African Roots
By John Okello
The identity of the Black Family is a product of time and circumstance but its roots lie in Africa. While Africa’s place as the origin of the Americas black populations is indisputable the historical role of the African family structure, culture, and its subsequent influence on the African American family has been debated by the cultural ethnocentric and cultural relativity schools of thought over the years.
Cultural relativists believe that African Culture helped the black Family’s survival during slavery in the US and influenced the resistance to this inhuman institution’s racist aftermath. The strong kinship bonds, reverence of extended family units, resilience in the face of adversity, and strong spiritual orientations that have characterized the African family unit survived the ravages of slavery and is evident in the socio-cultural DNA of Black American family units today. The respect for kinship bonds and the extended family can be seen in the reunions and other family-oriented gatherings.
Traditional relations of kinship have affected the lives of African people and ethnic groups by determining what land they could farm, whom they could marry, and their status in their communities. Although different cultures have recognized various kinds of kinship, traditional kinship generally means much more than blood ties of a family or household. It includes a network of responsibilities, privileges, and support in which individuals and families are expected to fill certain roles.
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