American and African Culture

The Afri provoke American enculturation includes different ethnic traditions of African-American comm social unities. It is more famously named as the faint acculturation. match to McKinnon, The joined States Census Bureau the African Americans as people who sop up origins in any of the calamitous race groups that came from Africa. forrader the accomplished War, the Africans were held as slaves in America.As slaves, their rights to exercise and practice their cultures and traditions were restricted. Nevertheless, there were virtually traditions that were kept alive up to the day of their liberation after the Civil War until it was recognized to skeletal frame and identity as African American refining. The way of survival of such(prenominal) traditions was to blend with some of the elements of the culture in America or the American Culture.This paper serves as a descriptive essay that shall include the succeeding(a) aspects of the African American Culture Meanings of col ors affectionate Customs impression of Time enclothe and nutrition Religion Marriage, Birth, Death (whether there be special rituals fellad with any of these) Holiday Ethical values Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication. The African American Culture is also a mixture of other cultures beca practise as salves, the Africans require to blend with the American Culture in order that their culture may survive.It also has blended with the European culture due to the establish up ones mind of European culture to American Culture. The survival of the African American Culture is a symbol in itself that speaks of the persistence of the Africans to liberate them from slavery and shellually establish an identity of their own through their cultures and traditions. Meanings of colors Use precaution when teaching about color symbolism. Symbolism of colors vary from culture to culture.Color is considered one of the most useful and powerful design tools you have. People suffice to differe nt colors in different ways, and these responses take place on a subconscious, emotional level. In African American culture, black has farseeing been associated with death, while white is believed to signify life and purity. In the African American culture, the black has also come to suggest sophistication and formality. Americans generally associate trust stability with the color blue. Social Customs and Ethical valuesThe Social customs in the African American culture includes a form and form of slave based custom since they have been enslaved for a commodious time. The social customs involves the social and political issues where the African Americans continue to struggle. ahead the Civil War, the African slaves were not given the right to vote, but when the right to vote Rights Act was passed, African Americans then were allowed to vote and elect in public removeice. Another aspect of the social custom of the African Americans is their concept of family.Due to the chattel slavery that was sound forward in America, it was noble-minded for slave families to be sold apart from each other as separate sales. Nevertheless, after the years of slavery, the families of African Americans became a recognized unit of the society, which serves as the backbone in organizing a community. The nature of the families and communities built by African Americans are patriarchal but women are also recognized to help in the raising of the family. Mutual aid is also practiced by extended families through childcare, emotional, and economic support.African Americans have close family ties olibanum it is easy for the older generations to pass on their cultures and traditions to the new generations who in wriggle will pass such to the future generations to come. The younger members of the family also personate a high regard for their elders that they themselves take care of their elders instead of opting for tete-a-tete care. This strong ties of the African American fami lies keeps their family together thus creating a stronger society. apprehension of TimeThe African American concept of time is still based on their being once a slave who are compel guide to wake up early before sunrise to get to work and then catnap late at night after fixing all that is needed for tomorrows work. The African Americans have always been hardworking. For the African Americans who were raise from the doom of slavery, time is a very important concept to success. Clothing The article of clothing of the African Americans has been influenced by the modern fashion and West African conventional clothing to create a uniquely African American traditional style. The best-know African textile is the Kente Cloth.According to an article on African traditional clothing, Kente cloth is woven in colorful and snappy patterns that are present in many different varieties which were genuinely do by Ashanti and Ewe who came from Ghana and Togo that which according to history, it w as fabric that are used to conduct the clothes for the royalties during the early times until it eventually became a common clothing for the African Americans that ranges from casual t-shirts to formal bow ties and cummerbands, and also head ties for women. Food Food for the African Americans is one way of bringing a family together.The traditional cook out is one of the most renowned heritage of the African American families. This is a once a week event where families benefit and simply cook the best food for their family just at their backyard. after(prenominal) which they enjoy themselves with simple cocktails and listening to soulful music with soulful dances. According to the History of Soul food, the gardening cultivation and use of many coarse products in the united States, such as yams, peanuts, rice, okra, sorghum, grits, watermelon, indigo dyes, and cotton can be draw from African impact.Such African American foods manifest keen replies to racial and economic repres sion. Under slavery, African Americans were not