African American Studies Essays (Examples)

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" To understand African-Americans we must understand where they came from, what they gave up (besides of course their freedom), and what they hoped for. I believe that understanding more about the roots of this culture can only create more acceptance and tolerance among all people.
Finally, I hope to achieve a good grade in this class! It is an interesting topic to me, and I feel that I will get a lot out of learning more about African-American culture, society, and historical context. I know that black Americans have a colorful and varied history of triumphs and failures, and I think this class will give me a stronger foundation of knowledge to build my own thoughts and ideas regarding African-American culture and experience. I know there is much more to the history than slavery and civil rights, and I hope to come to a better understanding of the entire culture,….

African-American Studies Chapters 9-12
Discuss the myths and realities of the Underground Railroad.

There are a number of myths associated with the Underground Railroad. One such myth was about the use of coded quilts which has been discredited by scholarly research. Another myth concerns the number of slaves who were conducted to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Precise numbers are just unknown because of the secrecy required for successful operation. Still, local underground groups that published figures on the number of fugitives they helped over time made it possible to develop estimates for the network as a whole. For the sixty-odd years that the underground existed, it probably was responsible for assisting in the escape of 100,000 fugitive slaves to the northern states and Canada (Bordewich, 2005).

Another pervasive myth about the Underground Railroad was that it operated primarily in the Deep South. In reality, most successful fugitives came from three….

That makes sense, but it was new information to me. I also knew about the desperate lives of slaves in the South, and how they were treated like animals, but to actually see the words of the advertisement that called them "breeding stock" like they were cattle or something was really eye opening and frightening. It was (and is) frightening to me that people could have treated each other this way. It is also frightening that it was condoned and even encouraged among masters who needed the cheap labor. I think that slavery was one of the darkest times in American history, and that we should never forget what happened to Africans who were shipped to America as slaves. Reading a book like this keeps this history alive, and it should. Americans should never forget what happened to African-Americans and they should be ashamed that something like this could….

It seems funny that free slaves would organize troops to fight against the North, but I also understand that they were defending the only way of life they had ever known, and that life was in the South, not the North. The Civil War was a horrible conflict, and I know that thousands, even millions of men - black and white - died, and reading about the strength of the fighting men and how they fought so hard and so long is really difficult to read. I think that it is important that the book includes so many illustrations because they help make the people and the situations more real and more interesting, too.
I think that the film "A Dry White Season" really shows the difficulties of the blacks in South Africa, who really received civil rights so much later than American blacks that it is just stunning. The….

Race and Education
Appreciation of the value of an education, upholding high family values and morals, and displaying the physical characteristics is associated with the European culture. Upper class values are viewed as adopting the European culture, which is also known as acting white. An African-American dressed in business attire, and holding a white-collar job is considered to have adopted the European culture values. High achievement is expected among the western culture. Identifying white collar African-Americans as Eurocentric is racism, because it diminishes the importance of the tradition among the black culture. White collar, well-educated African-Americans should not be identified as adopting the Eurocentric lifestyle, because it would eliminate much of the prejudiceness, and high achiever's accomplishments and capabilities would not be predetermined by their race.

The western culture will always be considered as the highest social status of all cultures. This belief and tradition has developed through history and will be….

Whereas in 1963, 70% of all African-American families were headed by married couples, that rate had dipped to 46.1% by 1996. In 2001, the rate had increased to 47.9%, the first uptrend in 40 years (Kinnon, 2003). The rate of African-American crime and incarceration, which is closely linked to males from single-parent households, has also dipped since 1996.
Concerns about TANF and current welfare programs

While the statistics are compelling, there are a series of questions which have not been addressed by these welfare reforms. There are still about 50% of the former welfare population which has not been able to graduate from the welfare-poverty cycle, nor have they been able to find work. In states where the TANF provisions were enacted, including the 5-year limitation on welfare benefits, there has been a back-sliding on the part of state legislatures to extend welfare assistance for the "hard core" unemployed.

The effects on….

African-American Culture in the 1980s
An article in the peer-reviewed journal Progressive deals with the political and social culture of the African-American community in the 1980s. It was a peer-reviewed article that reported that "…large numbers of African-American elites were elevated…" into corporate executive position, into the "federal judiciary" and also were elected to state legislatures across America (Marable, 1991). However, the 1980s were also a time when AIDs was becoming a major medical scourge and many African-Americans believed that AIDs was a conspiracy in order to "systematically destroy" the black culture (Marable, 18).

The thesis of this article by Manning Marable -- the late professor of public affairs, African-American studies and history at Columbia University in New York City -- is that there was a "crisis in the black political culture" and a belief that AIDs was a "white supremacist medical conspiracy." Moreover, his thesis was that there was overt anti-Semitism….

