Ethnic Culture

Situation
By Angela Blankenship

African American Culture

Americas First Africans

Antonio a Negro/ Anthony
Johnson
First African in America
(Jamestown Settlement)
Was indentured servant
Credited as being
instrumental in the
legalization of making
slavery legal when he sued
a neighbor for his slave to
be returned

Slavery

Anthony Johnson

("Anthony Johnson," n.d.)

Americas First Africans

1620-1650 Could expect
50-250 acres upon
completion of indented
time

1630-1670 Africans
owned indented white
servants
1860 Black population was
4.5mil; 500k blacks lived in
the South; 261,988 of them
were not slaves

Slavery

Jamestowne Settlement
today

SlaveRebellion.org

Americas First Africans

1790-1860 Mulatto
manumissions were
women & inherited
slaves from their white
fathers
It is believed that this is
how light skin/dark skin
prejudice amongst
blacks began

Slavery

The slave market Atlanta, Georgia 1864

(Library of Congress)

SlaveRebellion.org

African American Culture

Southern & Black Cultures
are often so intertwined it
can be almost impossible to
delineate
Foods thought by most to
be Southern are actually
from Africa brought by slave
owners to feed slaves.
Native American & Spanish
cultures influence African
American foods

Food

okra

black eyed peas

peanuts

watermelon

African American Culture

Meals are a large part of
African American life
Croakers Spot
(Petersburg, VA) features
Soul Seafood and
jazz/blues bands
Mr. Croakers opened his
first restaurant in Harlem.
It was a gathering place for
music & good times.

Food

African American Culture

For years African
Americans have put harsh
chemicals (often referred
to as creamy crack on
their hair to achieve
straight hair
The chemicals are caustic
and often have harmful
and permanent side effects

Hair

African American Culture

Back to Natural
Movement (chemical
free)
Refusal to be held to white
American beauty
standards
Are mixed races black
enough to be included in
the movement?
White?

Hair

African American Culture

People of color were forced
to attend white churches that
would be off limits to them after
the Civil War
By the end of the 18th century
many people of color were joining
Baptist Churches
Anglican Church of Virginia &
Catholic Church of Maryland
had submitted to colonial laws
forbidding pastors/priests from
blessing mixed marriages
(Hashaw, 2007, p.183)

Religion

First African Baptist Church

Petersburg, Virginia
Est. 1774
Oldest black church in the nation
Victim of fire
Congregation moved to Oak Street

Gillfield Baptist Church

Petersburg, Virginia
Est. 1779
One of the oldest black churches
in the country
Second oldest in Petersburg
Oldest handwritten book of any
black church

("Cultural Heritage - Virginia Is For Lovers," n.d.)

African American Culture

39% of all American
population reports religion
important vs 53% of
African Americans("A Religious
Portrait of African-Americans | Pew Research Center's
Religion & Public Life Project," n.d.)

Sunday church services

are usually a reason to
wear semi-formal attire

Religion

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African American Culture

Strong sense of kinship
60% of kinship foster
care were African
American vs 45% in
non-kin foster care
Kinship care appears
to be far more common
in the South (Green, 2004)

Family

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Conclusions
African American culture can vary regionally
and individually
Varying socio-economic levels for blacks
today which means they are no longer
united by slavery (Robinson, 2010, p. 20)
Challenging to determine what IS black
culture

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Conclusions
Definitions of black culture can vary from
one generation to the next and one
individual to the next.
We shouldnt project our assumptions that
every black person experiences or feels
oppression because of his or her skin color

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References
A Religious Portrait of African-Americans | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life
Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-ofafrican-americans/
Anthony Johnson. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blkhistory.com/m/articles/view/AnthonyJohnson
The Black Slave Owners - SlaveRebellion.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://slaverebellion.org/index.php?page=the-black-slave-owners
Cultural Heritage - Virginia Is For Lovers. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.virginia.org/directory/culturalheritage/
Green, R. (2004). The evolution of kinship care policy and practice. Children, Families, and
Foster Care, 14(1). Retrieved from
http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?
journalid=40&articleid=138ionid=907&submit
Hashaw, T. (2007). The birth of Black America: The first African Americans and the pursuit of
freedom at Jamestown. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.
Robinson, E. (2010). Disintegration: The splintering of Black America. New York: Doubleday.

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References
Slavery in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/slavery.html
Toxins in Cosmetics. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/cosmetics/relaxers-healtheffects.html

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