...African Americans: The Role of Race Abstract The Following Essay defines and integrates the role race plays on the African American culture in their family values and politics in comparison to the Anglo American Culture. The United States has become increasingly diverse in the last century. While African American families share many features with other U.S. families, the African American family has some distinctive features relating to the timing and approaches to marriage and family formation, gender roles, parenting styles, and strategies for coping with adversity. African cultures, slavery, slave rebellions, and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world...
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...The Civil War brought significant changes for African Americans, as they were freed from slavery. However, rather than achieving complete legal, political, and economic equality during the Reconstruction Era, which lasted from the end of the Civil War until 1877, African Americans continued to be second class citizens. As will be argued in this paper, African Americans experienced hardship and significant discrimination after 1877 due to racist laws, social, economic, and educational inequality; however, as laws and cultural sentiments about blacks changed during the Civil Rights Era, African Americans today have more political, economic, and educational opportunities than ever before. On the following pages, this paper will trace the path of African Americans to equality by discussing salient events in African American history from 1877 to the present. Significantly, as the author believes, while progress has been made since the nineteenth century, complete equality remains elusive even today for many African American men and women. The end of slavery did by no means lead to the immediate equality of African Americans in American society. The years after the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, were characterized by wide-spread discrimination against African Americans. In the South, so-called Jim Crow laws effectively barred African Americans from having very basic civil liberties. Public and social life in the South but also in other places in the United States, was strictly...
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...| African Americans | | | Christy B. | ETH 125 June 5, 2011 | | African Americans Who are we, where did we come from, what has been our experience since we landed on United States soil? The migration of Africans has been very significant in the making of African Americans history and culture. Today's 35 million African Americans are heirs to all the migrations that have formed and transformed African America, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere (The New York Public Library, n.d.). African American history starts in the 1500s with the first Africans coming from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Spanish territories of Florida, Texas, and other parts of the South (The New York Public Library, n.d.). Although we are most familiar with the documented 1619 arrival, in which Africans were brought to the United States aboard a Dutch ship to Jamestown, Virginia for the purpose of slavery. In the 17th century, the United States nation began to grow and white European settlers need more laborers for the production of crops, like cotton and tobacco. In 1793 the cotton industry began to grow. Cheap labor was needed for the tedious task of removing seeds from cotton, which had to be done by hand. Africans were kidnapped from their native land and sold to share croppers for forced labor. The idea of Africans as slaves was embraced and spread rapidly through the North American colonies; making the modern western slavery, known as indentured slavery, which...
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...African American Health Issues Eric Nordberg Grand Canyon University: HLT-305 9-28-2014 The African American population within the United States is a rising minority. There are 44.5 million African Americans in the United States, making up 14.2% of the population. It is projected that by the year 2060, that demographic will rise to 18.4 %( Black or African American Populations, 2014). Similar to any other demographic, the top three causes of death in the African American population are heart disease, cancer, and strokes. Apart from high mortality rate diseases, African Americans have the highest infection rate of HIV and have the highest death rates from homicides (Black or African American Populations, 2014). According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “the health status of African Americans identifies a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and sexually transmitted infections when compared with Whites” (Health Status of African Americans, n.d.). So comparing to the most common population, Caucasians, African Americans across the board have a higher prevalence for many of the major diseases. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average for unemployment is 6.1%; the national average for African Americans is 12.6%. With a higher unemployment rate, African Americans experience a higher rate of not having health insurance (Black or African American Populations, 2014). Apart from unemployment...
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...African Americans Peggy Dismuke SOC: Racial & Ethnic Groups Pamela Creasy December 5, 2011 African Americans No matter where or when a person lives, skin color, beliefs, class, or history he/she will see a difference in the way every ethnic group is treated. This world has never been fair for anyone. Life can treat a person with the greatest of care or it will treat a person as if he/she is lower than dirt. African Americans are no different. They have faced great hardships and triumphs throughout the years. Since they had been forced from their homeland they have been treated as if they had no rights or thoughts of their own. They were placed in the status of slaves even though they were human beings too. No matter if they were placed in the minority group by the dominate majority group of white Americans they remind structurally pluralism by keeping to their beliefs and traditions. Before and after slavery African Americans did not receive equal treatment. “Even when slavery ended, Jim Crow laws went into effect meaning that the very best of everything was reserved for whites only-school, jobs, neighborhoods, hospitals, etc” (Moore, 2008). In other words, the African Americans took the subordinate status to the dominant white Americans. It was their race that was used to dictate what rights they would be allowed to have in America. At one point they did not have the right to be free and over the years they were given that right back. Even...
