The family to many individuals is perhaps the single most important influence on their life. From birth, we are taught the boundaries, rules, rituals and traditions that we as humans justify as normal from those who we call family. Among the many things that we are taught, we learn that the nuclear formation of a family, often a white family with two heterosexual parents and two kids is considered the social norm for the construction of families, and anything that does not follow that framework is considered a deviance from society. Due to many outside factors, such as slavery and limited opportunities for success, the progress of the black family in America has increasingly been severed when being compared to the Euro-American version of family. However, with the help of African culture and values, the construction of black family has been able to overcome the obstacles and break its’ way into the middle class from humble beginnings.
The Olmec civilization, was the first civilization established in the Americas. The Olmec’s told in many instances of seeing African peoples. Verbally, natives told Columbus of seeing African peoples, who they perceived as Gods with gold spears, chains and crowns. Visually, The Olmec’s created stone heads depicting the African peoples they met, and placed these stone heads at their holy sites. Next, there was physical evidence of the Africans being in the Americas.
During the end of the eighteenth century African American slaves living on large plantations began creating families and communities within the plantations. In the lower south of the slave states, which were densely populated slave communities, a task system was developed that benefited slaves. This system allowed an African American slave to be assigned a task to complete, once the task was completed on many occasions the slave master treated that worker as if the job was done for the day and didn’t call on him or her to complete another task. In the northern region of the slave states the slave population was much less dense than farther south. Slaves in these northern slave communities were in contact with white Americans far more often than slaves in the lower south, which left the slaves exposed to greater scrutiny to slave
The continent of Africa is very diverse in its culture. Not only are there culture variations from one country to another, but within an individual country as well. Much of Africa’s cultural activity centers on family and ethnic groups. Art, music and oral literature serve to reinforce existing religious and social patterns. Many of Africa’s inhabitants are of indigenous origin, which contributes to the scientific notation that Africa was the birthplace of all human species.
As the African- American people who were enslaved gained literacy and began to write about their experiences, they incorporated figures from oral tradition into their written creations. These stories spread and became folklore in America; however, these also existed in Africa as well. These tales were also important in Africa as well because when most were not able to perfectly remember their culture, these stories helped represent African cultures and traditions. , "The Jackal and the Leopard," featured in Black folktales by Julius Lester underscores the importance of honesty, fairness, wisdom, and courage as qualities that are essential for creating stable communities and governments everywhere in the world. The animals featured in this story were once found throughout most of Africa.
African American Advancement Since 1865, African Americans have been a big target on the face of racism, to include segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Many people ask how African Americans were able to jump start their move up in society and work their way up to where they are now, if they had absolutely no freedom in 1865. This question has many answers, some of which I will discuss. I will discuss how African Americans have worked and fought in many ways to earn their freedom and attempt to put an end to racism. Stating the facts of how African Americans were able to come together as one race and exhaust all attempts to be like all other Americans will provide a few answers as to how they worked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to obtain equality and civil rights.
Status is extremely important and is shown outwardly by wearing things. My final observation from the art museum is about the rituals in African society. Most of the pieces of art were to be used at specific times in the life of an African. I saw items used for weddings, death, and especially for coming of age ceremonies. There were carvings of men and women with scarring to mark major events.
African American Family Ethnicity SOC 312: Marriage & Family Abstract African American Family ethnicity shares several simularities with the West African culture. Many common practices can be traced back to and even before slavery. Ancestor lineage is generally passed down through the mother’s ancestors. Religion is a major value in the African American ethnicity; rules that were passed down from generation to generation are still being followed. Some of the traditions can still be seen today in my family.
In many sub-Saharan African countries, there are several churches that subscribe to traditional African religious practices. Other than formal churches, there are two types of such churches: those founded by missionaries and those found by Africans themselves. The issue of missionaries trying to convince indigenous Africans to remain monogynous must have been contentious, to say the least. Polygyny is a deeply rooted part of African culture and religion. Marriage, it goes without saying is very critical in African society.
“The contamination was largely due to the incursion into these communities by some majority social scientists, accompanied by black ultraconservative professionals who help pave the way for African-American exploitation” (See, 2007, p. 7). The black experience is an experience difficult to collect data on with the connection to Africa, however See (2007) suggest until social scientist are able to develop accurate information regarding the black experience, researchers should continue using the theoretical strips as a model for examining the behavior of African