permitted to eat break out cuts of meat, and after liberation, many frequently were too underprivileged to manage to accept for them. Soul food, a hearty cuisine generally related with African Americans in the South, makes ingenious use of low-priced products acquired through farming and substinence lookup and fishing. Pig intestines are boiled and sometimes pound and fried to make chitterlings.Ham hocks and neck bones offer seasoning to soups bean and boiled greens. Other common foods, such as fried chicken, and fish, cornbread and hoppin john are simply prepared. Religion While African Americans practice a issue forth of religions, Protestant Christianity is by far the most popular. Additionally, 14% of Muslims in the United States and Canada are African American. A river baptism in New Bern, North Carolina go about the turn of the 20th century. The religious culture of African American Christians is known as the dumb churc h building.During slavery, many slaves were stripped of their African belief systems and typically denied free religious practice. However, slaves managed to hang on to some practices by consolidation them into Christian worship in secret meetings. These practices, including dance, shouts, African rhythms, and enthusiastic singing, expect a large part of worship in the Black church. Black churches taught that all people were equal in Gods eyes and viewed the doctrine of esteem to ones master taught in White churches as hypocritical. Instead the Black church focused on the message of equality and hopes for a better future. Before and after emancipation, racial segregation in America prompted the development of nonionic Black Denominations. The first of these was the AME Church founded by Richard Allen in 1787. A Black church is not necessarily a separate denomination. Several predominantly Black churches exist as members of predominantly White denominations. Black churches ha ve served to provide Blacks with leadership positions and opportunities to organize that were denied in mainstream American society.Because of this Black pastors became the bridge deck between the Black and White communities and thus played a of import role in the American Civil Rights Movement. On the other hand, generations before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, Islam was a thriving religion in West Africa. Slaves in the Americas were ofttimes forcibly converted to Christianity and while first-generation slaves were a lot able to retain their Muslim identity, their descendants were not. In the decades after slavery, some Black leaders sought to provide freed slaves with self-esteem and an opportunity to reconnect with their Muslim roots.The best known of these movements is the Black Nationalist and Black supremacist Nation of Islam founded by Wallace Fard in 1930 and lead by Elijah Muhammad from 1934. But much like Malcolm X, who remaining the Nation of Islam in 1960, many African American Muslims now total traditional Islam. Marriage, Birth, Death (are there special rituals associated with any of these? ) The bride in an African American wedding refers to the tradition of Yoruba. This very eldritch service reflects the prudence of the African family by the sharing of gifts and love. The ceremony process may unhorse about a month before the wedding with a spiritual reading.Elements of the actual ceremony may include a Libation (a prayer with an offering, ordinarily water or liquor offered by an elder). This ritual calls upon and asks Gods blessing and the blessings of ancestral spirits. The groom verbally seeks permission from the brides mother to marry her daughter. Gifts are presented to the brides family mean the ability of the groom to take care of this woman. They are accepted by the brides father. Other elements of the ceremony may include a tasting and definition of spices, prayers, exchange of rings.A great festivity follows. H oliday The African Americans are gay in nature that they like other ethnic groups remark holidays and eternalise events in honor of their heroes and patrons. One of the most famous African American Holiday is the Black History Month, which is a month long celebration where they commemorate their experiences of slavery until their emancipation from oppression. This includes the birthdays of Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln who were the considered African American heroes during the Civil War.Another holiday is the Martin Luther Day in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. he was also one African American Hero who they owe their liberation. Kwanzaa is a colorful festival invented by an activist named Maulana Ron Karenga in 1966 as think to be an alternative for the celebration of Christmas. Moreover is the Emancipation Day where they celebrate their freedom from slavery in the United States. Finally is the Malcolm X Day, which is an event to commemorate the achievements of Malcolm X, another nationalist during the civil war. Verbal and Non-Verbal CommunicationGenerations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to reject communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidgins, simplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages could use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Haiti, and Gullah, common to the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. African American Vernacular English is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language spoken by some African Americans that shares some grammatical and orthographically features with Creole and West African languages. While AAVE is academically conside red to be a legitimate dialect, it is often viewed by teachers and other members of the middle-class, regardless of race or ethnicity, as either tantalize or the result of a poor understanding of the English language. ReferencesBerlin, Ira. some(prenominal) Thousands Gone The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. 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