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...African Americans Final Review Questions True/False 1. The first Africans to come to the Atlantic cost colonies arrived in Jamestown in 1619. True 2. The vast majority of all slaves brought to the Americas between the 1600s and 1860s came to the North American colonies. 3. Approximately 500,000 slaves were imported into the North American colonies/states between the 1600s and the Civil War. True 4. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison were all major slave owners. True 5. The Declaration of Independence contains a strong antislavery statement. False 6. In 1860 approximately one-fourth of southern white families owned almost four million slaves. 7. Although slaves were the legal property of their owners in the American South, the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition assured their fair treatment by protecting the rights of slaves. 8. Slavery was abolished in New England in the 1780s because the majority of the population believed slavery to be morally wrong. False 9. Stereotypes are developed by the dominant group as one means of rationalizing the domination of the subordinate group. True 10. Most lynchers were eventually punished by the U.S. criminal justice system. 11. Today blacks in America are to be found disproportionately in the secondary labor market. True 12. Black voters seldom had a significant impact on election results except in local elections. 13. The number of black elected officials has increased sharply since the passage of the Voting Rights...
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...African Americans Gloria Graham HIS 204 American History Katie Filbeck February 25, 2013 This paper will discuss the progress of African Americans before and after the 1930s. It will also show their struggles and triumphs before and after they were given freedom. African Americans are descendents of Africa, They were brought to America around the 18th century to work and serve as slaves to some of the wealthier whites. They were force to work for little or nothing. They were treated very badly and lived on the plantations of their owners who purchased them through slave trades. African Americans before the 1930s During the Great Depression, blacks suffered a great deal when it came to jobs. Blacks were pushed out of jobs which they held before the depression by whites who would not be caught doing the types of jobs they held. Although Roosevelt administration National Recovery Act (NRA) stated that there was not to be nondiscriminatory in hiring, and blacks should get the same equal pay as whites, it didn’t employ blacks, but it remained to be racist whenever a black was hired. During the Great Depression, unemployment was very high, but there were some like “William Green” President of the American Federation of Labor that opposed segregation, but did nothing to support civil rights. Therefore blacks were forced to organize a separate union. Women during the Great Depression before the 1930s There were also women in the work force. The unemployment was...
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...1. Name - Samira Shaikh 2. MKT 103 - Sec. 771 3. Date -April 22, 2012 Topic - Marketing/Advertising to the African American Community 5. My actual word count for this paper - 1,665 I am highly motivated, and I am committed to excellence. Marketers are now able to use tools such as social networking and email marketing to target prospective customers. Social media has made two-way communication easier between organization and customer and is proving valuable when trying to gain more insight into customer’s attitudes and perceptions.Years ago sales professionals had the majority of information, and we as consumers depended on sales professionals to inform and guide us in our decisions. In the past we needed professional sales people as they controlled the knowledge. Then around 1989 and beyond....the Internet changed everything and gave more power to the consumer. When the Internet began to go mainstream it opened the gates of the information super highway to the consumer in ways that had never been seen before. Then technology, computers, software and automation started taking hold and consumers had much more info at their fingertips to guide them, or at least point them in the right direction. Technological advances are enabling marketing professionals to use more specifically targeted digital channels to get their message across and email marketing is a low cost way to get your message directly to consumers. Digital marketing may be on the rise but print...
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...Introduction: In an attempt to attend to the profound grievance that surpasses eras of African American history, a taking circle is what I will be using to bring solitude to the issue. “A talking circle is a traditional way for Native American people to solve problems. It is a very effective way to remove barriers and to allow people to express themselves with complete freedom.” African Americans have been placed at a great disadvantage for many years by White Americans and continue to endure this placement by many other races through their portrayal on media. If you knew African Americans were one of the main contributors that founded what the United States is, and are highly misrepresented, would you perceive them differently? In such manner,...
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...African Americans and Their Service Daniel Owsley His 204 Instructor Christina Winn October 11, 2010 African Americans and Their Service African Americans have contributed to the security of this nation by serving this country in spite of the racism they faced. From the Civil War to the present war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the African American soldiers have served and broke down racial barriers in the face of adversity. This is a look at the contribution of service to this country as soldiers from 1865 to present day. During the years of the Civil War, 1861-1865, the African Americans were participating in the war whether they were freemen or slaves. In the southern states many slaves were forced to aid in the war effort by the Confederate army. On the other hand, the Northern states turn away black men at the beginning of the Civil War, but towards the end of the war the Northern army (the union) began accepting Negro soldiers into the army. “For the black soldier in the Union Army, the reason for the war was to free the slaves”, although President Lincolns effort was to save the Union. Emancipation or freedom of the slaves became a major part of the Civil War and it provided additional resources to the Union Army in the way of black soldiers (Simmonds & Carter, 2010). According to Simmonds and Carter (2010), the “Negro Soldiers” fought bravely and won praise in over 200 battles during the Civil War (Para. 4). One of the most recognized or famous black regiment...
