African American Culture Analysis

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.

In this paper I discuss the African-American culture in regards to values, norms and beliefs.

Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.

“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.

Africans have, since the early settlement of America, has had a great influence in the nation’s growth. These contributions to the United States from enslaved Africans have been greatly portrayed in American culture. Varying from cuisine, to song and dance are not only portrayed today but it has a deep-rooted impact throughout the United States. During the middle passage, enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their everyday lives, their families and their homes and forced to adapt to a new lifestyle they knew nothing of. However, upon arrival into the New World, due to their prior knowledge and wisdom from back home, they were able to quickly adapt and custom themselves to this new lifestyle in order to survive with the hope of potentially one day returning back to Africa. Unfortunately, African contributions to the culture of the United States has received little to no recognition and it has been taken credit for by Europeans and Whites since the early establishment of the United States.

The African American Culture and Traditions A Research Study and Facts That Will Take Us Into What Makes This Culture So Unique.

Inmy research paper I will be defining African American Culture and I also will be discussing things such as slavery, family relations, hairstyles, art forms, food, heath issues, symbolism, traditional beliefs and also why this topic is relevant to today culture and how this information can benefit Black American in today society. African American Culture in the United States refer to the cultural contributions of African ethnic groups to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American Culture.   African

Moreover, Black men today are not as submissive to law enforcement, and policies as their ancestors were in the past. Today’s Black men are more aggressive toward law enforcement due to fear of the outcome of a simple search and procedures. This mentality happens because black men fear going to jail, getting shot, being misunderstood, or simple injustice. Stereo typed and learned behavior also play a vital role in these type situations.

In your opinion, how does the election of Barrack Obama to president influence the way society will understand African-American culture?

Questions that beg answers are: What causes many in society to fear Black males and view them as nefarious,” treat them as targets, profile them as a threat, love their professional abilities but loath their educational or gainfully employed professional status all in the same breath”?(C.Nelson,personal communication, June 22 ,2015).Therefore, Police have established a conformity (behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards)  on how to manage and maintain African Americans.Police expect their colleagues to agree with them on who the enemy is, and the exert social pressure on each other to agree with the negative stereotype.

Artwork has been an imperative part of Black culture, and many artist share their inspirations coming from African origins. From the beginning of slave societies to present day, African America artwork has contributed to large parts of United States artistic collection. Beginning in the early 1600 to 1800 “black art took the form of small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures and ceramic vessels in the southern United States. These artifacts have similarities with comparable crafts in West and Central Africa.” The significance of the

Reflecting on the interview questions and responses, I noticed the differences in the African American Culture versus the American Culture. It was a culture shock for me because I have always been in the United States, born and raised here, and not experienced the African American Culture in this manner. While listening to the unique stories and different experiences, my mind shifted into a state of listening rather than responding. I was always used to responding quickly, but now it was my turn to be quiet and let them answer. The variety of foods prepared at meal times sounded delicious. They grew everything natural, and most everything was fresh nothing added to it to preserve the item.

Dottolo, A. L, & Stewart, A. J. (2008). “Don’t ever forget now, you’re a black man in America”: Intersections of race, class and gender in encounters with the police. Sex Roles, 59(5-6), 350-364. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9387-x The article written by Dottolo and Stewart (2008) supports previous discussions about racism against African-Americans. They conducted interviews to determine whether race, class and gender play a large role in encounters with the law enforcement officials. This article is relevant to the sociological discussion.

These days, police are often stereotyped as aggressive, corrupt beings. The growing hatred for police officers widens the divide between citizens and law enforcement, causing tension and intensely aggressive feelings on both ends. The recent shootings of young African-American men have also added to the societal hatred of law enforcement. Through media exposure, these shootings have been portrayed as cruel, often times revealing the victim to be an unarmed man.

I have traveled all over the world but I have never been down South. Being from New York has also given me a very narrow perspective of African American culture. The purpose of this research project is to gain some understanding of Black culture specifically in the South. College has exposed me to a lot of people who were born and raised in the South and some of my closest friends are southerners. By researching the history, culture, and demographic information of the South, I plan on becoming a more well-informed American.