Contours
of the African American Culture
By Molefi Kete Asante
African Americans constitute
the largest non-European racial group in the United States of
America. Africans came to the area which became the United States
in the 16th century with the Spaniards. However, the
first appearance of groups of Africans in the English colonies
of America occurred in 1619 when twenty Africans were brought
as indentured servants to Jamestown, Virginia. Subsequent importations
of Africans from Western Africa stretching from Morocco on the
north to Angola on the south over a period of two hundred years
greatly increased the African population in the United States.
By the time of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the population
of Africans in the United States had reached four and a half million.
A composite people, comprised
of numerous African ethnic groups, including Yoruba, Wolof, Mandingo,
Hausa, Asante, Fante, Edo, Fulani, Serere, Luba, Angola, Congo,
Ibo, Ibibio, Ijaw, and Sherbro, African Americans have a common
origin in Africa and a common struggle against racial oppression.
Many African Americans show evidence of racial mixture with Native
Americans, particularly Muskogee, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Pawnee
as well as with Europeans from various ethnic backgrounds.
African Americans were predominantly
a rural and southern people until the Great Urban Migration of
the World War II Era. Thousands of Africans moved to the major
urbans centers of the north to find better jobs and more equitable
living conditions. Cities such as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia,
and Detroit became magnets for entire southern communities of
African Americans. The lure of economic prosperity, political
enfranchisement, and social mobility attracted many young men
and often women and the elderly were left on the farms of the
south. Often husbands would send for their families and children
would send for their parents once they were established in their
new homes in the north.
Residential segregation became
a pattern in the north as it had been in the south. Some of these
segregated communities in the north gained prominence and became
centers for culture and commerce. Harlem in New York, North Philadelphia
in Philadelphia, Woodlawn in Detroit, Southside in Chicago, and
Hough in Cleveland were written into the African American's imagination
as places of high style, fashion, culture, and business. The evolution
of the African American communities from southern and rural to
northern and urban has occurred since 1945. According to the latest
1990 census the largest populations are found in these cities:
New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington,
D. C., Houston, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Memphis. In terms
of percentage of population, these cities are the five leaders
among cities with populations over 300,000: Washington (70%),
Atlanta (67%), Detroit (65%), New Orleans (55%), and Memphis (49%).
East St. Louis, Illinois is 96 per cent African American but its
population is less than 100,000.
The 1990 population of African
Americans is estimated to be 35 million. In addition to the United
States' African American population there are approximately one
million African Americans abroad, mainly in Africa, Europe, and
South America. African Americans constitute about 12% of the American
population. This is roughly equal to the percentages of Africans
in the populations of Venezuela and Colombia, two nations in South
America. The largest population of African people outside of the
continent of Africa reside in the South American country of Brazil.
The United States of America has the second largest population
of Africans outside of the continent of Africa. In terms of populations,
the following countries are the largest African nations in the
world: Nigeria, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Zaire, and the United
States. Of course, Brazil and the United States are in South America
and North America, respectively.
The cities with the largest populations
of African Americans are New York with a population of 2.1 million,
Chicago with a population of 1.4 million, Detroit with over 800,000,
Philadelphia with close to 700,000, and Los Angeles with more
than 600,000.
Seven states have African American
populations of more than twenty per cent. These states are southern
and predominantly rural: Mississippi (35%), South Carolina (30%),
Louisiana (29%), Georgia (27%), Alabama (26%), Maryland (23%),
and North Carolina (22%).
African Americans are now avid
speakers of English. During the 17th century most Africans
in the Americas spoke West African languages as their first languages.
In the United States the African population developed a highly
sophisticated pidgin, usually referred to by linguists in its
creolized form as Ebonics. This language was the prototype for
the speech of the vast majority of African Americans. It was comprised
of African syntactical elements and English lexical items. Use
of this language made it possible for Africans from various ethnic
and linguistic groups, e.g., Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, Akan, Wolof,
Mande, etc., to communicate with each other as well as with the
Europeans with whom they came in contact. The impact of the African
American language on American society is thorough and all-embracing.
