AAAD 150 1nd Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I Religion and Spirituals Outline of Current Lecture II Language and Literature in the African Diaspora III Ethnic and Racial Identities a Africans and Indians IV Minority Status Current Lecture I Language and Literature in the African Diaspora Every African transported had to learn at least one new language 18th Century Black authors would use these languages to describe their experiences and demand freedom Benjamin Baneker o First black American scientist o Seen as proof that blacks have high mental capabilities and therefore slavery was wrong Phillis Wheatley o Poems dedicated to George Washington and Methodist preacher George Whitefield o Reminded readers that Africans possessed full humanity and deserved freedom o Her voice was muffled Not free to speak her mind Refers to Africa as pagan land Writing in European Languages helped reach to people who did not speak African languages Segmented African Diaspora o Because families back in Africa wouldn t be able to speak European and others and blacks who grew up outside of Africa wouldn t be able to speak African Languages II Ethnic and Racial Identities Africans were differentiated from Native Americans and people from Europe These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Seen as vulnerable workers 18th century scientific Enlightenment o Human beings could be categorized into discrete races 3 races Indians Negroes Whites Indians did not count legally in 13 colonies 1800s o Three tiered racial hierarchy divided population into black brown and white o British North Americans Divided into white and non white o Negro Someone degraded and enslaved o One drop rule One drop of black blood made a person Negro o Racialized reasoning created notions of racial purity White people were pure Race mixing People of different races having sex marrying o Race was thought to remain permanent o Jean Baptiste Point du Sable Embody mixed nature of Diasporic people of African descent Born in Haiti with French father and enslaved African mother Educated in France and spoke English and Spanish Founded Chicago as permanent trading post Africans and Indians White Black scheme persisted through 20th century United States Census of 2000 o Enabled Americans to assign themselves to more than one race Buffalo Soldiers o Patrolled the West and protected settlers from Indian attacks African and Native Americans had long history of intermarriage Pressure of American racism complicated black American s relationship to Native American ancestors Minority Status Africans had lots of varying racial demographics People of African descent became a large permanent minority o Subject to racist values everywhere they went Minority Status made Af Americans into Westerners with a level perspective on surroundings unlike other Westerners Western Racism o White Beauty and Black Ugly