti, or in the United States, mobilization for protest and change has relied on ethnicity, cultural identies, and religion to resist hegemonic power” (Faola, p.g. 1). Though there was a strong desired influence that their slaveowners wanted to have on the culture and ideologies on the African Americans, there was still a strong prominence that they preserved on what felt like home to them. Their traditional dances and music were what united them and brought them together. This eventually led to the formation of multiple types of musical genres like gospel, blues, hip-hop, and jazz. Additionally, the enslaved craftsmen implemented African design and included it in the making of goods like cremains, woodcarvings, and weaving baskets. These artworks are still preserved and helped to develop a unique visual culture for Black enslaved people. Finally, the fod cooked had a great impact on their culture. Their richness in culinarians led to the making of various dishes like BBQ, gumbo, and jambalaya.

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