Chapter 8: Africans

Learning Objectives

1. List the regions of Africa that are reviewed as well as where African Americans are currently
living in the United States.
2. Discuss the enslavement and emancipation of Africans in the history of America, and the
important socioeconomic influences on their lifestyles.
3. Describe the typical religions, family structures, and traditional health beliefs and practices of
Africans and African Americans.
4. Discuss the differences and similarities between staple foods and preparation techniques
within and across the regions of Africa and for African Americans.
5. Identify key foods for each of the food groups for these regions, how some of these foods
were integrated into the southern American diet, and how they have been adapted in the U.S.
today.
6. Describe the traditional meal composition and cycles in Africa and during the American
enslavement and emancipation periods. Compare these historical patterns to the meal
composition and cycles of these groups living in America today.
7. Describe regional specialties and dishes of southern African Americans.
8. Identify health concerns and counseling strategies associated with nutritional intake of
Africans and African Americans.

Chapter Summary

More than 12%, or nearly 45 million people, of the U.S. population in 2013 were African
Americans, making this one of the largest cultural groups in the U.S. Most African Americans
are descendants of slaves brought to the U.S. from West Africa.

The second largest continent in the world, Africa is quite diverse; it varies widely in climate,
rainfall, and geographical features. Numerous ethnic groups have evolved and strong ethnic ties
continue to define politics and national identities.

The history of Africans in the United States began with the period of legal enslavement, in which
425,000 slaves were brought to America starting in 1619 after Dutch Traders sold 20 West
Africans to colonists in Jamestown. More than one half of the slaves came from West Africa,
where they had been living predominantly in horticultural societies. A black, Creole, native-born
population developed. Various states in the North banned slavery between the Revolution and
the Civil War, thereby increasing the population of free people of color in the U.S. through these
years. Many former slaves emigrated to the North after the Civil War but many also stayed in the
South, where they worked mainly in agriculture. After WWII, many blacks left the rural South
for urban areas of the North. In 2010, about 1.6 million American immigrants were of African
descent. Most are from West Africa and East Africa with some from South Africa.

Although African Americans are geographically, politically, and socioeconomically diverse,

there is a strong feeling of ethnic unity due in part to discrimination and a shared history of
persecution. African Americans continue to make up economic disparities with white Americans,
but there are still higher rates of unemployment and the average income is lower than it is for
whites.

Spirituality was integral to African tribal society, and many slaves maintained their indigenous
religious affiliations after coming to the U.S. responding to pressure to convert to Christianity
only after religious groups became involved in the antislavery movement. Religion—mainly
Protestant—is an important part of the social and spiritual life of African American society
today. A number of African Americans are Muslim. Recent African immigrants include
followers of Islam, Christianity and Eastern Orthodoxy.

The importance of the extended family has been maintained since tribal times. The extended
family included unrelated members. In 2012, 50% of African American families were headed by
single women.

In Africa, traditional beliefs include the influence of natural, supernatural, and social forces as
important causes of events and illness. Traditional healers might use herbs, trances, spirit visits,
and/or dietary restrictions. Current practices in the U.S. include an integration of traditional
practices and influences from the Native Americans and whites. Prayer is an important aspect of
care. Voodoo, which originated in the Caribbean and is practiced by some traditional healers,
includes African and Catholic beliefs and was likely influenced by European witchcraft.

Traditional African foods included New World foods such as cassava, corn, chiles, peanuts,
pumpkins, and tomatoes. Native West African foods included watermelon, black-eyed peas,
okra, sesame, and taro. American southern cuisine is an amalgamation of West African, British,
French, Spanish, and Native American techniques emphasizing broiled, fried, and roasted dishes
using pork, pork fat, corn, sweet potatoes, and local green leafy vegetables.

In Africa, regional fare varies with the geography and climate of the region. In West Africa,
corn, millet, and rice are used in the coastal area. Yams, cassava, and plantains are used more
often in the southern regions. A thick, sticky texture is preferred in foods. Ethiopian staples
include millet, sorghum, and plantains. East African staples include cassava, corn, millet,
sorghum, peanuts, and plantains. Beef cattle are also raised. South African cuisine has been
strongly influenced by the European settlers and Asian Indian immigrants.

After Africans arrived in America, their diet consisted of whatever food the slave owners offered
and depended on local availability and agricultural surplus. Salt pork, corn, and sometimes rice
were typical foods; greens, legumes, milk, and sweet potatoes were occasionally eaten. When
pigs were slaughtered, a variety of pork cuts were often given to the slaves. West African
cooking methods were adapted to slave conditions.

After the Civil War, most foods eaten were similar to what whites of the same region and
socioeconomic class were eating. Typical African American foods and food habits in the U.S.
South include texture being more important than flavor, using many pork products, and eating
corn and greens.
In West Africa, eating two meals a day is the normal eating pattern and snacking is common.
The traditional southern meal pattern was adopted by blacks in the U.S. as economic conditions
improved. The southern style breakfast is now only eaten on weekends or holidays. Sunday
dinner had become a large family meal during the slave period and continues to be the main meal
of the week in African American families. The family matriarch prepares a traditional meal. A
holiday created in 1966, Kwanzaa celebrates the unity of all people of African heritage and
honors personal strengths and virtues.

In the American South, food has traditionally been a catalyst for social interaction. Sharing food
helps to maintain the cohesiveness of African American society.

