What is black American culture?
I believe this is the quintessential question in light of Black History Month. I have discussed this with those who say that black Americans have a culture in music, dress, and even language. The other argument I’ve heard is that black American culture has been adopted, assimilated, acculturated, and even stolen by the dominant culture. There is much debate on whether black culture has merged into the mainstream, and the debate revolves around whether this is a positive feature or one that excludes black Americans from having a claim on originality. I had a spirited debate with a Nigerian once who argued that black Americans do not have a culture, religion or language but are merely the bastard children of Europeans. Her main argument was that we were forbidden to speak our language therefore, we did not have a language. She claimed that we do not know African customs and traditions since Europeans saw our customs as heathenistic and ridiculous. She said black Americans were forced int
