african american culture

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Moving from victims of slavery to holding high titles, such as the President of the United States, African Americans have persevered through their times of hardship and have become respected, successful contributors to the United States and other countries around the world. One huge contribution to their success is their tight hold on their sacred culture that has pushed them spiritually to succeed.
Over the years, the number of African Americans in the United States has grown tremendously. “The population of African Americans, including those more than one race, was estimated at 40.7 million, comprising 13.5% of the total population as of July 1, 2007, according to the Census Bureau” (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 91). Of those in the United States, African Americans primarily have African ancestors, but can be mixed with other races, due to the slavery of the 17th to 19th centuries (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 91). Although the majority of these African Americans share common facial features and characteristics, there can be slight variations in culture do to the mix of races. To care for these patients appropriately, those working in the healthcare field must be able to recognize this and ask each patient what they would like to be identified in terms of their ethnicity (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 91).
As stated earlier, African Americans primarily have African ancestors. “Varying estimates reveal that from 3.5 to 24 million slaves landed in the Americas during the slave trade era” (Campinha-Bacote, 2012, p. 91). The knowledge of their heritage has moved onward through generations mostly by storytelling (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 91).
Although African Americans live throughout the United States, there are areas that are densely popu...

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...lves interacting more within the European American community” (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 96).
African Americans do not widely support alternate lifestyles, especially when it comes to homosexuality. “African Americans are less supportive of homosexuality than other racial and ethnic groups, but the reasons have more to do with religion than race” (Campinha-Bacote, 2013, p. 96). According to their religion, homosexuality is a sin and is not supported. For this reason, those who are homosexual in the African American community may not disclose it publicly.
Although African Americans face problems, as any other race, they rely on their families, religion, and education to succeed. Their strong support systems give them the strength to persevere through it all. This cannot happen without a strong sense of culture. Their culture is the glue that holds them together.

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