Culture and Religion Essay

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The African American people suffered for hundreds of years and were looked down upon as second hand citizens even after they were free after the civil war. I believe this is the source of prejudice and evilly evolved into to modern times. White slave owners felt animosity towards this racial group they earlier seen as animals and their hatred towards this group spread generation to generation and the prejudice towards the African American people. Growing my best friends were African American and I seen racism first hand and it scared me. I make sure my children know that black people are no different than anyone else in the world.

The African American race has impacted American culture in many ways. One way that the African American culture has contributed to American culture is American music. There have been numerous talented African American musicians that completely changed the way the world perceives music as well as genres. Jazz, blues, rock reggae and rap music have been impacted the most in my opinion and have changed the world. One of the most famous African Americans that has touched my soul as well as many others is Bob Marley. Bob Marley was from Jamaica; he sang of the oppressions of his race through song that touched the hearts of millions of people of many different races/ethnicities.

Another famous African American musician that has always been one of my favorites is Billy Holiday. Billy Holiday was a famous African American jazz musician who influenced Many woman though out American culture from Dolly Parton to Diana Ross. Billy had a very rough childhood, she was worked at a brothel at age 14 and was arrested, she was a survivor of rape and still perceiver as one of the most influential woman in American music. She was a strong African American woman who forever changed history, she was an inspiration for woman and African American People. Another woman she influenced that shaped the sound of Motown was Aretha Franklin and all the talented musicians that followed her. Her as well as many other African American artists helped shaped all American music genres and still continue to do so to this day.

Next, I would like to discuss the experience that the African Americans have had with other races or ethnic groups. I mentioned earlier that African Americans were enslaved by both the Spanish and Caucasian people for hundreds of years, resulting in racism, wars, and segregation. Also, in my research I learned that there were many documented accounts of Native Americans that had African American Slaves as well as freed African Americans that had Native American Slaves. In the United States The 2010 census showed that the United States population on April 1, 2010, was 308.7 million. Out of the total population, 38.9 million people, or 13 percent, identified as African American.

After researching this topic, I learned a lot about the African American ethnic group and what I learned helped me understand African American people and their roots. I learned that both groups were persecuted and judged based on many reasons, both were also persecuted for skin color and looks. Also, both groups are victims of stereotypes a common stereotype based on ignorance, one stereotype for African Americans is that they like chicken and the same bigoted people might also say Jews are greedy, both stereotypes are far from the truth. Sometimes there is humor with both groups on the stereo types of there culture, such as African American comedians making fun of their culture seen on films and stand up. The same is true for some Jewish actors/ comedians, I believe this is a way to make something funny out of something so horrible.

Another similarity I thought was interesting was the large population of African American Christians with in the united states. Even though Judaism is not Christianity a big part of Christianity is Judaism, the key figure in Christianity was Jesus Christ and He was Jewish and preached Judaism. On one the most famous key African American minister is Martin Luther King, he known for his role in leadership and involvement in the civil rights movement using nonviolence based on his Christian beliefs. Another famous African American that has roots in Judaism is Malcom X, he was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist. Sadly, Martin Luther King Jr were both assassinated today are arguably the most famous African Americans of all time. Both end believed in the same story’s that their prophets believed in, the stories of ancient Judaism and tradition but from a different holy book.

After learning about the many similarities between Judaism and African Americans there was also some differences. One difference would be appearance, African Americans for the most part are easy to identify in American culture and resulting in stereotyping, where a Jewish man or woman in some cases may be hard to identify. An example of this is police officers that target African Americans in white neighborhoods, a Jewish man or woman for the most part are not of victim of police stereotyping or brutality. This might be the Result of another difference between the two groups, the united states prison population. Roughly forty percent of the united states prison population is African American; I couldn’t really find a number on the number of Hebrews there are in prison but the number is not nearly as high from my investigation. Another difference between the two groups is food, prisoners that practice Judaism are allowed kosher meals, which is certain foods in accordance to Judaic law. kosher meals in prison are provided because prisoners in the United States are guaranteed religious freedoms under the religious land use and institutionalized persons act of 2000. There is no special meal provided to African American the us prison system.

Another difference between the African American race and the Jewish faith is there forms of persecution and prejudice throughout history and most recently in the 1940’s. In that time period, Jewish people in Europe were rounded up for genocide and were killed by the Nazis by the thousands and were forced into slave labor. African Americans were still being persecuted in America at that time and were still victims of Jim Crow Laws, but they were not put into concertation camps and being exterminated. Though, there were differences between the two groups in that time there was another commonality. In the American army there were both African Americans and Jewish soldiers that became brothers on the battle fields and protected the rights of all humanity and interests of the united states of America.

Thus, there has been many things that have happened between the 1940’s and 2017, and I have drawn many conclusions while comparing and contrasting the the prejudice and discrimination

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