A Tragedy that Resulted from the African Diaspora - Research Paper Example

However, the concept of African Diaspora resulted when the West Africans regained their traditional customs, and reformed their religion, language, and culture. However, they have not been able to regain that identity that they lost in the slave trade. This loss of identity has made them suffer from racial discrimination since the time they were transported into the Western hemisphere (Berkin et al. 2011). It was not planned, but was a natural course of action. The Diaspora has given rise to anti-black sentiments all around the globe.

These sentiments are not only for African-Americans, but for all blacks anywhere in the world, including African, Caribbean, and otherwise dark people. There is an interesting history of a mish-mash of African identity in America. This paper tends to discuss the theory of cultural materialism in relation to loss of identity in African Diaspora, and strives to answer the complex question regarding how the African Diaspora has created an impact upon the African identity throughout history. The anthropological theory of cultural materialism has been presented by the iconoclastic anthropologist, Marvin Harris (1927-2001).

Erickson and Murphy (2008, p.148) state in their book that, “Cultural materialism addresses a central problem for scientific anthropology: people can be both subjects and objects of scientific investigation.” This means that people have the right to think as they like, and say about them as they wish. Where the true knowledge resides, is answered by Harris in two domains. One is mental domain, and the other is behavioral domain. Mental domain is based on what people think, and the behavioral domain is based on what people actually do.

The Diasporic sense of blackness relates to cultural materialism in that, the mental domain makes the Africans fight back for their lost identity, while the behavioral domain is based on how they behave in the society, and how the society understands their behavior. This behavioral domain is what has been the reason for labor market discrimination or racial discrimination that the African-Americans have been seeing through ages (Mason, as cited in Conrad, 2005, p.141). The question that arises now is- How the African Diaspora has affected the African identity throughout history?

Thesis: Africans lost their identities in the African Diaspora. Anti-thesis: Africans regained their identities in the African Diaspora. Synthesis: Although Africans have made struggles to regain their traditional customs, religion, and cultural practices in the new world, yet they have been unable to find their lost identities, due to which they have been subject to racial discrimination since the slavery trade till date. To start with, let’s define who a slave is. A slave is a person who is owned by another person for labor, and who does not have an identity of his own.

Does this definition mean that Africans should always be understood as objects of ridicule, not having identities of their own, and meant for slavery of white people? This question has yet not been answered even after the end of the period of slavery. Black people in America are yet supposed to suffer from discrimination and a loss of identity, in all physical, mental and social terms. Nothing has been done ever, or can be done, to make them reform their true identities with which they lived in their own homeland.

Affirmative action policies and anti-racism actions cannot bring