African-American culture

File:Well-to-do Afro-Americans in the 1920s (left) and in the 21st century.png

Well-to-do Afro-Americans in the 1920s (left) and in the 21st century

African-American culture refers to the (sub)culture(s) of blacks (African Americans) in the United States.

History

Media influence

A politically correct view is that the media has (in particular in the past) described the black culture unfairly and stereotypically. Another view is that the media has (in particular more recently) censored and possibly actively contributed to many negative aspects of the black culture(s).

Cultural changes

The black culture(s) has sometimes been seen as having became more dysfunctional with an increased prevalence of positive views on subjects such as drugs and crime; white racism sometimes being seen as the explanation for all black problems; and an increased prevalence of negative views on subjects such as education ("acting white") and traditional family values.

A major change in the lifestyle and culture of many blacks occurred after the mechanization of agriculture and the move from southern agricultural districts to inner city areas. This was also accompanied by less supervision by whites and the increasing prevalence of phenomena such as drug use, gang culture, and glorification of dysfunctional behaviors in some media targeted in particular at lacks (such as gangsta rap).

Another change has been the appearance of and increased focus on a black middle class. This has been extensively helped by "affirmative action" programs in education and employment, which have been criticized as often having displaced more qualified whites. Media targeted at the general population and in particular at whites has often predominantly focused on this particular group and censored the black over-representation in crime and other dysfunctional behaviors.

See also

Black relations

• Black privilege in the United States
• Black supremacism
• Civil rights movement
• Black History Month
• Gangsta
• Hip Hop
• Magical Negro
• Martin Luther King
• Race and crime
• Race and sports
• The Knockout Game
• Wiggers

Religion

• Black Hebrew Israelites
• Nation of Islam
• Rastafarianism
• Black liberation theology