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...AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN IN 1945-1970 Name Institution After the war concluded, the reality of emancipation was experienced but the conflicts between the African and Americans were far from being resolved. The years of post war were monumental since it was during this duration that equality between African Americans was experienced. Although the whites had gladly embraced the blacks during the war, when the black soldiers came back home and were treated like second-class citizens. African American women are not entitled to rights of being an American citizen. They are not also given the privilege of being respected like the white women. This makes Negro women live in a world of their own and not in an integrated world. Although the dangers of being racially segregated have been well stated and experienced, little is being done to ensure equality. In explaining that a black woman has no equal rights in Columbia Tennessee, a disputed erupted between a white shopkeeper and a navy veteran. They had a dispute regarding a black woman who had issues with paying her. The black navy was charged and he pleaded guilty for disturbing the peace of the. He was later fined fifty dollars. Later he was fined, he was later arrested and charged with assault and murder. There were protests and the next day they white police officer came, violated the blacks, and arrested hundreds. Women were left without their husbands and without any protection. This would in turn result to insecurities,...
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...AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSICALS (1898-1920) Fortunately for American Musical Theater, many of the black artists who had been honing their craft in vaudeville and black minstrelsy began to turn their talents to musical comedy. 1898—Clorindy, the Origin of the Cakewalk Clorindy was the first black musical to make it to Broadway. It was not actually in a theater, it was presented on the roof garden of the Casino Theater (roof gardens were outdoor nightclubs on the roofs of many theaters—very popular in the summertime). The roof gardens provided a venue for Broadway producers to try out new talent before putting the performer in a Broadway show. Will Marion Cook, one of the most famous black composers of the time, conceived the show. In essence, he tricked Edward Rice (Evangeline—1874—1st musical comedy with an original score) into presenting the show on his roof garden by sneaking into a rehearsal and convincing the conductor of the orchestra to play his music. Cook placed his performers on stage and 26 of the finest black voices in America launched into a song that resonated off the rooftop. They were hired. On opening night there were 50 people in the audience at the beginning of the show and a packed house by the end of the first number. Broadway theater patrons heard the voices coming off the roof as they were leaving the theaters on the streets below and flocked to the roof garden. The show seems to have been more of a revue format with a very loose story that centered...
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...Africa-Americans Ever since African Americans were slaves, the population of the African Americans during 1860’s in the northern America was about 1% after American Revolution. They experienced discrimination since the beginning based on the color of their skin. This race was perceived to be inferior compared to the whites. Because of discrimination, they were not given some civil rights such as voting. The illogical premise to support this claim was given by the state that the law forbade in certain areas. During this period, the New York Convention stated that only those African Americans with property had the right to vote (Dagbovie, 2007). In essence, during this time they were struggling to get employment and most of them were not financial stable. African Americans have undergone a lot in history and in the present American some of them hold political positions (The president of the United States), manage large firms, and have equal rights like other citizen. In fact I has never been this way, they were unjustly treated and undergone through difficulties that the today’s generation may not understand. The black generation has undergone various challenges in their history that the current generation can never believe to be true and valid. This paper explores the historical background of the conditions this community undergone and how they overcame the racial discrimination, segregation and isolation to acquire equality. Segregation The term segregation denotes...
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...trying to get ahead, it was about “achieving peace and harmony through a World Black Revolution that demolishes white power.” Black Power organizations were only open to those of African American decent and were completely closed to all other races....
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...against each other on strategies for black economic and social advancement. Their opposing ideas or arguments can be analyzed in discussions over the ways to end class and racial injustice and the roles of black leadership. Nevertheless, whose philosophy is more convincing? Both W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington are significant and inspirational African American leaders on the matter of education for black people in the history. Their two African American leadership tactics for racial equality were divided into economic strategy and political strategy near the turn of the century. The most intense controversy in African American leadership at that time erupted between two remarkable black leaders: W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. Du Bois was the major spokesman for gradualist political strategy. On the other side, Washington was the dominant advocate of the gradualist economic strategy. In the speech, The Talented Tenth, the author, W. E. B. Du Bois, argued for the higher education of black people. The term, The Talented Tenth, was created by Du Bois to depict the likeliness of one out ten African Americans turning into leaders of their race worldwide, through writing and publishing books, carrying on their academic trainings, or involving in social changes directly. He declares “to attempt to establish any sort of a system of common and industrial school training, without first (and I say first advisedly) without first providing for the higher training of...
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