BLACK AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

The following information is included:

1. Definition of Black-American as defined by DoD Dir 1350.2.

2. Description of the nations of Africa.

3. Description of the African society.

4. Explanation of the slave trade period.

5. Description of the slave culture.

6. Definition of slavery and the economy.

7. Definition of the Black-American culture.

8. Description of Black contemporary issues.

Part I.  Definition

Black (not of Hispanic origin) as described in DoD Directive 1350.2 is a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Africa.

The early kingdoms and nations of Africa-Americans included:

1. Ghana (650 AD - 1200 AD) - Was the first great empire in western Africa to rise to power.  Ghana was known for agriculture and trading and gained wealth through trade and taxation.

2. The kingdom of Mali overthrew Ghana and became a powerful empire in 1235 AD.  Mali was important for agriculture, mining and weaving.  The kingdom was ruled by a man named Mansa Musa who encouraged industry and wealth in his people, and there was an abundance amount of gold.  This kingdom lasted for approximately 20 years.

3. Songhay captured Mali in 1469 AD and became the primary Western African power and trading point.  Songhay was known for great intellectual centers.  They had a University located in Timbuktu.  This University taught law, grammar, literature and surgery.  However, the media in general portrayed them otherwise.  There are other kingdoms, and empires in West Africa, but none as well known or powerful as Songhay and these empires are the most dominant when it comes to African-American culture.

African society.  According to author Andrew Billingsley, the traditional African family was composed all of  the following:

1. All members of the community.

2. In the extended family, community members were viewed as relatives.

3. The traditional African family included not only the deceased members, but also unborn members still in the womb.  Also, if anyone spoke of you then you were a part of the family system.

4. The family recognized and accepted the belief that their existence depended on all family members living and deceased.

5. The eldest male family members were the head of the family.

6. Early Africa was a mixture of tribes.  Each had its own distinct language and social structure, as well as a very distinct economical life.  So, as we look at the African family, you can see they had a family structure contrary to some media portrayals.

African women, men and children had definite roles and responsibilities.  Some of these roles included:

1. Men.  The men were the economic providers, educators and disciplinarians.

2. Women.  The women were responsible for the social functions, reared the children, went to the market, and responsible for other children in the community.  They would take on the responsibility of other children due to death or illness of their parents.

3. Children.  The children belonged solely to the family.  Birth was extremely important to the African family, because the parents believed they had to be born through their children.

African class system.  The Africans had their own class system.  They had an enlarged family group called the “clan.”  Within this system their were three tiers:

1. Top tier.  The first was called the top tier.  This tier was composed of descendants from free men.  They were born of free men and could prove they belonged to the clan.

2. Middle tier.  The middle tier was made up of mostly workers.  These individuals could not prove they belonged to the clan.

3. Bottom tier.  The bottom tier was composed of disgraced or degraded persons.  These individuals may have been captured in war or they may have been slaves.

Slave trade period.  A Dutch war ship brought the first 20 Africans to Virginia in the New World.  They were sold for needed supplies.  Approximately 7 million slaves made the journey to the United States in the seventieth century (1 out of every 5 died).

Why slavery?

• Blacks were initially viewed by society as savages, animals, different, therefore being less than human.  Thus, the White Americans could justify using them as slaves.

• Blacks had a foreign lifestyle.  They had a different color, culture and language.

• The new nation required a stable labor force.

• Africans were used as slaves versus Native Americans.  Native Americans knew the land and could run away.  The Africans knew nothing about the land, the different foods, or their surroundings.  Also, Native Americans were susceptible to the different diseases more quickly.  Africans were easily identified and captured if they ran away.

It was a world business. Isolation and different languages broke them down to adaptive superiority in order to survive.

Why slavery worked:

• Slavery worked because of the lack of knowledge the Africans had of the land, food, and weather.  They were subjected to a new socialization process which involved family ties broken, they were placed with Africans who didn’t speak the same dialect and so they could not communicate, and the different lifestyle they had to lead.

• The slaves were made powerless, which allowed slavery to work.  It created an adaptive inferiority and this stereotype was used to justify the status of Black Americans.  Furthermore, there was an economic factor in which the Africans were being traded for sugar, molasses or any other supplies needed for survival.

What was the route the slave ships took when coming to America? The ships left West Africa stopped in the West Indies and then to the America’s.  The slaves were traded at these stops for any needed supplies and for use as cheap labor.