From the ubiquitous "o.k.", a Wolof expression from Senegal, to
the transformations of words like "bad" and "awesome" , simple
English words, into different and more adequate expressions of
something entirely original, one sees the imprint of African American
styles which are derived from the African heritage. There are
more than three thousand words, place names, and concepts with
African origins found in the language of the United States of
America. Indeed, the most dynamic aspects of the English language
as spoken in the United States have been added by the popular
speakers of the African American idiom, whether in the world of
words of the contemporary rap musicians, the past jazz musicians,
or the street slang that gives American English its more authentic
color. Proverbs, poems, songs, and hollers which come with the
historical saga of a people whose only epic are the Spirituals,
the Great Songs, provide a rich texture to the ever evolving language
of the African American people.
African Americans did not freely
come to America. This is not a history of a people seeking to
escape political oppression, economic exploitation, religious
intolerance, or social injustice. Rather the ancestors of the
present African Americans were stolen from the continent of Africa,
placed on ships against their wills, and transported across the
Atlantic. While most of the enslaved Africans went to Brazil and
Cuba, a great portion landed in the Southern States of the United
States. At the height of the European Slave Trade almost every
nation in Europe was involved in some aspect of the enterprise.
As the "trade" grew more profitable and the European captains
became more ambitious, larger ships with specially built "slave
galleries" were commissioned. These galleries between the decks
were no more than eighteen inches in height. Each African was
allotted no more than a sixteen inches wide and five and a half
feet long space for the many weeks or months of the Atlantic crossing.
Here the Africans were forced to lie down shackled together in
chains fastened to staples in the deck. Needless to say, many
Africans perished under such conditions. Where the space was two
feet high Africans were often allowed to sit with legs on legs
like riders on a crowed sled. Africans were transported from Africa
to America seated in this position with a once a day break for
exercise. Many died or went insane.
The North made the shipping of
Africans its business; the South made the working of Africans
its business. By 1860, the Census counted four and a half million
Africans in the United States. The number of Africans increased
rapidly from the 18th century. From 757,208 in 1790
to 4,441,830 in 1860, the African American population grew both
by increased birth rates and by importation of new Africans. But
by 1860 slavery had been virtually eliminated in the North and
West. And by the end of the Civil War in l865, it was over for
every state. After the Civil War, 14 percent of the population
of the United States was African. The four and half million Africans
who made up the black population in 1865 are the ancestors of
the overwhelming majority of Africans living in the United States
today.
During the Reconstruction Period
after the Civil War African American politicians introduced legislation
that provided for public education, one of the great legacies
of the African American involvement in the legislative process
of the 19th century. Education has always been seen
as a major instrument in changing society and bettering the life
chances of African American people. Lincoln University and Cheyney
University in Pennsylvania, Hampton in Virginia, and Howard University
are considered some of the oldest institutions of learning for
the African American community. Others such as Tuskegee, Fisk,
Morehouse, Spelman, and Atlanta University are now a part of the
American educational story of success and excellence.
The Great Civil Rights Movement
of the l950's and l960's ushered in a whole new generation of
African Americans who were committed to advancing the cause of
justice and equality. Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a
white man on a Montgomery city bus and created a stir that would
not end until the most visible signs of racism were overthrown.
Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as the leading spokesperson and
chief symbol of a people tired of racism and segregation and prepared
to fight and die if necessary in order to obtain legal and human
rights. Malcolm X took the battle one step further, insisting
that the African American was psychologically lost as well and
therefore had to find historical and cultural validity in the
reclamation of the African connection. Thus, out of the crucible
of the l960's came a more vigorous movement toward full recognition
of the African past and legacy. Relationships with other groups
depended more and more on mutual respect rather than the African
Americans acting like clients to other groups. African Americans
expressed their concern that the Jewish community had not supported
affirmative action although there was a long history of Jewish
support for African American causes. Accepting the role of vanguard
in the struggle to extend the protection of the American Constitution
to oppressed people, African American made serious demands on
municipal and federal officials during the Great Civil Rights
Movement. Voting rights were guaranteed and protected, educational
segregation was made illegal, and petty discriminations against
African Americans in hotels and public facilities were eradicated
by the sustained protests and demonstrations of the Era.
A growing economy does not always
mean that African Americans will be served by that growth. African
Americans have been key components in the economic system of the
United States since its inception. However, the initial relationship
of the African American population to the economy was based upon
enslaved labor. Africans were instrumental in establishing the
industrial and agrarian power of the United States. Railroads,
factories, residencies, and places of business were often built
by enslaved Africans. Now African Americans are engaged in every
sector of the American economy, though the integration in some
sectors is less than in others. A considerable portion of the
African American population works in the industrial or service
occupations. Others are found in the professions as opposed to
small businesses. Thus, teachers, lawyers, doctors, and managers
account for the principal professional workers. These patterns
are based upon previous conditions of discrimination in businesses
throughout the South. Most African Americans could find employment
in communities where their professional services were needed,
therefore, the above mentioned professions and others that cater
to the African American population provide numerous opportunities
for employment. During the past twenty years the number of businesses
opened by African Americans has begun to increase again. Under
the period of segregation many businesses which existed solely
for the convenience of the African American population flourished.
