Being African American

What, according to these writers of the Harlem Renaissance, are the sources of African American identity?

Growing up as a young African American girl in Philadelphia was not always easy, however, having a strong family structure, old fashion southern culture, and beliefs have molded me into the strong women that I am today. Now that I am a mother, following my family’s culture and beliefs are not always the easiest thing to do. Times has changed and I feel like I am forced to conform to the everyday social norms of America, which makes me feel impuissance. Yes, growing up was not easy, but my family and youth kept me in the dark when it came to how society treats individuals of darker complexion, what to expect once I left the confines of my family and neighborhood, and how to befriend or interact with individuals of other racial groups. All of the things that I listed were things that I had to learn through trial and error, which makes life a little harder than it already is.

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

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.

As I sit here and think about what it is to be Black in America. I realize how there are so many factors that affect African American people daily. One of the most damaging forces tearing at young black people in America today is the popular culture's image of what an "authentic" black person is supposed to look like and how that person is supposed to act. People assume all black males where raised in a single parent home. People assume that if you are a black male, that you sale drugs or you are really great in some type of sport. If you are a black female, they assume you will have kids by different men, referred to as “baby daddy” or they may not even know who the fathers of their children are. This same society expects African

In Thomas Shapiro’s “The Hidden Cost of Being African American”, Shapiro goes in depth on how wealth in America is disproportionately dispersed between different nationalities. Mainly between Caucasians and African Americans. Shapiro has helped paint the image of wealth inequality and has shown how this is even more staggering than the wage gap between African Americans and Caucasians. Some of the theories he indirectly uses in his book and that I will be exemplifying are generational wealth and support systems, education, and the idea of how poverty only begets more poverty.

Booker T. Washington was brought up with a different upbringing then most slaves during the 1800s; as he would describe as “up from slavery”. Even though he was born a slave, he had a better chance of “equal access” and equality in main stream America. He had a chance to gain an education part time during his younger years as well as working. Booker T, believed the best way to ensure progress and peace was,”for the whites to respect the blacks desire for improved economic opportunities and for blacks to respect the whites desire for social separation of the races.” I agree with this ideology because everyone was getting a piece of

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.

To contribute, African-Americans have a significant feature that portrays their culture tremendously in today’s society. We African-Americans have certain hairstyles, and fashion that separates us from various cultures. For example, in the article, “How does Black Hair Reflect Black History”, written by Rumiana Jahangir she states, “Black hair has been an integral feature of black history - from African tribal styles to dreadlocks and the Afro. In early African civilizations, hairstyles could indicate a person’s family background, tribe and social status” In today’s society, African-Americans have different types of wild hairstyles that makes us different from other cultures pertaining to us having thick, and curly hair. These hairstyles consists of fades, afros, dreadlocks, braids and more. To add, the article also emphasizes how dating back to African Civilization basically your lineage can be pictured through your hairstyle which relates to how African-Americans culture is expressed in today's society. Furthermore, Africans have a specific taste when it comes to fashion ware being made. To reiterate, in an article titled, “Clothing in Africa” written by the Muhonja Khamina he states, “Early clothing in Africa was also made from treated animal hides, fur, and feathers. Many African societies weave cloth from locally grown cotton.” Dating back to prior centuries in Africa, their clothing seemed to have been made out of animals, animal skin, fur, cotton and other useful

Many things that can define culture and each one is holistically unique. The culture that defines and includes me is the African American community. My culture is defined by the history of my people. For you cannot know who you are or where you are going if don’t even know where and what you come from. Art plays a major role in African-American community as well. Since the beginning of our time, blacks have been craftsmen or born with an artistic ability. Lastly, the food. Food is a very important aspect of African-American culture. In fact, the preparation of food is important to the black community.

I am a member of the African American group and I would like to tell you a bit about the group of when I am a part of. Let me start by saying that my African American group originated from Africa and growing up in America can be tough for people of my race, the African Americans.

As we have seen, African Americans haven't had such an easy way of living. They go through many struggles a day. I personally don’t think that they deserve to get treated like this, the whites are so harsh on them even when it comes to little kids. They have a lot of laws regarding blacks, one of them is that if a slave is caught reading before the war is liable they have to receive thirty-nine lashes, and from my understanding, is they get hit that many times for disobeying that law. For everything that they do there always has to be a punishment. Also the blacks don’t have lots of money, they are basically poor, but luckily during the reconstruction about two hundred charitable groups opened up saving accounts to help them out a bit. In

The idea of being accepted in the coloured society at the time was to be to adhere to the customs and culture pertaining to the native. If singing a tribal song was a proud part of some African cultures, the second and third generation slave children who were hybrids did not find their old customs appealing which created a void in an already fragmented African society. The notion that a black child and a white child had the same level of thinking and understanding between them because they followed the same set of rules and aspirations made it a grave task for the other to stay true to his/her culture as the fight between which culture to adopt, adapt and discard created discord between a few sections within the other. While on one hand

Although African Americans were making progress with civilization, the ignorance of Europeans sparked the beginning of various studies. These studies focused on African Americans and there was an emphasis placed on categorizing people according to race. Going back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Europeans weren't fond of African Americans–most Europeans considered African Americans to be repulsive and inferior. Religious writings were used as evidence to support the inferiority of African Americans; dark skin and slavery were a proclamation from God; Africans were deemed to be the ancestors of a cursed biblical figure; and the Babylonian Talmud held that blackness and slavery were direct punishments for disobeying God. After attempts

You can never really know what ethnicity someone is based on physical appearance or his or her name. The article “Why Race Isn’t As “Black” and “White” As We Think” by Brent Staples, does a good job explaining that physical appearance is not always what it seems. The majority of people do not even realize they are a certain race. They do not take the time to get to know their ancestors. All people ever believe is what family members tell them about their ethnicity. People get judged based on how their name sounds, for example if an African American has a name that is typically a “white” person name. African Americans also did not have any rights in the 1950’s and 60’s. But later, African Americans were granted equal rights and people start to overcome racism.