Part II.  Slave culture

Role of the slave family:

• As people relate to Adam and Eve in the Bible, for Blacks this can be related to the first born in America.  Anthony and Isabella, who were slaves, gave birth to the first child in America of African descent and the baby was named William.

• Marriage:  Slave marriages and slave family relations had no legal standing, but usually lasted for decades, if not a lifetime.  However, it was not a secure relationship because they were often sold, (mostly males).  This pattern existed throughout slave society, in all geographic regions, in both rural and urban settings, among field hands as well as house servants.  The slave owners found marriage and family relations among slaves a stabilizing force, reducing the incidents of fighting over women and inhibiting escape attempts.

• Under the slavery system, the head of the household changed.  This was a result of the mother or father being sold out of the family.  Most often it was the father; therefore, many slave families were headed by women.  The slave families had no rights, and were viewed as a breeding ground.

The slave family member’s roles:

• Father.  Was viewed as a breeder and not head of household by the slave owner.  The father was no longer able to maintain the family ties and often times not able to choose his own mate.

• Mother.  The slave mother was the transmitter of the African history and culture.  In the original African culture the man was the educator.  However, during slavery this role became the responsibility of the mother.  The mother was the “silent binder” of the family overall.

• Children.  They were consider “ebony” or “black gold” and profit for the owners in the slave society.  This was especially true for the male child and in some cases the female child, because they would grow up and become a worker.  However, to the black family, children were important and the hope of the future.  Most of the children grew up in two-parent families, with the father as head (secretly) and bore his surname and were never neglected by the mother or the father.

Social status.  During slavery, the social status of Blacks were dependent on the following:

1. Free or slave.  There were some Africans that came to the new world and were free.  They primarily lived in the North.  They were free because they were on the voyage with Columbus.  So when they came to the new world they were free men.

2. Owner of the slave.  The owner’s position in the community was very important.  The more slaves owned the higher the status.

3. Field worker, housework, laborer, artisan.  The status of the slave depended on where they worked.

4. Male or female.

5. Complexion (dark vs. light).  The lighter the skin color the more favorable of a job you would hold, for example, housework versus field work.

A diminished culture.  The males were powerless, and the African culture diminished under slavery.  Dr. Kitano in his book, “Race Relations,”  states that “systematic efforts were made to stamp out their native culture.”

New names were given.  They were not allowed to practice their own religion, and no drums were allowed.  Self-determination and self-expression were prohibited.  The key condition that encouraged Black culture during slavery was American racism.  The socialization process of the children was extremely important in that the parents had to teach the children how to survive in America and the slave culture.

Music.  Music is and has been an important element of the African American culture. The slave owners would not allow the Africans to beat their drums fearing they would send out messages and create an uprising.  Therefore the slaves used other methods of making music, for example, the kitchen pan, washboards, and animal bones.  Melodies for their songs were taken from their African heritage or what they heard White churchgoers singing.  They changed the rhythm, added a slurred  beat, and rewrote words to the songs to fit their own dialect and especially to express their feelings.  They added clapping of the hands and the stomping of the feet.

Language.  Communication with new slaves arriving from Africa was not allowed.  Slaves were expected to communicate to slave owners and show them respect, regardless of their time in captivity.  The slave owners kept slaves who spoke the same dialect separated so they couldn’t communicate with each other in their native language.  In Africa, there were over eight hundred different dialects blended together.  This resulted in the use of “pidgin” English, which is derived from West Africa. It was used in the conducting the different commerce or trade.  Another language developed is that of “Gullah” which was spoken on the sea islands of what is now South Carolina.  It is also of Africa origin and is known to day as “Geeche.”  “Creole” is another derivative of the African language spoken in Haiti, Louisiana, and Texas.

Religion.  Early slaves were slow to give up their own religion as they wanted to maintain their own traditions.  An important aspect of the African religion included a sort of “witch doctor,” which the Whites did not accept and refused to allow them to practice their religion.  The major reason for non-acceptance and rejection of Christianity by the Black slaves was they were not able to reconcile between Christianity and slavery, plus they already had their own religion.  Attending church afforded a brief rest period which brought secondary gains that were more social than religious.  Initially, church services were given by White preachers.  Black preachers were only allowed to preach in the presence of the White masters.  The content of their sermons were controlled by their master.

