OK, so the thread title is purposely naive, there certainly is African-American culture, but I find that it proves to be, firstly, very disparate, secondly, very unstable, and thirdly, very young.
Most African-Americans don’t actually trace their cultural roots back to Africa (for a variety of reasons, slavery obviously being chief among them) as Hispanic, and European- and Asian-Americans trace theirs back to a specific culture. Thus, the “root” culture, and the one with the most influence historically, is that of slavery. This obviously is an inexplicably profound thing, especially considering elements of slavery existed well past the Civil Rights era. It affected African-American culture from literature and music to diet and aesthetics.
At this time, the most visible (or, well, loud) culture, like in the past with slavery songs, choirs, jazz and r&b, etc, is based in music (rap/hip-hop/whatever). But that isn’t what being black is about (probably how most whites see it, though).
With that in mind, I suppose this question is addressed towards black Dopers.
What is African-American culture? How much does it vary depending on region? Does it really start at slavery?
I suppose the obvious cite of Maya Angelou will come up. How important is that kind of influence?
How do you view the contemporary music scene, compared to the historical period of jazz and r&b?
How do you view contemporary Africa itself? To what degree are you related to them socially and culturally? Did slavery truly wipe the board clean?
As a hispanic-American, I look back on the period before civil rights a bit differently as well. I suppose that I’m a bit more versed in history and know more about the zoot suit riots and the like, and before that the more vague ranchero lifestyle still alive in areas like New Mexico (and largely abducted and made white by Hollywood, with the requisite hispanic villains and sidekicks). We also have the situation of more recent Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican immigrants, who make up sub-groups with totally different cultures and identities.
African-American culture was created over some four hundred years by blending the surviving mores, fractured words of African languages and common beliefs of African slaves brought to the United States with the restrictive freedoms and mandated religious beliefs of a powerful, oppressive, racist European slaveholding class, which enforced its agrarian-based labor needs through barbaric and frequent punishments common in U.S. chattel slavery. These punishments included brandings, selected maiming, beatings and whippings; the withholding of food, clothes, shelter, education; and by selling off family members. Rape was common, though rarely viewed as inhumane.
Some important cultural traditions include grooming, child-rearing and corporal punishment, rites of passage, sexual practices, how marriage is conducted, storytelling and oratory, naming traditions, funeral rites, spiritual beliefs and holidays, as well as certain arts – singing, music making and dancing – also sports – as well as culinary dishes, health practices and attitudes toward education. African-American humor is distinctive, too, for using white people as a neverending source of amusement and bewilderment, and the foibles and casual racism that affects blacks everyday.
Well, that is a list of things that define any culture. I think what I’m looking for is what the attributes are to those properties (to put it in nerd terms. The object would be culture, of course, and class African-Americans. But I digress).
And funnily enough, (sensible) white people mostly love it. Or think it makes them look cool. shrugs
Eventually I will get around to answering your other questions. I’m just sleepy tonight. The cultural things I mentioned I can think of practices that are extremely common in African-American families, either nationwide or in certain regions. For example some funeral rites include singing spirituals like “Swing Low”, or the March at a Jazz Funeral, the Funeral Feast, pouring liquor for the dead-- or being buried in gang colors. Under holidays/celebrations I’d have cited Kwanzaa, Juneteenth and to a lesser extent the Black Family Reunion, Malcolm X’s birthday, Freaknik, and Dr. Martin Luther King Junior holiday.
What do you mean by “very disparate”? Are you referring to the diversity of black American subcultures? Or the “disparateness” between AA culture and other cultures?
Also, I’m curious why you think it’s any more unstable and young than, say, mainstream American culture. To throw the question back at you, what is American culture?
The most salient feature of AA culture is our language. Although Ebonics definitely goes into it, I’m also talking about our colorful expressions. Everybody and they momma was there, you say. You ain’t never lied. You dig? Sho you right! But you better get your narrow behind in the house.