When the Great Civil Rights Movement ended most of the petty discriminations
and it was possible for African Americans to trade and shop at
other stores and businesses, the businesses located in the African
American community suffered. There is now a greater awareness
of the need to see businesses as interconnected and interdependent
with and on the greater American society. A greater and more equitable
role is being played by the woman in the African American community.
Indeed, many of the chief leaders in the economic development
of the African American community are and have been women. Both
men and women have always worked in the majority of African American
homes and during the Enslavement work was the principal activity
of both men and women.
African American marriage and
kinship patterns are varied although most now conform to those
of the majority marriage and kinship style.. Monogamy is the overwhelming
choice of most married people. Because of the rise of Islam there
is also a growing community of persons who practice polygyny.
Lack of marriageable males is creating intense pressure to find
new ways of maintaining traditions and parenting children. Within
the African American population one can find various arrangements
that constitute family. Thus, people may speak of family, aunts,
uncles, fathers, mothers, and children without necessarily meaning
that there is a genetic kinship. African Americans often say "brother"
or "sister" as a way to indicate the possibility of that being
the actual fact. In the period of the enslavement, individuals
from the same family were often sold to different plantation masters
and given the names of those owners, creating the possibility
that brothers or sisters would have different surnames. Most of
the names worn by African Americans are derived from the enslavement
period. These are not African names but rather English, German,
French, and Irish names for the most part. Few African Americans
can trace their ancestry back before the enslavement. Those that
can do so normally have found records in the homes of the plantation
owners or in the local archives of the South. African Americans
love children and believe that those who have many children are
fortunate. It is not uncommon to find families with more than
four children.
African American children are
socialized in the home, but the church often plays an important
role. Parents depend upon other family members to chastise, instruct,
and discipline their children, particularly if the family members
live in proximity and the children know them well. Socialization
takes place through rites and celebrations which grow out of either
religious or cultural observances. There is a growing interest
in African child socialization patterns with the emergence of
the Afrocentric movement. Parents introduce the mfundalai rites
of passage at an early age in order to provide the child with
historical referents. Increasingly this rite has replaced religious
rites within the African American tradition for children. Although
it is called mfundalai in the Northeast, it may be referred to
as Changing Season Rite in other sections of the United States.
This was done in the past in the churches and schools where children
had to recite certain details about heroines and heroes or about
various aspects of African American history and culture in order
to be considered mature in the culture. Many independent schools
have been formed to gain control over the cultural and psychological
education of African American children. A distrust of the public
schools has emerged during the past twenty five years because
African Americans believe that it is difficult for African American
children to gain the self confidence they need from teachers who
do not understand or are insensitive to the culture. Youth clubs
established along the lines of the African age-set groups are
popular as drill teams and formal youth groups often called "street
gangs" if they engage in delinquent behavior. These groups are
more often than not, healthy expressions of male and sometimes
female socialization clubs. Church groups and community center
organizations seek to channel the energies of these groups into
positive socialization experiences. They are joined by the numerous
Afrocentric workshops and seminars that train young people in
the traditional behaviors and customs.
African Americans can be found
in every stratum of the American population. However, it remains
a fact that the vast majority of African Americans are outside
of the social culture of the dominant society in the United States.
In a little less than one hundred and thirty years African Americans
who were emancipated with neither wealth nor good prospects for
wealth have been able to advance in the American society against
all odds. Considered determined and doggedly competitive in situations
that threaten survival, African Americans have had to outrun economic
disaster in every era. Discrimination against African Americans
remain in private clubs, country clubs, social functions, and
in some organizations. Nevertheless, African Americans have challenged
hundreds of rules and regulations which have tried to limit choice.
Among the major players in the
battle for equal rights have been the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League. These
two organizations have advanced the social integration of the
African American population on the legal and social welfare fronts.