There were three types of churches during slavery.  There were White churches with Black members, separate Black churches under White leadership, and there were separate Black churches with Black leadership.  There was great reluctance to let Blacks have their own church with Black leadership.  In 1794, Bishop White had a desire to ordain a Black, which went against the establishment.  A Black man named Richard Allen was ordained and refused to accept what the society said he must accept and the first Black church was establish.  The first Black church was of the Methodist faith.  The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church was formed based on this historical time.

Development of the Black Church in America.  Blacks knew as long as they remained in the White churches, conditions would always be the same.  This was due to the following:

1. A total lack of self-help programs for Blacks.
2. Non-participation in church activities.
3. An absence of Blacks in leadership roles.
4. A doctrine that did not serve the needs of Black people.

Part III.  Slavery and the economy

Militarily, prior to the Revolutionary War participation of Blacks was justified because of their indentured status.  Blacks were recruited and then after the War they were rejected.  When War started up again Blacks were recruited.  It was a cycle of recruit, reject, recruit.  Blacks were used during the Revolutionary War either with or against the colonies.

When the Continental Army was formed the official policy was rejection of Blacks.  The British forces offered freedom to the slaves if the Blacks joined them.  When this happened the U.S. decided on letting Blacks into the overall military.

There was a system called “manumission” in which the master could send a slave to fight in his place and upon the slave's return he was promised his freedom.  In 1792, the Congress officially restricted military service to able-bodied white males.  This meant the master could no longer send a slave to fight in his place.

In 1820, the Army issued the following order “No Blacks or Mulatto will be received as recruit in the Army.”  This blocked all minorities, especially Black, from joining the Army.

Slavery also impacted the economy in the following ways:

1. Cheap labor source.  Slaves represented cheap labor and a way to make money.

2. Slavery enhanced the status of the slave owner through profit, prestige, depending on how many slaves were owned, and superior attitude over Blacks and those Whites who did not own slaves.

Myths and stereotypes were used to justify the economic exploitation of Blacks during the slave period.  The following are some stereotypes:

1. Ignorant, lazy, incapable of competing, and inferior in intelligence.

2. “Less than human” status in the eyes of many Whites.

3. Natural station in life of Blacks was slavery.

Contrary to popular belief, all Southern Whites did not own plantations and slaves, and some did not agree with the slavery system.  These individuals were shunned from society.

Early laws during slavery and their impact on Black-Americans.  Slaves were property and not human beings.  There were “slave codes” established.  An example of one of the codes stated that if a White slave ran away and got caught, he would have to serve his master for one year.  However, if a Black slave ran away and got caught, he would have to serve his master for the rest of his or her life.

Slavery and legislation. Slavery was first recognized in Virginia by a law passed in 1662.  Prior to this people were put into slavery without this law.  This law did not change any of the existing conditions of slavery, except to make it law.

• In 1663, Maryland followed Virginia’s model and came out with the declaration that Blacks were to serve “Durante Vita,” or for the duration of their lives.

• After 1690 slavery became a system that had stripped Blacks of all their rights.  More laws were passed to ensure control of the slaves.

• Blacks, in the latter part of the 17th Century, were treated more and more like property and less like human beings.

• Laws were used to reinforce racial attitudes that Blacks were inherently inferior and should be slaves because it was natural.

Revolutionary period.  During the Revolutionary Period in 1776, the colonies became independent states.  In every state slavery was legal.

Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

1. In the Declaration, the term “People” would encompass free inhabitants and three-fifths of the slaves in each state.  In essence, Black slaves were considered three-fifths person and two fifths property.

2. The Constitution adopted in 1787, incorporated provisions that bore directly upon the status of Black People.  Article 1, Section 2, made Black people three-fifths of a person and two-fifths property.  Article IV, Section 2, helped reinforce the fact that slaves were merely property.

3. Northern delegates were in favor of slaves being regarded as property, and thus, not deserving of representation.

During the 1700s and early 1800s, slave codes were defined and determined the status of Blacks.  The purpose was to:

1. Restrict the slaves and protect the Whites.

2. The slave code varied from state to state.

3. Codes were strengthened when there was a slave revolt or threat or revolt.  There were actually over 200 slave revolts.

