Being a resident of South Carolina, African-American Culture was chosen as part of the applied learning project for the Intercultural Nursing class, because African-Americans make up more than a quarter of this state’s population. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, the total population for South Carolina (S.C.) is 4,625,364, with 27.9% being of African-American descent. The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding and sensitivity to issues and cultural variances or phenomena that are unique to the African-American Culture. Another goal is to identify nursing interventions that are important for the nurse to consider in caring for this population. These phenomena’s include variances in social organization, communication, space, perception of time, environmental control, and biological variations associated with the African-American culture. (Giger, 2013 and South Carolina minority, n.d.) “At a time when people are seeking to become more culturally aware it is important to note distinctions which make cultures different and unique from one another” (Giger, 2013, p. 163). “Culture involves much more than race, ethnic background, and language” (Smith, 2013, p. 32). Culture is a combination of learned behaviors, beliefs, and values that are reinforced through exposure to social interactions within one’s immediate social group or surrounding society. A personal interview was conducted with Andrea Sinkler, is an African-American female, whose culture influence is mainly attributed from her association with family and social interactions. It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which... ... middle of paper ... ...yst in the effort to eliminate health disparities and thus improve long term outcomes for the African-American culture. Works Cited Giger, J. (2013). Transcultural nursing: Assessment and intervention. (6 ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Opala, J. (n.d.). The Gullah: Rice, slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American connection. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/06.htm Sinkler, A. (2014, February 12). Interview by L.S. Shaw. Smith, L. (2013). Reaching for cultural competence. Nursing 2013, 43(6), 30-37. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000429794.17073.87 South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Office of Minority Health. (n.d.). South Carolina’s minority population. Retrieved from website: http://www.scdhec.gov/images/dhec_logo.gif The African slave trade and South Carolina. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sciway.net/hist/chicora/slavery18-2.html
Opala, Joseph. “Bance Island in Sierra Leone.” The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American Connection. http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/03.htm.
Although an effort is made in connecting with the blacks, the idea behind it is not in understanding the blacks and their culture but rather is an exploitative one. It had an adverse impact on the black community by degrading their esteem and status in the community. For many years, the political process also had been influenced by the same ideas and had ignored the black population in the political process (Belk, 1990). America loves appropriating black culture — even when black people themselves, at times, don’t receive much love from America.
Ethiopia is a country located at the horn of Africa and home to a variety of cultural and linguistically diverse population. Ethiopian history dates back 3000 years and is rich with culture and values. The World Bank (2013) statistics reports Ethiopia as the second densely populated country in Africa as well as the poorest. As such, 38.7% of Ethiopians live below poverty line and the countries per capital income is estimated to be $410 (World Bank, 2013). Still, the Ethiopians are recognized as a friendly and gracious people. In Ethiopia guests are respected and treated well. When an Ethiopian greets others it is with a smile and a warm hand shake. As well they expect to be treated with warmth and respect when they meet others. In addition Ethiopians have a hierarchal respect system in which the elderly are given the utmost respect (Center for Cultural Learning, 2009). Other cultural distinctions noticed are Ethiopians do not like to divulge their illness to others and physicians rarely tell a terminal patient that his or her illness is terminal because of the belief that sharing such devastating news would discourage the patient from the will to live. Instead the news is shared with loved ones so that they can provide emotional support (Mabsout, 2011). Lastly Ethiopia is a Black country and so there is no color distinction associated within the population. Thus an Ethiopian who migrates to America faces a variety of societal differences within the United States. In this paper the author will discuss the author’s cultural and ethnical background and discuss how the author’s cultural value influenced the nursing experience.
The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2003.
Africanisms in America are a highly surveyed topic for the black community. Joseph E. Holloway describes Africanisms as “those elements of culture found in the New World that are traceable to an African origin” (Holloway 2). I believe, that africanisms are the traditions and cultural behaviors of African Americans that resemble the some of the same traditions and cultures in Africa. Which makes you ponder about what current elements does our culture use that ties back to Africa. Which in fact there are several africanisms that still exist. African Americans have retained an essence of Africa in their speech, hair care, clothing, preparation of foods, and music by over centuries of separation from the Dark Continent.