The NAACP is the major Civil Rights organization as well as the
oldest. Its history in the struggle for equality and justice is
legendary. Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit
on the Supreme Court, was one of the organization's most famous
lawyers. He argued twenty four cases before the Supreme Court
as a lawyer and is credited with winning twenty three. Although
there is no official organization of the entire African American
population and no truly mass movement which speaks to the interests
of the majority of the people, the NAACP comes closet to being
a conscience for the nation and an organized response to oppression,
discrimination, and racism.
At the local level, many communities
have organized Committees of Elders who are responsible for various
activities within the communities. These committees are usually
informal and are set up to assist the communities in determining
the best strategies to follow in political and legal situations.
Growing out of an Afrocentric emphasis on community and cohesiveness
the committees are usually comprised of older men and women who
have made special contributions to the community through achievement
or philanthropy.
African Americans participate
freely in the two dominant political parties in the nation, Democrats
and Republicans. Most African Americans are Democrats, a legacy
left by the era of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal
Democrats who brought about a measure of social justice and respect
for the common people. There are more than six thousand African
Americans who are elected officials in the United States, including
the Governor of Virginia, the mayors of New York, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, and Detroit. A previous mayor of Chicago was also
an African American. Concentrated in the central cities, the African
American population has a strong impact on the political processes
of the older cities. The National Democratic Party Chairperson
is of African American heritage and some of the most prominent
persons in the party are also African Americans. The Republican
Party has its share, though not as large, of African American
politicians. There is no independent political party in the African
American community although it has remained one of the dreams
of leading strategists.
Conflict is normally resolved
in the African American community through the legal system, although
there is a strong impetus to use consensus at first. The idea
of discussing an issue with other members of the community who
might share similar values is a prevalent one within the African
American society. A first recourse when problems arise is another
person. This is true whether it is a personal problem or a problem
with a family members. Rather than calling a lawyer first, the
African American is most likely to call a friend and seek advice.
To some extent, the traditional African notion of retaining and
maintaining harmony is at the heart of the matter. Conflicts should
be resolved by people not by law is one of the adages.
African Americans practice the
three main monotheistic religions as well as Eastern and African
religions. The predominant faith is Christian, the second largest
group of believers accept the ancestral religions of Africa, i.e.,
Vodun, Santeria, Myal, and a third group of followers practice
Islam. Judaism and Buddhism are also practiced by some people
within the community. Without understanding the complexity of
religion in the African American community one should not venture
too deeply into the nature of the culture. While the religions
of Christianity and Islam seem to attract attention, the African
religions are present everywhere, even in the minds of the Christians
and Muslims. Thus, traditional practitioners have introduced certain
rites which have become a part of the practices of the Christians
and Muslims. African greetings and libations to the ancestors
are heard in Christian and Muslim gatherings. The African American
is spiritually oriented, having given to the American society
the Spirituals, the Master Songs, the African American people
have learned how to weave religion into everything so that there
is no separation between religion and life. Many of the practitioners
of the African religions use the founding of Egypt as the starting
date for the calendar, thus 6290 A.F.K. (After the Founding of
Kemet) is equivalent to 1990. There is no single set of beliefs
to which all African Americans subscribe.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday,
January 15, and Malcolm X's birthday, May 19 are the two most
important days in the African American calendar. Kwanzaa, a celebration
of first fruits, initiated by the philosopher Maulana Karenga,
is the most joyous occasion in the African American year. Kwanzaa
is observed from December 26 to January l, each day is named after
an important virtue.
There is no wide acceptance of
cremation in the African American culture. The majority of African
Americans choose burial over cremation. Funerals are often occasions
of sadness followed by festivities and joyousness. "When the Saints
Go Marching In" was made famous as the song to convey African
Americans to the other world by African American musicians in
New Orleans. Sung and played with gusto and great vigor, the song
summed up the victorious attitude of a people long used to suffering
on earth.
Bibliography
Asante, Molefi Kete, (1995) African
American History: A Journey of Liberation. Maywood, N. J.:
Peoples Publishing Group.
Asante, Molefi and Mark Mattson
(1990) The Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans.
New York: MacMillan.
Baughman, E. Earl (1971) Black
Americans. New York: Academic Press.
Frazier, Thomas R. (1988) Afro
American History: Primary Sources. 2nd Edition.
Chicago: Dorsey Press.
Harding, Vincent (1981) There
is a River. New York: Vintage.
Henry, Charles (1990) Culture
and African American Politics. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
McPherson, James et. al. (1971)
Blacks in America: Bibliographic Essays. Garden City: Anchor
Books.