4. In 1857 in the Dred Scott Case, the highest court in the land affirmed the inequality of Blacks (that slaves were property).  Blacks could not be citizens of the United States and the basis was on the Constitution because they formed no part of the “people” referred to in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Blacks had no rights which Whites were bound to respect.

Emancipation Proclamation.

1. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not end the war nor the institution of slavery.

2. Black Codes specified conditions of work, property rights, rights to public assembly, and ownership of firearms for Blacks.

3. At the end of the Civil War all Blacks were free and the following was the impact:

   1. No longer could members of the family be sold.

   2. Marriage between Blacks finally legalized and recorded.

   3. Black men were in charge of their families.

   4. Extended families began to grow.

   5. The geographic mobility or northern migration was disruptive to Black family life.  Blacks were leaving their family for a better life.  This also created problems since there was more competition for jobs.

Reconstruction (1870-1877).  The Black-Americans found new hope during this period.

1. Congress passes the Enforcement Act in 1870.  Allowed the federal government to use troops for enforcement.

2. Black institutions of higher learning were built under the Freedmen’s Bureau.  It assisted slaves in transition from slavery to freedom.  Howard, Hampton, Fisk, and Atlanta University were the first four Black Universities in America.

3. Involvement in Politics.  Blacks participated in politics more during this time than any other previous time.

4. Civil Rights Act of 1866 was the most significant piece of legislation affecting Blacks during Reconstruction.  This gave Blacks the Rights of being an American.

Amendments to the Constitution produced the following changes to the laws:

1. The 14th Amendment prohibited states from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

2. The 15th Amendment (1870) gave Black men the right to vote.

3. Reconstruction died when President Hayes took office in 1877, and the federal soldiers were removed from the south.  Therefore many of the Blacks lost hope and aspiration.

Part IV. Black-American culture

The key condition that encouraged black culture was American racism.

• Blacks blocked from full participation in the dominant culture.

• Blacks perceive racism is built into the institutions of the society and its cultural values.

• For protection, Blacks had to distance themselves from those in the dominant culture who denied them assimilation.

• Combating racism requires a group struggle in order to transcend its crippling effects on liberty, life, etc.

Black-American family.  The Black-American family is very important institution within the Black community.  They include:

1. Nuclear families.  Husband, wife, and children.

2. Extended families.  Husband, wife, children, and other relatives.

3. Augmented families.  Husband, wife, children, other relatives, non-relatives. Individuals who moved in with the family, and those raised by the family.

There are three family patterns:

1. Patriarchal.  Father.

2. Matriarchal.  Mother.

3. Equalitarian.  Father and mother share responsibility.

The following are characteristics of the Black families function for development, survivability, and stability:

1. Strong kinship bonds.

2. Strong work orientation.

3. Adaptability of family roles.

4. High achievement orientation (make your family proud).

5. Religious orientation.

Customs and traditions.

1. Black church services.  Services are often held with a lot of interaction between the preacher and congregation.

2. Practice of calling older Black women by their first names, e.g., Miss Jane.

3. It is expected in many areas that Blacks will speak to other Blacks that he/she meets, whether they know them or not.

Dynamics of Black-Am erican culture.

1. Mutual Aid.  Help others in need, especially children.

2. Compassion.

3. Adaptability.

4. Religion.  The church provides the following:

   1. Sense of recognition and self-worth.

   2. A place where individuals can participate.

   3. Black leadership.

   4. Continued protection against racism.

   5. Primary vehicle for the release of emotional tension accumulated in a racist society.

   6. Center for community life and activity.

Laws and Black-Americans, 1877 to present.

1. Segregation is the act or practice of separating.  In the United States it was the practice of separating the races.  The segregation era lasted from 1877 until 1954.

2. Unequal enforcement of the law.

3. Segregation in schools.

4. “Jim Crow” segregation system became law.

Jim Crow laws were named for an antebellum (Pre-American Civil War) minstrel character.  Some examples of the laws are:

• In Oklahoma, telephone booths were segregated.  Mississippi had separate soft-drink machines.  In Atlanta, Georgia, an Afro-American could not “swear to tell the truth” on the same Bible used by White witnesses.  In North Carolina, factories were separated into Black and White sections.  In some Alabama towns it was against the law for Blacks and Whites to play cards, checkers, dominoes, or other games together on athletic teams.  In Florida, school textbooks were segregated in separate warehouses.  In Washington, D.C., Black people could not bury their dead dogs or cats in the same pet cemeteries used by Whites.  One Jim Crow law tried to stop Black and White cotton-mill workers from looking out the same window.

