Language, Discourse, and Power in African American Culture - Report Example

Ethnography Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: 1 Choosing a culture for the study The culture which will be explored in this study is that of the African Americans. This group is interesting for this study based on its historical existence in the United States, its continued fight for equality, for instance, through the civil rights movements, as well as its recent increased influences in different areas like music, sports, politics and economic wellbeing of America. On the other hand, the members of this group have a unique cultural orientation which has come from their historical background and which is expressed through their values, norms, language and daily interactioning. In the United States, the most remnants of the African culture reside in segregated communities in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia where they live in closely tied communities (Mphande, 105). However, they have spread to other regions in the country carrying with them their cultural values and perceptions and increased their influence in their new areas of residence. Perharps the most acknowledged influence of the members of this group in the areas where they have migrated to is through their language which contains a distinct English dialect different from the mainstream English in America, their dressing codes as well as their values in life, for instance, the value of family closeness. In addition, their culture in issues like marriage, burial ceremonies and raising of children has extended in the areas where they have increasingly migrated to. Members of this group often meet in central places for worship (most of them are Christians) whereby they have unique ways of worshipping in terms of music, religious clothing and musical instruments. On the other hand, members of this group, mostly the youths often meet in central places for sporting activities, music competitions (predominantly hip hop music) and these meeting places are important for the successful completion of this study. Gender roles in these meeting places are also defined which are influenced by the cultural orientation of the members from this group. This is whereby men are usually visible in different activities where they have the leading role while majority of the women usually assume the role of subordinates. All the above aspects make the African American sub group an interesting one to study and also based on the fact that their usual meeting sites are accessible to the researcher. It is also important noting that the researcher does not belong to this particular group which makes the experience interesting and central to the principles of ethnography. Research proposal The culture of the people that I chose to study is predominantly borrowed from the native African culture in terms of the values and norms. However, this culture has gradually undergone changes as a result of the interaction of the members of this group with other communities, for instance, the native Americans, Asian Americans, members of the Hispanic descent and the general American white population. This has made their accent a unique one, influenced their dressing modes as well as attitudes in life. This study will predominantly be conducted in two sites. Firstly, it will be at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church located at Orlando, Florida. The membership of this church is extensively that of African Americans. This site will be important in finding out the spiritual and religious culture of the African Americans. The second site will be Orlando FL, a basketball club in Orlando Florida which is also comprising of African American athletes. There are several assumptions in regard to the habits, rituals, languages, behavior and attitude of the group under study. Firstly, the members of this group value togetherness while conducting their daily activities. This is exemplified by their tendency to refer to each other as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ in their interactions. In regard to their language, members of this group has a distinctive language which is used as a medium of communication as well as in guiding social reality in the society. Their language is borrowed from the English language but adjusted to fit their socio-economic reality as well as the environment under which they live. It also expresses their generic percepective to external groups. Lastly, there were some biases, personal feelings and prejudices that the researcher bring in this study. For the prejudices, the researcher viewed members of this group as being extremely violent, engaged in gang life and drugs mostly based on how they are portrayed in the media. This resulted to a personal feeling of insecure and vulnerability because the researcher was exposed to all these risks. Nonetheless, the researcher felt that not all the members of this group are bound to be violent, resulting to choosing the church as a good study site where there is bound to be some Christian ethics and values. On the other hand, the researcher was biased in terms of the relationship of the members of this group with external people. This is whereby the researcher was subjective that the members of the African American group are bound to reject him and be suspect of his intentions through getting among them. Collecting information Several data collection methods were used in this study. There were used in a complimentary manner whereby some of them were used at the same time. These sources of information included field observations, interviews as well as artifacts. Field observations From the observation of the researcher, it was evident that the main motivation behind the African Americans belonging to the predominantly African Americans groups, for instance, the church and the basketball team was that it given them a sense of identity and belonging. This is whereby based on the fact that members of this group are often segregated in the mainstream society as a result of racism and prejudices about their violent nature, they tend to come together where they can feel a sense of belonging and share common percepectives to different things in life and aspirations. In addition, the language adopted by members of this group depicted their views in life about different issues, for instance, the representation of how they have been betrayed by the ruling elite as well as their aspiration to prosper in life. This fact is supported by Morgan (13) who determined that the African American language give a sense of collective identity, a representation of truth and betrayal, of life and death. Their music also represented these aspects. In addition, the music represented their respect for their leaders who fought for their freedom from slavery. This is best exemplified in the Hip Hop song, Dream by The Game that the researcher found booming in the basketball changing room. This evidenced their views about their past experiences and the