Black English
The Black slaves of colonial America brought their own culture from Africa to the new land. Despite their persecution, the "slave culture" has contributed greatly to the development of America's own music, dance, art, and clothing. Music It is understandable that when Africans were torn from their homes and families, lashed into submission , and forced into lifelong slave labor, they would be, on the most part, resentful and angry. Various forms of expression, clandestine yet lucent, developed out of these feelings. One such form was music. Native African music consisted mainly of wind and string melodies punctuated by hand clapping, xylophones, and drum beats. Along those lines, an early type of slave music was the spiritual, which has its roots in Protestant hymns taught to the slaves. Spirituals were "long thought to be the spontaneous creation of African-American slaves and the only original folk music of the U.S." Spirituals told tales of suffering and struggle, but these true meanings were often hidden. An example is in the song "Gospel Train" with the lyrics, "Get on board, little children/There's room for many a- more/The gospel train's a-leavin'..." The "gospel train" of the song likely represented an escape method, su . . .
Blacks became sculptors, painters, block printers, actors, and architects. One such invention was the grain harvester, historically credited to Cyrus McCormick. " "Much in Black English that seems grammatically incorrect actually represents the consistent application of African structural principles. Considering that they had to start as slaves and "work their way up", the contributions of Black Americans are astounding. Although slaves could be trained in the practical arts, such as typesetting or furniture making , they could really not fully express themselves until released from the bonds of servitude. These songs originated in plantation fields as work songs, and were later sung in churches of Black congregations. Most of their expression was religious in nature. But it would be a long time yet before Black art could be fully appreciated, or even accepted as mainstream. " In other words, phrases such as "ain't" and "wasn't" that are wrong in English would have made perfect sense in an African language. Science America's earliest African-American scientists and inventors are largely unknown -- their contributions to America buried in anonymity…While historians increasingly recognize that blacks had a significant impact on the design and construction of plantations and public buildings in the South and that rice farming in the Carolinas might not have been possible without Blacks, the individuals who spearheaded these accomplishments remain anonymous. Some scientific discoveries, however, are duly attributed to famous African-Americans. Most cultures believed in one almighty God, and the ideas of good and evil. " This repression of the slave's creativity doubtlessly impeded the development of an African-American art standard. The sad truth of the matter is, as with accomplishments in art, early inventions and scientific discoveries by Blacks were simply not heralded with interest.
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Acceptance Essays
