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I honestly feel that this depends on the individual and what region of the country they're from. It could be said that native Black Americans in California or New York lean more towards European customs, but no one will ever convince me that the same is true down south, in a city like New Orleans or with the Gullah people of the Atlantic Coast.
It can't be denied that blacks in the Western world are indeed influenced by European culture, but the extent to which that is true is being exaggerated a bit here, in my honest opinion.
Very true. By reading some of these comments you would think the average black American from East Oakland or New Orleans or Washington DC could be just be dropped into any European country and seamlessly intergrate. And when people say African Americans are more "European" they make the same mistake people make with Africa by lumping a group of diverse countries together.
Which European countries are we talking about here? Spain? England? Slovenia? The Netherlands? Italy? Black Americans have more in common with those people (who have many differences of their own) than they do with people in Ghana or Nigeria? I guess it depends on what similarites or differences you are looking for.
I do wonder how the good protestants in England would react to my Voodoo believing grandmother from Louisiana.
I stick out like a sore thumb in neighborhoods just a few blocks from my own home, here in Houston.
I certainly never said I have no connection to Europe. Did someone else say that?
I would stick out like a sore thumb in any neighborhood in Houston, black or white. I've never been there ut I can't imagine Black Americans really feeling like they belong there or are even wanted there. Here again, I am speaking with a west coast bias. In some parts of Southern California, I might feel invisible but wouldn't say I feel like I stick out all that much. In other places I have felt actually embraced as a Black American by everyone, like I was just another American.
Very true. By reading some of these comments you would think the average black American from East Oakland or New Orleans or Washington DC could be just be dropped into any European country and seamlessly intergrate. And when people say African Americans are more "European" they make the same mistake people make with Africa by lumping a group of diverse countries together.
Which European countries are we talking about here? Spain? England? Slovenia? The Netherlands? Italy? Black Americans have more in common with those people (who have many differences of their own) than they do with people in Ghana or Nigeria? I guess it depends on what similarites or differences you are looking for.
I do wonder how the good protestants in England would react to my Voodoo believing grandmother from Louisiana.
I lived in East Oakland so...
I have to wonder if a Black American could sit down and eat a traditional dish in Ghana or Nigeria. The average Black American is terrified of any living thing that's not a typical house-hold pet. Could they really deal with the wildlife in Africa? Most Black Americans are deeply connected to their religion and the vast majority belong to some sort of protestant denomination. A good chunk of those are Baptist which I believe has it's origins in the Netherlands. Others are Methodist which I believe comes out of England. then there is the English language which is a West Germanic language which means the average Black American has more in common linguistically with northern European countries.
I would stick out like a sore thumb in any neighborhood in Houston, black or white. I've never been there ut I can't imagine Black Americans really feeling like they belong there or are even wanted there. Here again, I am speaking with a west coast bias. In some parts of Southern California, I might feel invisible but wouldn't say I feel like I stick out all that much. In other places I have felt actually embraced as a Black American by everyone, like I was just another American.
Well, that's never really been the case. Houston is actually a great city for African-Americans, and we've had a large and notable presence here since slavery. My point was that, like in most major cities, there are certain neighborhoods where someone who looks like me would look out of place.
So if you were in a room with someone from London and someone from Africa, you would feel more in common with the person from Africa. Now what if you were in a room with a person from Africa and just some other white American?
So if you were in a room with someone from London and someone from Africa, you would feel more in common with the person from Africa. Now what if you were in a room with a person from Africa and just some other white American?
While we would definitely have our differences, the chances are I would have more in common with the White American, just as the White American may feel they'd have more in common with me than they would someone from London.
My objection comes in when someone says that all Black Americans are moreEuropean than they are African.
Well, that's never really been the case. Houston is actually a great city for African-Americans, and we've had a large and notable presence here since slavery. My point was that, like in most major cities, there are certain neighborhoods where someone who looks like me would look out of place.
I should have been more clear. there's a difference in looking out of place and feeling out of place. I personally would feel out of place in any Texas or southern city. Would I look out of place? Probably not but how you think you look to others and how they actually see you are two different things.
I should have been more clear. there's a difference in looking out of place and feeling out of place. I personally would feel out of place in any Texas or southern city. Would I look out of place? Probably not but how you think you look to others and how they actually see you are two different things.
To be honest African Americans are more European than African but that is no fault of their own. I would say that Haiti and parts of Brazil (not all of Brazil) have the most visible West African culture. When I was a growing up in Ibadan (South West Nigeria) alot of these Brazilians from Bahia would come to town to enjoy our traditional festivals..They still do to this day. Plenty of Caribbeans are just like African Americans..Jamaica, Trinidad, all these other places..I see very little African culture there. Banging drums and throwing an "African themed" Festival once a year doesn't really show that you have any real African heritage.
We may have European blood, but African Americans are more African culturally than European, and I don't really think we have that much in common with Europeans culturally.
Many aspects of African culture survive with African Americans. They didn't beat everything out of us! African American culture, just like other cultures of the African Diaspora is rooted in West Africa. These things, what historians call "Africanisms" survived us. So, if you want to know what's African about us? Our creativity, our music, our cooking, language (many African root words are in the English language). Food staples like okra, yams, black eyed peas, cassava and rice were sent over here with us on the slave ships and we turned it into Soul Food. There are other things, too. As an African American I have a culture that is distinct from White American culture, but which overtime became part of the overall American culture.
Raymond Bial says it best in this passage from The Strength of These Arms: Life in the Slave Quarters:
African-Americans did not simply accept slavery, they created new lives for themselves "out of what they found around them." Slaves were able to preserve some elements of their African heritage. Recent excavations of slave quarters have uncovered artifacts such as cowrie shells, which were used as money in Africa, and pottery in African styles. [M]any African words, such as banjo, mumbo-jumbo, jam, okra, juke, chigger, and goober have become part of the English language (p.7-8). Clothing was supplied by their owners, "yet wherever they could, slaves expressed their independence by keeping elements of African dress. Many young women wore beaded necklaces called charm strings to bring good luck. Occasionally men braided their hair in plaits similar to African cornrows and women tied their hair with string and bits of cloth in African styles. Most of the women and some of the men wore had kerchiefs similar to those worn in Africa. Slaves along the Mississippi River work had cloths like the turbans of West African were popular" (p.17-18). Slaves also raised their own cabbage, collards, turnips, peanuts, and corn in garden plots by their cabins. They found also found ways to make their meals more like the spicy African Food they remembered - bland park and stew became barbecue and gumbo" (p. 19-20). Many slaves had been farmers in Africa. This knowledge and ability allowed them to undertake the formidable tasks of managing the rice plantations.
We may have European blood, but African Americans are more African culturally than European, and I don't really think we have that much in common with Europeans culturally.
I don't think Black-Americans are that directly African.
I do believe we still have African sensibilities that we apply to various things. When I say we aren't that African but still have African sensibilities I mean in the sense that you can't find many direct African cultural things with Black-Americans but we approach certain things in an African way. Like we don't speak any African languages but African linguistics has influenced "black english". We don't practice African religions but we approach Christianity in an African way. We don't play music that's African but we approach music in general with some African sensibilities.
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