African American Identity

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

There are numerous ways to identify would I am. I am a african american female that is country and loves the outdoors mainly like mud riding . My cultural identity is important it’s part of me . it’s who I am . inside and out . My religion is very important to my family, when I become an adult my religion will pass on to my children. Growing up it made me realize that my cultural is like a oreo hard on the outside and and the inside is thing sweet person filled with joy and happiness .

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 soul was the body that fed the tobacco, and the spirit was the blood that watered the cotton, and these created the first fruits of the American garden” (Coates 104). In Between the World and Me,” and within this quote alone, Ta-Nehisi Coates argued not only the importance of black identity, but also how and why black identity was so deceivingly shaped in response to the dark history behind it. Through Coates’ recollections and fair warnings to his son, the relationship between black identity and “The Dream” becomes clearer. In spite of the “white supremacist” trademark that comes stamped upon “The Dream,” Coates provides impermeable evidence as to why black identity is not only more invested in history than white identity, but more importantly why it is the investment to be made in “The American Dream.”

Of the four panelists in the C-Span Panel Discussion on “Who is Black” I am going to focus on Tiya Miles and Deborah Grey White’s presentations on the topic. Tiya Miles is professor of African and Native American history at the University of Michigan, and a main point of her presentation is the idea that the African American community and culture share many similarities with the original inhabitants of the Americas. Miles gives detail to the significant historical interactions between Native Americans and the Africans brought to their lands, and how this allowed for the absorption of native culture and ethnicity into the African American population. For Miles, African American identity is fluid, sharing many ethnic, religious, and cultural

Race was a primary factor used to shape the identity of African Americans which was seen through their culture. Race is portrayed through the narratives such as The life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglass and the Autobiography of an Ex-colored man by James Weldon Johnson.

After attending several events such as Founders Convocation and hearing Helen Smith Price, Jacque Reid, and Krystal Underwood speak, I was embraced by the presence of the knowledge of three powerful African American females and graduates from Clark Atlanta University. The legacy of “ Find a way or Make one” at Clark Atlanta University continues after leaving CAU and will go with you for the rest of your life, as shown by listening to the guest speakers talk about their accomplishments in life and how that were able to get to where they are today. Helen Smith Price, Jacque Reid, and Krystal Underwood have made me appreciate more of who I am as a person, my culture and the wonderful institution that I attend. The guest speakers for Founders

During the era of segregation, blacks couldn’t even look at a white woman without it being deemed sexual and they were ultimately beaten or killed for it. That mindset is still present today in the form of misidentification in sexual assault cases. A black prisoner serving time for sexual assault is three and a half more likely to be innocent than a white convict (Gross, Possley, & Stephen,2017, March 7). The reason for this mishap is mistaken identification by a white victim in violent crimes involving African Americans. In present day, assault on a Caucasian woman by an African American male is very small throughout the United States ranking in at only 11%. Misidentifications are products of racial bias, which is the belief that one race

The mission of the students around the country who fought for an education that would shed light on African Americans. The progress the students created is seen today in American Universities ,and also HBCUs, where (AAS)African American Studies is implemented into the curriculum. Before, the dissection the formation of AAS, it should be noted that without the sacrifice from others I undoubtedly would not be writing about AAS ,or reflecting on the significance it has created for generations so far.

The genre of hip hop has a positioning in the African American identity because it has helped people to form connections and builds powerful statements with tunes, lyrics and ciphers. In the case of Dred Scott v Sandford (1856), in which a slave, sued for his freedom because his master had taken him to a free territory and believed it made him free slave. The Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott. With this decision it was clear that a compromise would not be reached, and so war was the only resolution, this lead to the Civil War. In Dred Scott v Sandford case, the court ruling had a huge influence on politics also the 14th Amendment prohibited all violations of citizenship. The Civil War made a huge impact and equal civil rights to African Americans who had been liberated after the American Civil War.

Assess the materials presented by the National Genome Research Institute in the understanding of the identity and health of African Americans. Note: you may focus on any or a combination of the following major headings: the Ancestral history from genomic information and historical records, Ethnic identity and cultural diversity from historical and genomic information, and the arts and culture from ancestral information.

Heritage can be defined as the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation. (Merriam Webster) One of the main ideals of heritage is the interconnection of the past and the present because that is what it is all about. It is about taking the traditions, ideals and beliefs of the people who came before us and using them in the present. African American heritage, specifically, happens to be one of the hottest topics in America today. Even though it is one of the most popular and trending topics, it is also one of the most controversial and intriguing subjects. Why is it intriguing and controversial? Perhaps because people have not learned the whole story or because people have never learned about

Race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, poverty, and sexual orientation, all play a role in developing one’s identity and more often than not, these multiple identities intersect with blackness. Being that American society has deemed colored people and populations as minoritarian subjects, African diaspora people can be seen making safe spaces for themselves to survive as individuals and as a part of communities.

What are you? Do you classify yourself as simply black, African-American, or do you not know? When I ask what are you, I am asking you about your roots, the roots that make you, you. My roots is what I use to differentiate myself because I am more than just an American and I am more than just black. Nowadays black identity is used not only as a race but as ethnicity, including for people who do not know their heritage. On the other hand, freedom for people in the black race is much more than it was in the 20th century. Although, the black race have civil rights, racial issues still continue to exist today.

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.