I grew up in a household where my parents generally spoke “proper” English at home (not because they were trying to be proper, but because they grew up in boring-ass Indiana). But those expressions were embedded in their speech.
It always bugs me when people say that blacks as a people are inarticulate. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, IMHO. There is a reason why storytelling, rap, spoken word, and preachin’ are venues where black people participate disproportionately. We put heavy emphasis on speech as an art form. (This is why I think black comedians always highlight the differences in “white speech” and “black speech”).
Growing up, being “black” meant sitting in the back of the schoolbus singing call-and-response songs that required lots of clapping and footstamping. It meant being able to “joan” someone (aka play the dozens) to the delight of friends and onlookers. It meant being brave enough to roll your eyes in the face of injustice and danger. The angry, attitudinal, strong-willed black woman is a stereotype, but I think it’s based on truth.
Askia mentioned grooming. In black American culture, we spend a lot of time on physical appearance. Some mistake this for vanity or superficiality, but they forget that black people–at least for most of our history–could not afford the luxury of looking just any old way. A black man with pants worn at the knees and scuffed shoes will not be granted the same benefit of the doubt as a similarly dressed white person. For black women, the onus is even greater. Nappy, kinky hair is the antithesis of beauty in this society, so we spend an inordinate amount of time doing and thinking hair. I remember as a child, our kitchen didn’t smell of frying bacon and eggs on Sunday mornings, but rather the smell burning hair, mixed with hair grease, as we sat at the altar of the Dreaded Hot Comb.
Hair artistry is definitely a significant part of AA culture. And black folk are particularly sensitive about our hair. I’d like to think I’m immune to this sensitivity, but I’m not. I flinch when people touch my hair unasked (which they do way too frequently), and I feel a sting when people, especially whites, suggest that I straighten my hair (especially when I am not soliciting advice).
And then there’s the religious fervor, as exaggerated (hilariously, I admit) in The Blues Brothers. I think it’s wrong, however, to conclude that the Southern Baptist/Pentacostal tradition is universal for black Americans. The African Methodist Episcopal church is generally staid and conservative and yet is no insignificant institution. And of course, there are Catholic black Americans and a sizable minority are Muslims. I think religiousity/spiratuality is the common thread among black Americans. I’ve only met one “out” black atheist in my whole life. I’ve met more black preacher’s kids in my travels (myself being one) than I can count. (To be frank, I think an atheist would have a harder time being accepted by the " black community" than someone who “talks white” or has a white significant other).
There are many other things that go into “black culture”, but I think those things are more obvious.
I’m not sure what you mean by black culture starting at slavery. I think many elements of black culture–like the music, food, and speech patterns–have roots in West Africa. Other things–like our styles of dress, colorful expressions, and family structures–are probably the product of our American experience. And all of these things interact with one another. I don’t think you can ask when black American culture say born, just like you can’t ask when mainstream American culture say born.
What obvious cite of Maya Angelou?
I listen to old-school R&B, along with classic rock and 80s pop. So I really don’t have a view of the comtempory music scene, except to say that it sucks all around.
I don’t feel any special bond to Africa, although I would like to visit certain places there (like Kenya, Egypt, and Senegal). I don’t think I’m African. I’m American.
But when I meet Nigerians, I am intrigued. Am I related to them? I wonder. Do they look at my yellow skin and aquiline nose and see a damn-near-white person? Or a sister?
While I think African American culture has a real root in West Africa culture, I think they’ve evolved separately for so long that the two are distant cousins. African Americans look at African immigrants as foreigners and vice versa.
Thank you for your enlightening post. I have a couple of questions, though this one quote is the first one I’ll start with as I am short on time.
Would you say, in your experience as an AA woman, that black people in general all feel this brotherhood and sisterhood with each other? I’ve always wondered about this because it seems to be a comforting thing (much like my “cousins” on the rez).
