What part of American society and cultural derived its heritage from West Africa?

Question

What part of American society and cultural derived its heritage from West Africa?

Answer 1

This is what I heard.

- Spirituals (sung in church)

- Blues music

- Jazz (has some West African influences but an overwhelming amount of the tempo is Ethiopian in nature

- the banjo is a West African music instrument

- singing styles , Mary J Blige uses Togo and Benin singing styles. All hip hop singers have the pitch of Togo and Benin singers.  Whitney Houston has a more East African singing voice, very melody filled and pure sounding .  Aretha Franklin who's one of a kind, has her own sound, but her vocal tones are from Southern Africa and the Khoisian people.

- dress style. Reggae clothes, are influenced by West  African and Jamaican cultures. But Rastafari  "black is beautiful" is from Ethiopia.

- literary writing styles. Fredrick Douglass, who is held as a fantastic writer in my country, is seen as good as Shakespeare. No one can match his prose. Other writers have copied him and continue to copy him for sure.

- cuisine. Eating fried okra, preparing sweet potatoes the way yams are prepared,  gumbo, jambalaya are old African foods. They taste alot like African foods from East, West, and North Africa. It uses alot of spices.

Answer 2

As far as North "American" culture goes, the Caribbean/West Indies is practically a West African societal transplant!

Answer 3

Music and language received some augmentation, particularly in the Southeast, where the largest populations appeared. Many of these cultural innovations were a mix of African culture and southern/Caribbean. Since African culture was a minority compared to the entrenched European systems, most areas are largely derived from European culture. As above, music and other art forms got new types with African origin, but the culture blend has made many examples difficult to distinguish.

Answer 4

Gumbo and Jambalaya for sure.  They both rule.  Some elements of Jazz.  A lot of our dance, and a whole lot of other stuff we probably just take for granted.