orejon4
Well-Known Member
In order to assimilate there has to be something to assimilate too.
Perhaps 'assimilate' is a poor word choice. 'Amalgamate' is more precise.
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In order to assimilate there has to be something to assimilate too.
I have to second MrFantastic on this one. All of the islands changed hands from Spanish to Dutch to French to British and back again. The islands have more in common with each other than they do with anyone else. The English language is probably the only thing black people from there have in common (apart from the general African-isms present in all blacks of the slave trade) with African-Americans. And the manner in which it is spoken can make African-Americans and Afro-West Indians almost mutually unintelligble at times. The food, music, rhythmic structure of speech patterns, religious practices, folklore (itself much of it African-derived) and more are extremely similar among all the islands, Brazil and the rest of Latin America. The only part of the US that shares a similar link is the New Orleans region, a truly unique island unto itself in the US.
I get what your saying IDK but I would still think there would be some pretty major cultural differences that would remain though especially between Puerto Rico which is very Spanish in culture and ethnicity. But I could def see how they have alot of West African culture that survived leaving a connection. But my whole point was about more of what happens with in the US. Most black people from the Carribeans assimilate into African American culture in the US. With in generations that caribbean culture becomes part of the back burner culture rather than the one up front and current you know. The only time I see anyone of any group being about to hold totally onto their culture is if they live in a community with their culture.
Perhaps 'assimilate' is a poor word choice. 'Amalgamate' is more precise.
I get what your saying IDK but I would still think there would be some pretty major cultural differences that would remain though especially between Puerto Rico which is very Spanish in culture and ethnicity. But I could def see how they have alot of West African culture that survived leaving a connection. But my whole point was about more of what happens with in the US. Most black people from the Carribeans assimilate into African American culture in the US. With in generations that caribbean culture becomes part of the back burner culture rather than the one up front and current you know. The only time I see anyone of any group being about to hold totally onto their culture is if they live in a community with their culture.
Well what I meant is I often hear AA's say they have assimilate into white culture in the US atleast in the business world and such. I was just pointing out their has to be some sort of white culture out their that all US black people are assimilating into or else their culture would be no different when they go to work, etc.
However, the immigration patterns in the US are such that immigrants are usually surrounded by a culture of their homeland for the first and second generation. After that, it can in fact be less of an issue if the offspring have outmarried, etc. But most people until the modern era married within their ethnic group (no less true of Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans, etc), so the degree to which they 'become' African-Americans is a work in progress. I have noticed a tendency of all immigrants with any black ancestry to navigate African-American culture (not just Jamaicans, but Cape Verdeans in Boston, Puerto Ricans in NYC/Orlando, and more), but I have not seen the ancestral culture totally shelved. My father's identity was like that. He was black in America, and a black Puerto Rican in a Spanish-speaking context. So the different elements of who you are became more or less salient depending on the context. I am the same way. I am a black man at all times, American at times, Puerto Rican at others.
Puerto Rico's Spanish heritage is predominately linguistic. However, the African elements that are the same are found almost uniformly throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The way in which the British ruled in the Caribbean was not very determinative apart from sport, the education system, and civil governmental structures. European colonialists, unlike the US white governing structure during slavery which maintained a direct/coercive control, largely allowed the cultures and people to develop freely, so what you have is essentially an African-Carib Indian culture that developed on all the islands with an 'overlay' of whatever European country colonized them.
Ok give me one "white" example of music or one example of "black" food.
My mistake. In that sense you are correct. I thought you were referring to me talking about the development of white cultures in multiracial societies and I was trying to correct myself. That would be an amalgamation, not an assimilation, because they are creating something new that formerly did not exist. In the case of black Americans, we are in fact 'assimilating' because we have to navigate another culture, namely white American, in the larger society.
On another note, I've noticed a glitch when we quote each other: the quotes are being attributed to the wrong person when you quote something was responding a prior remark. The way to correct it is to delete the extra (2nd) quote in brackets at the opening of the quotation, because it contains your name instead of the person to whom you should be responding.
Okra is a black food. It came from Africa. African slaves knew how to grow and prepare it in the US. and taught whites how.
Music. Country music. It's Appalachian folk music. It came from the Scot Irish people. In the US whites evolved it into country music.
Ok give me one "white" example of music or one example of "black" food.
Okra is a black food. It came from Africa. African slaves knew how to grow and prepare it in the US. and taught whites how.
Music. Country music. It's Appalachian folk music. It came from the Scot Irish people. In the US whites evolved it into country music.
That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So what about fish? What culture gets to claim that since everyone eats it or my favorite hypocrisy chicken. Is chicken a black food even though everyone eats it.
I truly don't know the history of country music but if you've ever done any kind of art you'd know that's the one place that transcends race. I don't think of artist like Eminem as a white rapper or Darius Rucker as a black country artist because they make good music. Even rock which is considered white music was influenced and originated by blacks but to me its just music.
Btw the way okra isn't a black food its a west african food. Calling it a black food would imply that all or even most blacks make and/or eat that and until now I have never heard of it.
Labeling something white or black implies its only unique to that culture.
She is absolutely incorrect. I have far more in common with an Asian banker from Greenwich than I do with a dude from Kansas City who pumps gas but happens to be black.
The white face has been used to depict middle class suburban culture but isn't limited to white people.
I have to disagree. I agree with MrFantastic here. Okra is not attached to the race who grew it. It is more appropriately an African vegetable. But the black race did not create okra. Creation is different from utilization.
Okra is a black food. It came from Africa. African slaves knew how to grow and prepare it in the US. and taught whites how.
Music. Country music. It's Appalachian folk music. It came from the Scot Irish people. In the US whites evolved it into country music.
I am not saying a behavior is 'black' or 'white' but that these things develop in a larger social context that serves to foster their development. The very existence of rock music is precisely such an item. It was adopted by white adolescents because of its identification with blacks, taboo and youthful rebellion. But the very existence of a 'white' (as opposed to just Irish, British, Italian, etc) culture is what enabled it to spread as a boundary-less phenomenon across all Caucasian youth groups. That doesn't mean that others can't enjoy it, but its history is what it is.
I don't think your analogies of the two hold up. Okra is a plant. Music, however, is in fact a cultural construct. You're right about country music. It is white Scotch-Irish in origin. But okra is not. It is a vegetable, geographically African in origin, but it cannot be ascribed to a race. Its appropriation by blacks is due to geography.