I am not black and I do not pretend to be an expert on anything here - other than the persistance of tradition in some parts of the rural south. My family background is Cajun and (white) Louisiana Creole, and I’ve lived in the “Delta” region of Arkansas and Tennessee as well.
The oral tradition, spiritual beliefs, idioms, cooking, and perhaps family structures and activities do often have African and “diaspora” equivalents, but there are few or no tangible heirlooms or objects derived from the mother country as is the case with many other ethnic groups. If we have a materialistic view of culture, that can lead to the impression that there is little “African” about African-Americans, especially if we use other “ethnics” such as Italian-Americans or Chinese-Americans in comparison.
In general, yes. I do think there’s a certain comraderie between minorities from the same cultural background–whether they be Indians, black Americans, or whoever. When I was in grad school, I was the only black person in my lab and the only black Ph.D student in my department. I was fine with this but I wasn’t aware of my “homesickness” until the summer I got an assistant who was black. We immediately clicked, and I found that I could relate to her in a way totally different than the way I related to the other people in my lab. My language and attitude changed when I was around her–even my laughter was different. In a word, I felt more at “home” and in that environment, we did have some “kinship”.
As I move through my new surroundings now, I’m simply looking for “nice” people to be my friends. But I would lying if I said I didn’t long for the company of other black people.
These are nice labels, but I don’t know which of the above subcultures describe my upbringing the best. Nor do any describe my parents’ upbringings, or the background of any other black person I know.
Hip-hop is definitely more than music, but is it really a culture? That’s like saying rock n roll is a culture of the USA. Do I belong in a different culture than my mother because she listens to easy listening while I listen to rock?
And no comment on the “gangsta” thing.
There is no monolithic culture of anything, and yet people can still talk about French culture or Arab culture or Western culture without batting an eye. There are subcultures of American culture, for instance, but that doesn’t stop us from talking about American culture as a whole. I don’t see why we can’t view black American culture the same way.
Responding to these immediately, then reading the rest
Within the subcultures. I don’t think there is any real single national culture, though traits may be shared among subcultures, as with any group (Kinda like Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans being disparate, the difference between a southern AA and a Californian is pretty big, I think)
Now that you mention it… culture in general is unstable.
Let me, too, thank you for your post, monstro, and I look forward to hearing from Askia and others on this forum.
I’m sorry if my questions seem ill-aimed or awkward. I’m from a younger generation, and racial differences were an entirely foreign concept until I reached my teen years (where, unfortunately growing up in Los Angeles in the '80s, it was brought to the forefront rather violently. As a hispanic who was caught up in the racial tension between gang groups at school, I am very grateful that that period of history has been going away). In my lifetime, I’ve worked with, around, and gotten to be very close with African-Americans and Africans from many backgrounds. Noting the differences and similarities between them has been very interesting, as has been noting the same between rich, middle class, and poor blacks. It also interests me to see how it/they interacts with white America/ns. I guess that is where my “disparate” comment came in, there being so many elements that influence, well, as I retreated in my previous post, any society or race’s culture. But you’ve listed some common traits shared that help define a segment of American society.
Regarding the Maya Angelou comment, I guess she has always stood out as a great spokesperson (certainly better than Al Sharpton and his ilk) and leader, as well as artist extraordinaire.
I’m especially interested in something you note, monstro, towards the end of your post - the relationship between African-Americans and Africans, and especially Africans that live in a fairly European-… not dominated, but influenced. I’ve been to Burkina Faso visiting a friend in the Peace Corps (she was an english instructor. I didn’t and still don’t get the point of teaching english to people instead of providing better medical care and general education, but I suppose it has its place), and I was struck by the differences in culture, and how it was influenced by the French.
Part of any culture is the shared historical experience. Ah, forgive me, but I’m not feeling very well, I’ll continue this thought later.
I would disagree. I think we come from opposite corners of the country…partially because of that (and due to other factors as well) I think my answer to that question (and some of the others) is very, very different than yours. Like Askia, I’ll come back to the thread when I have more time to think out and write out my answers.