• The “American Dream,” land of freedom and opportunity, for many Blacks was not to be obtained.  Some of the hindrances were:

  • Plessy vs. Ferguson 163 U.S. 537 (1896):  The Plessy Court established the “Separate but Equal Doctrine.”  Louisiana’s act, which was challenged by Plessy, required railroads' companies carrying passengers in the state to have “equal but separate accommodations.”  Plessy was a Test Case.  Homer A. Plessy, an octoroon (one-eight black), boarded the East Louisiana Railroad in New Orleans bound for Covington in the same state and sat in the white car; he was arrested when he refused to move to the black car.  Convicted by the state he appealed on constitutional grounds, invoking the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.  The Court had already decided in Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Ry. vs. Mississippi (1890) that Jim Crow cars in Intrastate Commerce did not violate the Commerce Clause.  Plessy cleared the constitutional way for legislation that forced the separation of the races in all places of public accommodation.

  • Jim Crow laws:  The Jim Crow laws were central to white supremacist thought.  That Blacks were inherently inferior was a conviction being stridently  trumpeted by White Supremacist from the press, the pulpit, and the platform, as well as from the legislative halls, of the South.  The label, “For Colored Only,” was a public expression of disparagement amounting to officially sanctioned civil inequality.

  • Inability to obtain land:  The laws prohibited Blacks from purchases or owning land.

During the 20th Century, the struggle for ensuring total freedom was intensified.  Several organizations and historical leaders provided the Black philosophy during this time.  They were:

1. Booker T. Washington, President of Tuskegee Institute:  He believed hard work would make you acceptable.  He urged Blacks to develop skills that would win them places in their southern communities.

2. W.E.B DuBois and Pan-Africanism:  Believed that 10 percent (“The Talented Tenth”) of the Blacks who had educational advantages should teach others.  He felt Blacks should use their minds as well as their hands.

3. Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

4. Mary McLeod Bethune:  Educator and advisor to U.S. Presidents.  (Started college with only $150).

5. Dr. Kitano in his book, “Race Relations,” states WWI and WWII provided the major impetus for social change.

The following provided new experience and new exposures for Blacks:

• The NAACP and the Urban League have been long-standing fighters of racism.  They trained an elite group of lawyers to fight segregation in the courts.

• Smith vs. Allwright:  Primaries that denied Blacks the right to vote.  Result:  1965 Voting Rights Act.

  • Shelley vs. Kraemen.  Restrictive covenants that kept Blacks from buying homes where they wanted to live.  Result:  1948 restricted covenants.

  • Morgan vs. Virginia Supreme Court.  Jim Crow transportation.  Result:  1946 Jim Crow laws unconstitutional.

• The Urban League directed their efforts toward helping Blacks and other economically and socially disadvantaged groups to share equality in every aspect of American life.

Civil Rights Movement.  The Civil Rights Movement began in 1950.

1. 1954 - Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education.  Result:  Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was a great legal triumph.  Although it did not instantly end school segregation, it destroyed the constitutional foundation which legalized segregation in the South.  And on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously declared that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and, as such, violate the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the law.”

2. Civil Rights Act (1957).  Designed to prevent the denial of voting rights and to set up an investigative agency (Civil Rights Commission).

3. In 1960 Congress passed another civil rights act to reinforce the 1957 act.

4. Between 1960 and 1964 there were executive orders by President Kennedy affecting discrimination in employment and housing.

5. Executive Order 11063 in 1962.  Prevented discrimination in building and purchasing of housing in federally funded projects.

6. Executive Order 10925 in 1961:  Barred discrimination in federal employment and by government contractors.

7. The moving force behind the passage of most of the civil rights legislation were Black people.

8. The 1964 Civil Rights Act:

   1. Blacks could no longer be excluded from public accommodations.

   2. The Justice Department was empowered to bring desegregation suits.

   3. Any program or service which practiced racial discrimination was denied federal aid.

   4. Racial bias in employment and union membership was prohibited.

9. 1965 Voting Rights Act:

   1. Banned literacy test and other screening devices.

   2. Federal examiners were assigned to conduct registration and observe voting.

10. The Civil Rights Act of 1968: Barred discrimination in renting and purchasing of private dwellings.

This document is continued

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