How Did Black Culture Influence American Culture

According to the Oxford dictionary, culture is defined as the customs and beliefs, art, the way of life and social organization of a particular country or group. The particular country will be America. The American culture is full of values that prides itself on individualism, equality, and control. American culture has its own set of cultural values but these values couldn’t have been shaped by themselves without the influence of other cultures and their way of life. For example, the Greek Culture has greatly impacted our language and government views. One culture that has greatly influenced American culture would be black culture. The black culture influenced American culture with its music, politics, and artistic abilities.

Black culture

Before the Harlem Renaissance began he was recognized for bringing the New negro voice out in the literature. “His work ranged from vernacular verse celebrating peasant life in Jamaica to poems challenging white authority in America” (poetry foundation). His most famous work during the Harlem Renaissance would have to be “If We Must Die”, Home to Harlem, and Banjo. All of his work was done in a time where African Americans had to deal with intense racism. Claude McKay was a key figure during this time and all of his works especially his novel Banjo, “envisioned the black political identity in a global framework” (lernado-newtonic).

Zora Neale Hurston was an author during the peak of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston has many roles during the Harlem Renaissance. Zora was an active writer and author who also helped in the Civil Rights movement. Much like Claude McKay, her work gained recognition because she revealed the truth of the black Southern experience. “Hurston was the most prominent female writer of the Harlem Renaissance and her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered among the most influential works of not only the Renaissance but also of African American and women’s literature”