This is a very broad question that will have a lot of different answers, because culture really does vary by class and region. Actually, these two factors can probably more accurately determine what two people have in common than race race alone can. Like amarinth, I also disagreed with monstro’s comments on comraderie between blacks.
I’m not really a fan of debates, but I’ll spend some time thinking about the questions and see if I can add anything. These kinds of questions bother me a little because they kind of imply that there’s a general group of African American experiences. I’m not so sure that’s true. It seems like it would be as hard to define as the American experience. Also, you’re only getting a very small sub-section of people here (computer owning, internet and messageboard using, people who’ve found the straight dope page). Of course, this is a problem with all polls, but I wanted to get that off my chest.
Just for claification, I do not think black people naturally feel kinship with other black people just because they are black. But to say that there is no a comaradie–or, a sense of community by black Americans–one would have to believe a lot of things that I can’t just believe.
It is to believe that black people are more likely to make friends with whites than they are with other black people.
It is to believe that black people, in general, feel more comfortable in the presence of white people than they feel around other blacks.
It is to believe that you would never find an unspoken “nodding aquaintance” among black people in predominately white environments, like the workplace or certain social situations.
It is to believe that there is no black social scene or forum where black people come together and talk in their own way.
It is to believe that the terms of endearnment “sista” and “brother” are meaningless words concocted by deluded people.
It is to believe while white and Hispanic middle-schoolers aggregate at their own tables during lunch, black kids disperse themselves nilly-willy.
Now, I have absolutely no doubt that there are some, if not many, black people who interact with other black people just as they do everyone else. I have no doubt that there are black people who feel no particular attraction to other blacks as friends or significant others, and do not feel a special pull to join black civic organizations, churches, neighborhoods, or attend HBUCs. I have no doubt that there are blacks who feel they don’t have anything more in common with a randomly drawn black person than they do your average white person. I have no doubt that there are blacks who feel they have more in common with most white people than they do with most black people. I have no doubt that there are people, like Cicely Tyson’s character in The Women of Brewster Place, who believe that black is just a color, nothing more and nothing less. I have no doubt that for these people, their feelings are genuine and based on their own experiences.
But I feel like these people are not the majority. I don’t think anyone can really convince me that black is just a color and that there is no underlying culture or shared experience that binds us together. It just doesn’t jibe with what I’ve seen and experienced. Hopefully someone will explain why they think I’m wrong.
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…ok, I know people have lives, but I’m also dying to hear an expanded rebuttal of monstro’s comraderie comments. FWIW I didn’t see much to disagree with - I’ve had similar experiences the times I’ve been thrust into non majority black situations. In fact, I thought that comment was so innocuous and common-sensical that it shocked me to see a strong response (not in a bad way, of course), so, i’m just bumping this so no one forgets to come back…
I regret not being able to return to this thread until now. monstro, thank you for your comments. I sensed a certain degree of truth to them, even if I possess none of the experience or scholarship to attest to your statements.
For the posters who would disagree, would you care to answer my question? The reason I ask is perhaps that I had hoped (a bad thing in a debate) that her answer would reaffirm a belief that I myself had held. I do think (based on my own cultural upbringing) that their is a connection between people who share a culture, ethnicity or color (forgive me if this seems a crude term to use–but, in my experience, NDN people know each other at first glance (that means that it’s hard to hide being Indian (NDN)).
I had wondered about the “brother” and “sister” thing, which is why I had asked her about it. Please excuse me if I seem to be pandering to even a benign sterotype, but to my way of thinking, I’d like to think that monstro’s experience is common.
If it is not, then why? I mention “being NDN” because one can not always “pass.”
I am curious if the other posters (or perhaps ** monstro**) are of mixed-race/multi-ethnic decescent?
Just to confuse things, I think that a lot of what we call African-American culture is actually American Urban culture. At one time it may have been more specifically black, I don’t know.