The 1950s was a time when the last of the generation of slaves were beginning to disappear from communities but their first generation children were attempting to make sense of the lives they led and the cautionary tales they had applied to their lives as a result. The work shows that for the 1950s African-American family it was a time of remembrance and resolution as well as a time to reflect on change and hope for even greater change in the future, with the inclusion of the fact that defacto segregation and suppression was still occurring in a rampant manner all over their lives.
Secondary Sources

Jewell, K. Sue. 2003. Survival of the African-American Family: The Institutional Impact of U.S. Social Policy. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Jewell develops a social history that demonstrates all the many disparities of the African-American vs. majority culture and how these disparities, legal, social and economic effected the….

African-Americans History And Culture
The false and misleading notion that "African-Americans created themselves" completely ignores and invalidates the rich history of those whose ancestry lies in the great African continent. While African-Americans have adopted and incorporated many cultures into their own (not unlike any other cultural group in America) that in no way signifies that African-American's have no culture or history of their own.

"Black people have no history, no heroes, no great moments," this was told to a young Arthur Schomburg by his 5th grade teacher. Schomburg, with both African and Puerto ican ancestry went on to become a great historian and curator of African-American history; helping to dispel the very "truth" that his teacher tried to feed him about his own history and culture many years prior. The statement that "African-Americans created themselves" simply means that the Black American is devoid of history and a culture to call his own.….

At the same time, however, the ghettoes resulted from the people's desire to form a united community to which they could relate and that could offer comfort from a society that, despite its more opened views, still viewed blacks from the point-of-view of the segregation policy.
The ghettoes however represented an environment that would later offer one of the most important and relevant elements of the American culture: the music and religious atmosphere that was traditional for the black community. As a means of resisting the struggle against segregation and inequality, many communities saw music as the connection that united all black people in their suffering. The soul music thus became a means of expressing both sorrow and joy, hope and despair among the black communities. Even though such practices had been seen in the South as well, once the Great Migration started, the black people exported their core values….

African-Americans in the News
From some of the articles that I have studied, it seems that many articles on the African-American community focus on their problems, on analyzing them and on suggesting possible solutions by which the community can improve its condition.

One of these articles, for example, addresses the problem of HIV / AIDS as it is reflected in the African-American community, suggesting that the best solution may actually revolve around taking responsibilities rather than pointing fingers to the people who are to blame. Taken from the Philadelphia Inquirer and quoting directors from the lack AIDS Institute, the article is keen to point out that "in 2005, AIDS in America is mostly a black disease"

. However, even more worrisome is the perception existing at the community level according to which HIV / AIDS was a white manmade disease, specially created to eradicate and/or control the community. In this sense, the article….

African-American Heritage & the Amish
African-American people traditionally have different communication patterns and family roles than their white counterparts. They are more likely to have families headed by single parents (usually single mothers) and they are also more likely to have poor communication skills and not express their deepest feelings so that they can get help for the family problems they are facing (Franklin & Moss, 2001). Unemployment and underemployment runs high through the African-American community, although there are certainly exceptions. Because the culture of the majority of African-American people is different from the culture seen in the white community, the interaction between the two groups can sometimes be more complex than one would expect. African-Americans are more likely to be part of the high-risk population when it comes to health and well-being (both mental and physical), and they are more like to live in areas of the country and areas….

African-Americans are second only to Native Americans, historically, in terms of poor treatment at the hands of mainstream American society. Although African-Americans living today enjoy nominal equality, the social context in which blacks interact with the rest of society is still one that tangibly differentiates them from the rest of America. This cultural bias towards blacks is in many notable ways more apparent than the treatment of other people of color, such as Asian immigrants, as is reflected in disparate wages and living conditions experienced by these respective groups. Common stereotypes hold the successful, college educated black man or woman as the exception rather than the rule, whereas Asians are commonly thought of as over-achievers. Although any bias undermines social interaction in that it shifts attention away from individual merit, the bias towards African-Americans can be said to be worse than most, and lies at the root of discrimination and….

e learn that art can indeed reflect life but it can also inspire it beyond what the human mind can dream.
orks Cited

Bailey, Thomas, et al. The American Pageant. Lexington D.C. Heath and Company, 1994.

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. New York: Penguin, 1982.

Levernier, James a. "Frederick Douglass: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature, 3rd ed. 1994. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed August 3, 2006. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com

Norton, Mary Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

Richard Powell. African-American Art. 2005 Oxford University Press. http://www.aawc.com

Rodriguez, Junius P.. "African-American Experience: Art." African-American Experience. 12 September, 2008. http://aae.greenwood.com

Norton, Mary Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, (1990). 278.

