African Diaspora through My Lens

What Africa has given America Discussion?

African peoples have had a profound impact on American culture, even though during slavery some had to hide or have their traditions altered Joseph E. Holloway outlines that while many believe these influences came only from West Africa, the so called Bantu people from Central Africa also played a huge role. By harnessing the knowledge of their own people at home, they played a role in the shaping of American culture from agriculture to music. This essay discusses in particular African traditions that had an impact in the emergence of such ideas as the ways in which American life began to incorporate those ideas from such traditions and the ways in which those contributions still matter today. African traditions or “Africanisms” exist in American history across the board. In folklore for instance stories about Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox, rooted in Africa, became American children’s narratives (p. 40). Another is the banjo, an instrument influenced by African designs, such as the five stringed harp (p. 43). The wake is a gathering after someone has died, a funeral custom that is a part of the Bantu (p. 43). In terms of building, that famous wrought iron balconies in cities such as New Orleans were created by folks using African metalworking skills (p. 43). The last of these, deep fat frying, is a cooking technique made in Africa, originally used to prevent spoilage of meat (p. 48).The Value of Cultural Initiatives. That being said, it is incredible to consider how much African knowledge was foundational to the growth of America, even since these people were not given credit for their ideas at the time. That is why these are contributions so very meaningful, because those contributions help shape what America is as a very distinct culture as well. They define the food and music of the South locally, and they have shaped the way the world eats and listens to music, internationally. It is uplifting to know that even in the harshest of circumstances, people managed to maintain their identity and preserve it to pass on to others. A Striking Discovery. The most surprising fact in the chapter is that an African woman was the first to successfully cultivate rice in the South Carolina Sea Islands. She even trained the owner of the plantation to do it. This reveals the enslaved Africans were not merely workers, but were specialists with the technical knowledge needed for the American economy to succeed. Cultural Exchange and Integration. Cultural Integration: When various cultures blend into one into something new. One simple example here is Creole cooking in New Orleans, where the African cooking styles were merged with French and Spanish traditions to produce dishes like gumbo. Cultural Assimilation: The process of absorbing a part of one culture into the other. The word goober is an example, peanut, which comes from African words, but is now a common American term that people use in popular songs during the Civil War.Nut soups began in Africa and were then transported to the South, the book mentioned, but nowadays it’s mostly associated with white Americans rather than the African descendants who created them at the beginning.

As I read about how African and European cultures mixed, I wondered If enslaved people had been allowed to keep their own legal systems and religions instead of being forced to hide them, how much more diverse would American society look today?