African-American is a politically correct term used to refer to blacks within the United States. The roots of many African-American rites can be traced back to African cultural rites. However, it is important to note that not all blacks in America identify with African cultural roots. Therefore, some of the rites found within what many in the United States call African-American culture stem from Caribbean and other cultural traditions. For this reason, when making end of life decisions or funeral arrangements the “cultural identification, spirituality and the social class” the individual identifies with must be taken into account. The black majority within the United States identifies with Afrocentric traditions and perspectives. For this reason the term African-American will be used within this paper to denote the black population found in America as comparisons are made regarding how end of life decisions are viewed and made by African-American culture verses the traditional western European beliefs of American culture (Barrett, 2002).
Foertsch discusses the racial progressiveness in the United States that was similarly demonstrated by the Japanese and Indian citizens. She explains the affects it had on the African American cultures in America, and the transcripts of major colored influences, "The interest in things atomic within postwar black newspapers varied according to the moment in time and even more significantly according to the inclination of the editorial staff." (103). Depending on the publisher, African American's formulated different opinions on the issues of atomic superiority. When popular newspapers were printed in a negative light, the views of African Americans changed. Accordingly, a community of opposite influence would hold a polar opinion, thus creating
There are many examples of which European religious music have been borrowed by black Americans, the key characteristics of their African-heritage were never forgotten such as improvisation, vocal slides and shouts, call-and-response style singing can all be found even in modern day gospel. Many of the lyrics and texts are performed in a half sung, half spoken manner which became a signature vocal technique. Vowel sounds like “ah”, “oh”, “yeah” etc. are mixed within the melodies as prolongations and or ornamentations to the music. Some words could form an entire melody with such elongations on its own. (Roach 24) Musicians can often alter the melodies and improvised vocal riffs in addition to the main melody which is an extension of the purpose
In such a multicultural world, being knowledgeable and understanding of not only your cultural background, but that of others is essential. Building my awareness on cultures different from my own, and how it shapes an individual’s identity, will foster my personal and professional development. Subsequently, I conducted a cultural interview with an individual whose cultural background differed from my own. Several similarities and differences between our cultures were apparent in the interview, specifically in the areas of race, ethnicity, language, values, and worldview.
Have you ever taken offense when you saw someone dressed in traditional garments from your culture? In America, this happens quite often. Some people may not recognize it and some refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. Cultural appropriation is a situation in which a dominant culture steals aspects of a minority culture’s, such as hair, clothing styles, and music.
Black culture is the epitome of what defines America’s understanding of cool. It is difficult to define what it means to be cool without stating the influence or impact of the culture. The idea of cool developed as a social attitude implemented by black men during slavery which they used as a defense mechanism in order to cope with exploitation and injustice. It is now spread by hip hop culture which has integrated itself into mainstream society. As a result, black culture continues to play a vital role in America due to its innovative and creature nature.
The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans.
Everyone is raised within a culture with a set of customs and morals handed down by those generations before them. Most individual’s view and experience identity in different ways. During history, different ethnic groups have struggled with finding their place within society. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, African Americans faced a great deal of political and social discrimination based on the tone of their skin. After the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans no longer wanted to be identified by their African American lifestyle, so they began to practice African culture by taking on African hairdos, African-influenced clothing, and adopting African names. By turning away from their roots, many African Americans embraced a culture that was not inherited, thus putting behind the unique and significant characteristics of their own inherited culture. Therefore, in an African American society, a search for self identity is a pervasive theme.
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
One contribution from cultures came from the Native Americans. The Europeans; love the method the native Americans work with the agriculture. Their agriculture system was the advance, the native Americans put their focus on their crops, the way it should be (). They had to eat, so the finest and freshest foods was a blessing. Also, the natural medicines that the Native Americans use are the majority of the medicine that the Europeans used and the ones we take today ().