Bailey, Thomas, et al. The American Pageant. Lexington D.C. Heath and Company, (1994). 69.

Norton, Mary Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, (1990). 294.

Rodriguez, Junius P.….

" (Seitles, 1996)
Seitles claims that integration has been a success in the fight against racial prejudice and states that: "Social consequences of racial isolation intertwine with grim economic realities for minorities. Due to the lack of interaction between racial groups, African-Americans are unprepared to work and socialize in a white majority society, while conversely, whites are not relating to, working with, or living with blacks. Prospects for African-American children raised in such communities are greatly diminished because of the lack of interaction between blacks and whites. Moreover, minority possibilities for advancement consequently decline from the lower quality of education afforded to them in ghetto schools, precluding them from competing for high-income employment. Although these inequalities are not always directly caused by intentional discrimination, residential racial segregation perpetuates these inequalities. Thus, minorities who live in racially homogeneous communities are faced with disadvantages beyond the present economic and social inequalities associated with….

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1 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-American Studies My Goal in

Words: 383
Length: 1 Pages
Type: Term Paper

" To understand African-Americans we must understand where they came from, what they gave up (besides of course their freedom), and what they hoped for. I believe that understanding…

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2 Pages
Essay

Black Studies

African-American Studies Chapters 9-12 Discuss the Myths

Words: 726
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

African-American Studies Chapters 9-12 Discuss the myths and realities of the Underground Railroad. There are a number of myths associated with the Underground Railroad. One such myth was about the use…

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1 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-American Studies Before the Mayflower

Words: 375
Length: 1 Pages
Type: Term Paper

That makes sense, but it was new information to me. I also knew about the desperate lives of slaves in the South, and how they were treated like…

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2 Pages
Term Paper

Family and Marriage

African-American Studies Before the Mayflower

Words: 711
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Term Paper

It seems funny that free slaves would organize troops to fight against the North, but I also understand that they were defending the only way of life they…

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6 Pages
Term Paper

Race

Native American and African-American Studies

Words: 1844
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Race and Education Appreciation of the value of an education, upholding high family values and morals, and displaying the physical characteristics is associated with the European culture. Upper class values…

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7 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-American Mothers and Poverty the

Words: 2159
Length: 7 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Whereas in 1963, 70% of all African-American families were headed by married couples, that rate had dipped to 46.1% by 1996. In 2001, the rate had increased to…

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2 Pages
Essay

Black Studies

Demise of the African American Unity in the 1980s

Words: 695
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

African-American Culture in the 1980s An article in the peer-reviewed journal Progressive deals with the political and social culture of the African-American community in the 1980s. It was a peer-reviewed…

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4 Pages
Research Proposal

Black Studies

African-American Families 1950s AB Annotated

Words: 1385
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Research Proposal

The 1950s was a time when the last of the generation of slaves were beginning to disappear from communities but their first generation children were attempting to make…

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3 Pages
Essay

Black Studies

African-Americans History and Culture the False and

Words: 987
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

African-Americans History And Culture The false and misleading notion that "African-Americans created themselves" completely ignores and invalidates the rich history of those whose ancestry lies in the great African continent.…

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6 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-Americans During Early 1900's the

Words: 2241
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

At the same time, however, the ghettoes resulted from the people's desire to form a united community to which they could relate and that could offer comfort from…

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3 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-Americans in the News From Some of

Words: 916
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Term Paper

African-Americans in the News From some of the articles that I have studied, it seems that many articles on the African-American community focus on their problems, on analyzing them and…

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2 Pages
Essay

Black Studies

African-American Heritage & the Amish African-American People

Words: 750
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Essay

African-American Heritage & the Amish African-American people traditionally have different communication patterns and family roles than their white counterparts. They are more likely to have families headed by single parents…

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12 Pages
Term Paper

Black Studies

African-American Discrimination

Words: 3977
Length: 12 Pages
Type: Term Paper

African-Americans are second only to Native Americans, historically, in terms of poor treatment at the hands of mainstream American society. Although African-Americans living today enjoy nominal equality, the social…

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5 Pages
Thesis

Black Studies

African-American Slave Art the African-American

Words: 1585
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Thesis

e learn that art can indeed reflect life but it can also inspire it beyond what the human mind can dream. orks Cited Bailey, Thomas, et al. The American Pageant.…

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10 Pages
Term Paper

Urban Studies

African-American Housing Chicago Study Chicago

Words: 2715
Length: 10 Pages
Type: Term Paper

" (Seitles, 1996) Seitles claims that integration has been a success in the fight against racial prejudice and states that: "Social consequences of racial isolation intertwine with grim economic realities…

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