hope for the betterment of their lives. In addition, the music at the church also depicted some sense of African culture. This is whereby the worship was characterized by clapping of hand and dancing which is typical to the African culture. In addition, instruments like drums were used in the singing as well as the response of the congregation during the sermon. All these showed the aspects of African culture in the models of worship among members of this group which can be presumed to be widespread in other areas where they reside. In regard to the perception of the members of this group towards outsiders, the researcher observed that there was varience between different people. This is whereby some of them despised outsiders and viewed them with suspition. However, most of the members of this group were welcoming and treated outsiders with respect and concern. This falsified bias of the researcher that members of the African American community are predominantly hostile towards the outsiders. Majority of the members of this group also tended to keep long hair, or what is commonly referred to as dreadlocks. This culture is borrowed mostly from Jamaica whereby most of the citizens in this country who have an African descent view this as a representation of defiance to the oppressive western system. However, verbal interaction with some of the members of the group under study in America revealed that they have embraced this culture for two reasons. Firstly, the dreadlocks are a sign of representing a cultural identity of the African way of life and secondly, as a fashionable culture in modern world. Lastly, the researcher observed that many of the members of this group wore many jewelry in form of earrings and necklaces. This has become part of their daily outfit both in the public dormain as well as in the private lives at home. Interview Two interviews were conducted in this study and preserved in tape recorders. The first interview was with the coach of the basketball team and the second one was with the pastor at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. In the first interview the respondent (team coach) revealed that majority of the talented kids who were enrolled in the team came from poor backgrounds and viewed their engagement in the team as a good channel of advancing their talent which will eventually result in better life as well as having a platform where they can positively interact with their peers from similar background. Thus, this setting give them a sense of belonging as well as providing them with an avenue to nurture their talents which will eventually result in better life. In addition, the coach revealed that the players felt a sense of brotherhood while in the team and helped each other in confronting the challenges that confront them. The coach himself also assumes the role of a guardian and councellor in issues like drug abuse, educational matters as well as nurturing their talents. Therefore, the common background among this kids can be viewed to has resulted to the development of a brotherhood culture which is highly valued among them. On the other hand, the interview with the coach revealed that majority of the kids who get admitted in this team often exhibit violent and protective behaviors in their initial days. This is mostly as a result of the street culture in the violent culture in the environment where they have come from. However, this eventually becomes eroded and replaced by caring and peaceful cultures as these kids continually interact with their peers and drop their drugs addiction habits borrowed from the streets. Thus, this interview gave an insight to the background of the prejudices of violence against all the African Americans in the United States. The second interview was with the pastor at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. The pastor revealed and clarified several aspects related to the worship and spirituality culture among the members of the African American group. Firstly, the pastor revealed that the worshippers brought many cases of family related cases, for instance, children getting involved in the street life on issues like drug trafficking. This revealed a high value of the family cohesion among members of this group and the need for the family to stick together and embrace positive morals which will result in all the members having a good life despite the socio-economic challenges. Secondly, the pastor clarified that the church preferred the African mode of worship in order to represent their cultural identity in the worship process. In addition, the pastor cited the high spiritual culture among members of this group whereby they are highly devoted to the church processes and rituals, for instance, baptism. This reveals the value and the central role of religion in the lives of the members from the African American group. On the other hand, the researcher noted that some of the worshippers had secular behaviors and values, for instance, plaiting of hair and dreadlocks by men. On seeking for clarification from the pastor in regard to the Christian teachings on these aspects, the pastor cited that the members of the congregation, both male and female had freedom to wear different kinds of attires and jewelry in the church provided they uphold the Christian morals and virtues as outlined in the Bible. Lastly, the pastor determined that the church had its spiritual culture embedded in the biblical teachings, for instance, rituals like taking of the sacrament and baptism. These rituals were oftenly practiced in the church. Artifacts There were several artifacts from the sites under study which were collected as well as oftely talked about by members of this group. Firstly, a crucifix was collected at the basketball training site which reveals the entrenchment of religious beliefs even in the social circles like sports. This shows that spiritual beliefs tend to characterize different undertakings of the members from the African American group. On the other hand, members of this group often talked about ‘rimz’ or ‘ride’ which is a slang for good vehicles that they owned or aspired to own. These revealed a motivation among these people to have a life characterized by good things like cars and houses, among other aspects. Conclusion The above analysis reveals that the members of the African American group has a unique culture which is borrowed from the African cultural background as well as interaction with members of other groups in America. However, they have developed a set of distinct values which represent their general perception of the society as well as their aspiration to enhance their lives. References Morgan, Marcyliena. Language, Discourse and Power in African American Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Mphande, Lupenga. “Naming and Linguistic Africanisms in AfricanAmerican Culture” Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, ed. JohnMugane et al., Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 2006. 104-113. Print. Read More