What Exactly is Black Culture?

Melanoid Nation — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:08:46 +0000

Culture is defined as a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, and so forth. Another definition is a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in place or organization.
For centuries, black people have let others, particularly those in the dominant society, define black culture for us. However, it is essential that blacks in America establish our own principles regardless of what others think or say, and we have yet to do that.
Some believe that black culture is already defined here in America. They point to rap and hip hop as indicative of the black experience. What language is rap performed in? English. Blacks were not brought to America from England. Mariachi bands don’t perform their songs in English. They perform them in their native tongue, which is Spanish.
Others will point to the black church as a staple in black dogmas. However, our native religion and spiritual practices were not Christian. That was taught to slaves in order to accept their subservient position in America. The Chinese and Indian cultures are not mostly Christian because they are aware of and practice their original divine beliefs.
An argument can be made that soul food is symbolic of black practices. This is also not true. Most of the dishes considered soul food are not specifically found in African countries. Not to mention that the image for fried chicken is a confederate colonel from the South.
Chinese, Mexican, Irish, Italian, and Polish ethnicities have specific food, dances, and languages that no other nation can adopt as their own. The Scottish even have a specific musical instrument that cannot be duplicated.
America has also made concessions to some of these nations to ensure their transition is smooth. There is a Chinatown a Spanish-speaking section in nearly all metropolitan cities in United States. When is the last time anyone has been to Africatown?
In addition, all the aforementioned cultures have a country that they can go home to. Blacks in America know they are from Africa, but that is the largest continent in the world, and it has a vast array of countries within it. In order for blacks to find out exactly what country in Africa in which they come from would take extensive research.
The fact that we have not established a culture all to our own is why many copy the style and mannerisms of blacks and why we are such trendsetters in the worlds of music, entertainment, and fashion.
So what can be done to circumvent the problem? Blacks must establish a code of conduct in order to combat this inequity. There needs to be a widely accepted form of behavior and thought that will transcend whatever any other culture tries to foist on us. When it concerns blacks, one person’s behavior accounts for all black people’s behavior because we haven’t established a code.
It will take a concerted effort and it will not be done overnight. Being black in America is equivalent to being a zoo animal: thrust into a foreign land and made to be a product to entertain and a product to be contained.

Ken Woods

Ethnic groups – Melanoid Nation Foundation

What Exactly is Black Culture?