Painful Legacy of Historical African American Culture

Abstract

African Americans continue to experience significant difficulty integrating into mainstream American society. Research literature demonstrates that after decades of legislation designed to address African American socialization issues, African Americans continue to seem to be unable to pull many of their communities out of academic disparities, high unemployment, crippling poverty, and endemic crime. There appears to be historical ramifications and etiological determinants that explicate the challenges that confront African American communities. However, few researchers seem to understand the actual culture of African Americans. As such, counselors, educators, and policymakers are seemingly unable to devise and implement effective intervention strategies that appropriately attend to these endemic challenges. Thereby, explication of the historical “roots” and legacy of African American culture seems critical.