Essay On African American Culture

As Americans, we are privileged with diverse experiences. With this comes a perceived understanding of many cultures and their influences but in fact full cultural literacy is impossible to achieve.

The slave owner’s exploitation of the black woman’s sexuality was one of the most significant factors differentiating the experience of slavery for males and females. The white man’s claim to the slave body, male as well as female, was inherent in the concept of the Slave Trade and was tangibly realized perhaps no where more than the auction block. Captive Africans were stripped of their clothing, oiled down, and poked and prodded by potential buyers. The erotic undertones of such scenes were particularly pronounced in the case of black women. Throughout the period of slavery in America, white society believed black women to be innately lustful beings. The perception of the African woman as hyper-sexual made her both the object of white man’s abhorrence and his fantasy. Within the bonds of slavery, masters often felt it was their right to engage in sexual activity with black women. Sometimes, female slaves made advances hoping that such relationships would increase the chances that they or their children would be liberated by the master. Most of the time, slave owners took slaves by force.

During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American

Culture is not a fixed phenomenon, nor is it the same in all places or to all people. It is relative to time, place, and particular people. Learning about other people can help us to understand ourselves and to be better world citizens.

As the author points out, “African American women were wanton, licentious, promiscuous. White men (who had obviously engaged in sexual acts with African American women over the decades, given the range of skin colors among African Americans) could not be accused of raping ‘bad’ women. ‘Bad,’ amoral women did not need or deserve protection” (30). The history became the past that kept hunting the black women. As the victims, instead of receiving a fair treatment from the community, they were blamed just because of the history that they did not have the intention for that to

Through the antebellum period, white men’s exploitation of black women’s sexuality created an assumption that black women were driven by lust and sexual promiscuity. This false stereotypical assumption by the slave south held black women captive by the patriarchal society of plantations. This gave white males grounds for sexual activity with their enslaved women. Through a slave women’s “lustfulness,” the antebellum period, (the years prior to the Civil War and between the 1830’s and 1860’s), saw an influx of bi-racial and multi-racial slave offspring as an effect of the Fancy Trade and slave breeding practices. After the United States banned the importation of slaves, the domestic institution of slavery developed in a way that directly

African-American is a politically correct term used to refer to blacks within the United States. The roots of many African-American rites can be traced back to African cultural rites. However, it is important to note that not all blacks in America identify with African cultural roots. Therefore, some of the rites found within what many in the United States call African-American culture stem from Caribbean and other cultural traditions. For this reason, when making end of life decisions or funeral arrangements the “cultural identification, spirituality and the social class” the individual identifies with must be taken into account. The black majority within the United States identifies with Afrocentric traditions and perspectives. For this

Slavery in the United States was not only the element of physical labor, it was the constant reminder of one’s inferiority. It was common for caucasian masters to have sexual relations with their slaves in a forced and cruel manner. Normally, enslaved women faced most of the sexual abuse; however, there were plenty of men and boys that were exploited sexually by their masters, overseers, and other white authorities. Slaves at this time period not only endured the brutality of their masters committing the deed, but their masters would forcibly pair “strong, healthy” slaves with one another and thrusted them into forced reproduction, thinking it would create the perfect specimen for physical labor. When it came down to

The African American culture was formed after slavery. According to hernandezslave.weebly.com, (2017), “ African American culture was a blend of African and Western practices.” The blending of the African and Western practices created an entirely new and unique culture considered the African American culture. Some of the factors that contributed to this is their ways of music and their beliefs. Most of the slaves couldn’t read or write so, they compensated with other forms of communication including storytelling and music.

For the past 30 years the “gap” in income received by the rich and everyone else has continuously continued to increase, showing no signs of decrease anytime soon. This gap has mostly affected the middle class, which is made up of mostly African Americans and Hispanics, making America less determined to correct such an issue. Given the circumstances African American’s are the focus of this issue. It is known that modern racism exist within today’s society in various ways, one which happen to be within the economy. For decades the economy has has its downfalls, however, it’s been facing a issue that it has been hiding from the rest of the nation. The gap that everyone has been speaking of is only becoming more of issue, however, what many do not know is that African American’s are the ones who are feeling it the most. Given their history and place in society racial inequality. Modern racism has kept many blacks from receiving jobs and has kept them from many opportunities. Income inequality is an issue and it has been pushed aside for long enough it is now too big to avoid and it is time to therefore address it. It is due to such an act that the need for government assistance has increased, poverty levels are at an alltime high as are unemployment rates; and education levels are continuing to drop. The racial inequality African American face has come to affect their income earnings, which has affected education systems and poverty levels it is time such a issue is put to

For example, black men’s masculinity and sexuality were tied to the so-called “bestial excess of an overly phallicized primitivity” (Wiegman 1993, 458). They were thought to be untamed and hypersexual [...] (Hickey 169).

In this paper, I will be exploring Black sexuality, particularly as it relates to Black women and the stereotypes the group faces. Previous research is entrenched in white dominance, so the majority of comparisons are to that group. Any call to change that I posit is a call to change the way that we look at Black sexuality, not Black sexuality itself; it is vital to not pathologize the behaviors of a

Ethnicity differences are apparent from one family to another. Language, beliefs, and values passed down from our ancestors define who we are in the world. As America becomes more diverse, it is important to understand how a family’s culture can influence differences from your own. I will be comparing and contrasting family life’s between African Americans and Europeans. As a person with European descent, I have experienced many situations where my views have conflicted with those from other cultures. The object of the research is to better understand the difference between cultures and express value in unique families. I believe it is every human being’s responsibility to understand and appreciate other families for who they are.

Furthermore, stereotypes and depictions continued to construct a societal perception of the Black women to be seen for only her assets. The Jezebel stereotype was used within slavery and post slavery as a rationalization for sexual relations between white males and black women. The Jezebel image permitted for white men to relate to black women in a more primitive manner than they would to their wives. The Jezebel was depicted as a black woman with an insatiable appetite for sex, in which Black men couldn’t relieve. If the Black women enjoyed being taken advantage of, then indeed they differed from the white women whose bodies were not used for pleasure. The Jezebel image was constructed as a cover up and a silencing for the

Whites’ study of slavery and the experience of women show a marked contrast between the restricted femininity of white women and the sexual exploitation and perception of black women. White women were expected to be controlled and preserve their modesty and virtue, but black women were exposed and blamed for the sexual advances and exploits of their white masters. White sums of this contrast best: