Influence of Slavery on Urban
Blacks Culture
UST 202
Cleveland State University
For one to understand the
influence of slavery on African American culture, one must also understand the
roots and the origins of slavery. Slavery in the United was abolished on
December 6th 1865, which was 149 years ago to date. Although slavery
ended, the fallout still remains; the trauma left behind scars on the African
American society that have never and probably will never truly heal. Over time,
this has transformed and continues to transform the thought process of
practically every black person in America.
From the 16th to 19th
centuries, Europeans began what is called the triangular slave trade along the
Atlantic Ocean it was a forced migration whereby West Africans were made to
endure a horrendous journey to the west where they would subsequently be
treated like animals; fear was the tactic of slave owners; they would abuse,
stigmatize and demoralize kidnapped Africans in order to control them.Although
West Africans also owned slaves, they were often criminals and prisoners of war
and some African chiefs sold Africans to Europeans as well.
When slaves were brought to
America, they were often sold at auctions like animals and were primarily used
as workers in plantations where they were treaded like they were commodities. Slaves
got married regardless of the probability of being separated this created
stronger bonds asthey would frequently have relationships with each other and
start families and then the children born from said relationships would automatically
become the property of the slave owners. The slave owners had the authority to
sell any slaves they owned and would frequently break up families by selling
members off to make profit or for spite. The hardships that slaves endured
brought about a sense of solidarity and community, which led to the development
of a very strong cultural identity where they looked out for each other as best
as their situations could allow.
When slaves were introduced to
Christianity, their source of solace became religion and from there, they
created their own form of prayer and worship and this form of religion was an
expression of their daily lives and the things they endured. They adopted the
call and response method of singing from working in the fields and merged it
into their spirituals and the music in their worship.They would often change
the lyrics of their spirituals to reflect their hope for freedom and also as a
form of silent resistance (Spilsbury, 2010).
Now that a brief history on
slavery has been provided, the topic can be addressed. African American culture
is undoubtedly rooted in the historical experiences endured by Blacks as a
result of slavery. Urban African American culture can be referred to as a
subculture within another subculture; it is an influential, distinct part of
black culture as a whole in the culture of the United States of America. In the
time of slavery, Slaves were not allowed to practice their original beliefs,
cultures, values or traditions reminiscent of their origins, which lead them to
make certain modifications and merge them with the traditions of other groups
such as the Europeans and Native Americans. As France Ntloedibe (2006) notes, this
enabled and helped them to cope with the “oppressive conditions of American
slavery” (p. 410). This created a brand new African American culture indicative
of the cultures and traditions of West and central Africa—because majority of
the slaves were brought from those parts of Africa—that essentially took on a
new life and impacted American culture and the world as a whole (Ntloedibe, 2006).
Due to racial discrimination and
slavery, African American culture has always been distinct from but important
to American culture because white Americans wanted no part of it and Black
Americans wanted something made them individual that belonged solely to them,
which others could not comprehend. African American slaves created and
maintained their own traditions that we see in our society today.
A very important part of African
cultures were religious beliefs which involved ancestral rituals and rites
intended to appease the gods and deceased ancestors to enable them live happy
and prosperous lives without calamities such as droughts, floods or famine so
they would always take care of their surroundings as a show of respect and
gratitude. This coincides with the belief in spiritual possession and an
afterlife whereby ancestors or deceased martyrs were the mediators or
messengers of the living and the gods. After the visit of missionaries,
Christianity slowly proliferated in theirsomewhat societal gatherings, which
brought about a complex fused religious dynamic to the enslaved Africans that
has been passed down for generations and is now engrained in black culture
(Ntloedibe, 2006).
Oral tradition is a very important
aspect of urban black culture as it was a staple aspect of indigenous African
cultures. Slaves had to rely on their speech as a form of communication and
education because their owners for fear of hidden communication and enlightened
ambitions denied them proper education. This lead to the development of oral
tradition as a way to preserve customs, folktales, history and any other
precious cultural information (Shuffelton, 1994). These were used by African
Americans as forms of inspiration and education passed down from generations.
An example of an African American Folktale includes the uncle Remus and Brer
Rabbit stories written by Joel Chandler Harris.
African scholars discovered that
there were noticeablesimilarities found between the Uncle Remus stories and
African animal stories.Research by Berry and Blassingame (1977) noted that
African animal stories “served as the prototype of the well known Uncle Remus
stories” (p. 503) and the plots of at least 13 of the Uncle Remus stories are similar
to those in Hausa stories.After studying more over 1.000 traditional Fulani and
Hausa folktales in Nigeria, H. A. S. Johnston stated that “Brer Rabbit is the
is undoubtedly the direct descendant of the hare of African folktales”(Berry
& Blassingame, 1977, p. 504).
African American oral culture also
leaks into urban black religion, if one were to attend a typical African
American church, they would notice that the preachers/ pastors do not simply
stand in one spot and speak, they enunciate their words and essentially put on
a performance to engage the congregation. They preach with loud expressive
voices and occasionally include spiritual songs that involve dancing and call
and response (Morgan, 2002). In African American churches, a spot located
specifically for the choir or response group is called the amen corner where
they provide unwavering support to the pastors’ sermon and it is acceptable for
the congregation to interrupt the preacher when they are ‘filled with the Holy
Spirit’.
The buildings where religious
sermons take place and the members of the service are collectively referred to
in our society today as the Black church. Because many slaves were forced into
Christianity, the fusing of African traditions and Christianity occurred often
in secret meetings where slaves integrated practices such as dancing, passionate
singing, rhyming and so on and these practices remain an enormous part of the
Black church today. Black churches focused on messages that promoted hope,
freedom and a brighter future (Ntloedibe, 2006) and Richard Allen formed the
first ever African American denominational church in 1787 and it is called the
AME (African Methodist Episcopal)
Church. Other aspects of African American oral tradition include rhyming,
wordplay, rap and spoken word (Allison, 1999). The art of spoken word is a
tradition that was influenced by African American preachers, which involves
rhythm, engaging an audience and in some cases, signifying. Spoken word and rap
are African American traditions that have become mainstream and engrained in
pop culture today.
From the 20th century,
many African Americans——still being heavily subjugated by racism and
segregation——started moving from the South to the North on a large rate at the
dawn of the First World War. Due to the laws that restricted European
immigration, there was an availability of jobs and need for industrial human
labor (Miller & Wheeler, 1997). Compared to what it was, the move to the North
substantially improved the quality of their lives. Urban Black culture
flourished in the new environments despite the persistent oppression they
faced.
A city in uptown New York called
Harlem was a beacon for black immigrants from the south where black culture and
businesses thrived. When the First World War ended, a group of Black creative
individuals (artists, musicians, writers, intellectuals) who sought a cultural
identity found their creative energy in their daily struggle to be Black and
American at the same timethe name of this movement was called the Harlem Renaissance,
which was the first major public acknowledgment of urban Black culture. The
people the center of this movement included Langston Hughes, Rudolph Fisher,Nella
Larsen, Jean Toomer, Zora
Neale Hurston, Wallace Thurman,Wallace Thurman Claude McKay, Charles S. Johnson
and other Black artists and philosophers (History.com, 2009).
Langston Hughes in particular
adopted the language of the black ghetto and the rhythm of jazz to artistically
narrate the daily Black experience in is poems. This is seen in African
American music today when rappers and musicians draw from their daily
collective struggles and channel all that energy into their music. Zora Neale
Hurston also transformed African American Oral Culture into literary works of
art (Berry & Blassingame, 1977).
Outline of further topics to touch on:
·
Neighborhood
(the hood/ghetto)
o
Origin
and formation of
·
Family
systems
o
Dynamics
and traditions/ rites of passage
·
Food
o
Origin
of soul food
·
Political
and social consciousness
References
Berry,
M. F., & Blassingame, J. W. (1977). Africa, Slavery, & the Roots of Contemporary Black
Culture. The Massachusetts Review, 18(3),
501–516..jstor.org/stable/25088766″>http://www.jstor.org/stable/25088766
Davis, D. W., & Brown, R. E. (2002). The Antipathy of Black Nationalism:
Behavioral and Attitudinal Implications of an African American Ideology. American
Journal of Political Science, 46(2), 239–252..org/10.2307/3088374″>http://doi.org/10.2307/3088374
Lawler, S. (2003). [Review of CULTURAL TRAUMA: Slavery
and the Formation
of African American Identity]. American
Studies, 44(1/2),
287–289. Retrieved from
.jstor.org/stable/40643455″>http://www.jstor.org/stable/40643455
Morgan, M. (2002). Language, discourse, and power in African American culture. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Ntloedibe, F. (2006). A Question of Origins: The Social and Cultural Roots of African American
Cultures. The Journal of African
American History, 91(4), 401–412. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20064123
Shuffelton, F. (1994). Circumstantial Accounts, Dangerous Art: Recognizing
African-American Culture in Travelers’
Narratives. Eighteenth-century
Studies, 27(4), 589-
603.http://doi.org/10.2307/2739441
Spilsbury, R. (2010). Slavery and the Slave Trade.
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Morgan, M. (2002). Language, discourse, and power in African
American culture.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
