The Lose of A Continent
The question is asked, would it be correct to suggest that Africa, as a continent and as an idea, holds no meaning African Americans, and the answer is yes. African and the modern African American have little to no connection at all. To the average African American individual born and raised in the United States of America, Africa is just an idea misconstrued by varies Eurocentric images and ideas. Ideas to some extent summed up in the concept of the dark continent. The fact of the matter is that from the time Africans were transported from Africa to the U.S.A the culture and identity of the African on attacked with the objective to erase for their minds. And now in 2015 society allows no place for Africa, the continent …show more content…
A name carries an identity, a reference point of origin, an indicator of who you are. African names carry such meaning, they tell a story and in some cases describe the actually person. Therefore changing a person’s name is more than just changing the term to which they acknowledge as their own, but a decisive move to actually change that person, their personality, their character. This act was seen by many in the mini TV series, Roots. Roots first aired in 1977 based on the Alex Haley novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. In Roots there is a scene that atest to the act of changing slave’s names. There is a particular scene where the protagonist (Kunte Kinte) is being forced to accept his new name of Toby. He continues to reject it and his master is not tolerate of this. Kunte Kinte is then strung up and whipped until he affirms his name is Toby by verbally saying it. This was the first step of breaking Kunte Kinte. After this step was complete, he was more accepting of everything else to come, sure he continued to resist, but it was never the same as prior to this distinctive point. The changing of the name is a process that changed the person who’s name it was, distancing them from their …show more content…
Religion in many cases impacts an individual’s entire life, from the way they eat to the very way they act. Religion also in many cases is not just something done, but a cultural experience connecting those of like mind and like traditional inclinations. Religious meetings are used as a time to rest, reflect, and reconnect; and this wasn 't allowed. The ability and opportunity to practice their religion was not given to the slaves. The religious practices of the Africans reinforced the memories and correct concept of Africa that they had; it rejuvenated them and reconnected their souls to the land from which they came. It would bring close together a select group of people that had potential to do great things, had the potential to bring the entire slavery operation to shambles. This could not be allowed, instead slave owners looked to replace their slaves’ religion with that of twisted form of Christianity. This version of Christianity endorsed the enslavement of the Africans, trying to convince them that they should be content in their condition of enslavement. Their forced, corrupted version of Christianity looked to remove the remnants of Africa from its descendants, leaving them as close to clueless about true Africa as possible. The attack on the African’s religion left them with even less than
The question is asked, would it be correct to suggest that Africa, as a continent and as an idea, holds no meaning African Americans, and the answer is yes. African and the modern African American have little to no connection at all. To the average African American individual born and raised in the United States of America, Africa is just an idea misconstrued by varies Eurocentric images and ideas. Ideas to some extent summed up in the concept of the dark continent. The fact of the matter is that from the time Africans were transported from Africa to the U.S.A the culture and identity of the African on attacked with the objective to erase for their minds. And now in 2015 society allows no place for Africa, the continent …show more content…
A name carries an identity, a reference point of origin, an indicator of who you are. African names carry such meaning, they tell a story and in some cases describe the actually person. Therefore changing a person’s name is more than just changing the term to which they acknowledge as their own, but a decisive move to actually change that person, their personality, their character. This act was seen by many in the mini TV series, Roots. Roots first aired in 1977 based on the Alex Haley novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. In Roots there is a scene that atest to the act of changing slave’s names. There is a particular scene where the protagonist (Kunte Kinte) is being forced to accept his new name of Toby. He continues to reject it and his master is not tolerate of this. Kunte Kinte is then strung up and whipped until he affirms his name is Toby by verbally saying it. This was the first step of breaking Kunte Kinte. After this step was complete, he was more accepting of everything else to come, sure he continued to resist, but it was never the same as prior to this distinctive point. The changing of the name is a process that changed the person who’s name it was, distancing them from their …show more content…
Religion in many cases impacts an individual’s entire life, from the way they eat to the very way they act. Religion also in many cases is not just something done, but a cultural experience connecting those of like mind and like traditional inclinations. Religious meetings are used as a time to rest, reflect, and reconnect; and this wasn 't allowed. The ability and opportunity to practice their religion was not given to the slaves. The religious practices of the Africans reinforced the memories and correct concept of Africa that they had; it rejuvenated them and reconnected their souls to the land from which they came. It would bring close together a select group of people that had potential to do great things, had the potential to bring the entire slavery operation to shambles. This could not be allowed, instead slave owners looked to replace their slaves’ religion with that of twisted form of Christianity. This version of Christianity endorsed the enslavement of the Africans, trying to convince them that they should be content in their condition of enslavement. Their forced, corrupted version of Christianity looked to remove the remnants of Africa from its descendants, leaving them as close to clueless about true Africa as possible. The attack on the African’s religion left them with even less than