African American Cultures
African Americans’ culture has been influenced by their experience as slaves and their interaction with other communities. As a result, they have come to advance a culture that is unique with distinct traits. For instance, religion is central to their culture. During slavery, most of them believe in God as they were taught to play and be thankful. As a result, most consider divine power’s influence, such as healing, without seeking health care.
African Americans also consider education as the key to success. Since most of them come from poor communities, they view education as the way to have a better life and the most permanent thing (Kennedy et al., 2007). Similarly, education is cited as the only way one can get respect, and upward mobility with other activities such as athletes are considered temporal.
Communication skills are also another distinctive feature. Non-verbal gestures such as slang language, eye contact, and braided hair are considered vital. Language has developed as a result of the interaction of their African accent and the American language.
Limited access to resources in their neighborhood also characterizes African Americans’ culture. The lack of quality education limits their opportunities to make a change in their communities. This also limits their ability to change (Kennedy et al., 2007). For instance, since most of them were brought up in low-income families, they lack saving or investment habits and tend to eat everything. This is the reason why their high prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as obesity.
Another distinctive trait for African Americans is the general mistrust of Caucasians. Most regard the Caucasians as responsible for distorting their history. Thus, behaviors such as waiting until the last minute to see a doctor result from persistent mistrust among Caucasians and non-African American institutions.