African-American\'s Ethnic or Cultural Background Affects Ethical Convictions

African-American's Ethnic Or Cultural Background Affects Ethical Convictions"

How African-American's ethnic or cultural background affects ethical convictions.

For most African-Americans, their history of slavery and discrimination has had the most profound, shaping effect upon their ethical convictions than any other historical experience. This is one reason that African-Americans overwhelmingly vote Democratic, when compared with other groups, given the party's support of civil rights. "Nearly 80% of blacks vote Democratic... [yet] many African-American voters -- including Democrats -- line up with conservatives on social and cultural issues," such as social issues like gay marriage" (Cloud 2008).

African-Americans tend to be more religious and to regularly attend church than their white counterparts. "After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, African-American men reported significantly greater levels of religiosity...compared with European-American men. African-America men also reported significantly greater levels of future temporal orientation [i.e., that the future would be better than the present" (Halbert et al. 2007: 277 ). This reflects the important social role the black church has played within the African-American community. During slavery, it provided a source of connection and ways of articulating resistance in a hidden or socially acceptable manner. During the civil rights movement, it was a place where African-Americans could mobilize, organize, and share experiences. It has also acted as a source of emotional support for African-Americans during times of trouble.

African-Americans have been shown to exhibit consistent in-group differences, when compared with European-Americans. For example, regarding corporal punishment, of young children: "although middle and upper SES [social economic status] African-American parents in this study were less likely to believe in or practice spanking than lower SES African-American parents, they were still more likely to believe in or practice spanking than the primarily European-American, upper SES private practice group" (Horn, Cheng, & Joseph 2004). This may have to do with the stresses African-American parents face due to discrimination or fears that a lack of discipline will prove to be especially negative for black youth.

The ways, if any, that African-American's cultural and religious histories differ in their values? Do cultural and religious histories differ in their values?

Not all African-Americans have the 'same culture.' And while certain generalizations can be made, based upon statistical evidence, such as the greater religiosity in the black community, even this assumption cannot be generalized for all members of the community. Some African-Americans are Muslims, for example, others are not part of church communities. However, because of the way that African-Americans are treated as a group in the U.S., regardless of an individual's personal identification with values, religion, and cultural markers associated with the group, the experience of an African-American person will be 'different' from an individual who comes from a group that is not historically discriminated against in America.