African Americans have both traditional and biomedical views of health and illness. One specific
health belief includes the idea of high- and low-blood being associated with health and illness.
Having thin blood or bad blood may also be blamed for illness. Pica is the practice of eating
nonnutritive substances, for example, clay, chalk, and laundry starch. Pica has been extensively
studied and various reasons for this behavior have been hypothesized.

The major influences on food habits today are current socioeconomic status, geographic location,
and work schedule. African Americans eat pork (chops, bacon, sausage), poultry, fresh fish,
sugar and non-carbonated fruit drinks more often than the general population. Frying is a popular
method of cooking. “Soul food,” a traditional Southern black cuisine, serves as an emblem of
identity.

Nutrient deficiencies associated with poverty are prevalent in poor blacks. With poverty,
calories, iron, and calcium are the most frequent insufficiencies; anemia rates are high as are the
rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Hypertension is a leading health problem for African Americans. Limited access is an issue in
health care. Attitudes of fatalism, self-reliance, and distrust of the dominant medical community
all impact the cultural group’s use of services.

Chapter Outline

I. Introduction

A. African Americans are one of the largest cultural groups in the United States, including
nearly 45 million people in 2013, more than 12 percent of the total American population
B. Most African Americans are descendants of slaves brought to the U.S. from West Africa
Segregation and discrimination have marked their history in the U.S., but at the same
time, Africans Americans made enormous contributions to American culture
C. Paradoxically, since African Americans have been in the U.S. for centuries and are such a
large population group, their ethnic identity results from their time in the U.S.

II. Cultural Perspective

A. Introduction – Africa is the second largest continent in the world

 1. In 2013, 1 billion people
2. Portions have a tropical climate, there are wide variations in rainfall, there are diverse
geographical features, and distinct regions
3. Numerous ethnic groups have evolved and strong ethnic ties continue to define
politics and national identities
B. History of Africans in the United States
1. Enslavement
a. 425,000 slaves were legally brought to America during the enslavement period
starting in 1619
b. Many slaves identified with tribal affiliations rather than a specific country or
Africa as a whole
c. More than one-half of the slaves came from West Africa, from horticultural
societies
d. The process of separating newly arrived slaves from more acculturated Africans
resulted in many cultural values being maintained
e. The slave owners valued the slaves’ agricultural expertise
f. A black Creole, native-born population developed with regional variations
2. Emancipation
a. After the American Revolution, various states in the North banned slavery. By the
1830s, there were 300,000 free people of color in the U.S.
b. After emancipation in 1862, some former slaves emigrated to the North, but many
stayed in the South, mainly working in agriculture
c. In the early 1900s, another wave of Southern Blacks moved to the northern urban
areas, correlating with the rise in segregation laws that created urban ghettos
d. Between the 1940s and the 1960s, 4 million Blacks left the South for fast-paced,
acculturated, urban lifestyles
e. After the 1960s, political movements pushed for more social and political equality
3. Current Demographics
a. Slightly more than one half (55%) of American Blacks live in the South, with
more moving back to the South than moving away
b. Other blacks live in urban areas of the Midwest and Northeast
c. In 2010, about 1.6 million of African Americans were immigrants of African
decent
(1) Most are from West Africa and East Africa with some from South Africa
(2) Less than 1% came from the Caribbean or Central American descent
4. Socioeconomic Status
a. African Americans continue to make up economic disparities with white
Americans, but there are still higher rates of unemployment and the average
income is lower than for whites
b. Although African Americans are geographically, politically, and
socioeconomically diverse, there is a strong feeling of ethnic unity
C. Worldview
1. Religion
a. Spirituality was integral to African tribal society and many slaves maintained
indigenous religious affiliations
 b. Religion is an important part of the social and spiritual life of African American
society today
c. National Baptist Convention of the USA, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
Pentecostal are the predominant Christian denominations
d. A small percentage of African Americans who are Muslim are members of either
the World Community of All Islam or the Nation of Islam (see Chapter 4 for more
information about this religion)
e. It is believed that nearly one-half of the African population participates in
traditional tribal religions or combine elements of several faiths
2. Family
a. The importance of the extended family has been maintained since tribal times
b. The extended family included unrelated members
c. In 2012, 50% of the families were headed by women and many of these were
young women with children
d. Extended kinship supports one another; the extended family is highly valued
3. Traditional Health Beliefs and Practices
a. In Africa, traditional beliefs include the influence of natural, supernatural, and
social forces as important causes for events and illnesses
b. A traditional healer would diagnose, determine the supernatural cause, and then
dislodge the evil cause of an illness. Cures might include the use of herbs, trances,
spirit visits, and dietary restrictions
c. Current practices in the U.S. integrate traditional practices with influences from
the Native Americans and whites
d. Rest and diet are part of maintaining health
e. Home remedies and herb teas are used
f. Prayer is an important component to health
g. Illness may be due to a punishment by God. Evil spirits might be causing
hypertension and other diseases
h. Voodoo, or hoo-doo, is practiced by some traditional healers and includes African
and Catholic beliefs
(1) Originating in the Caribbean
(2) Magical cures and spells are important aspects

III. Traditional Food Habits

A. Ingredients and Common Foods

1. Historical Influences
a. Traditional African foods included “new” world foods such as cassava, corn,
chiles, peanuts, pumpkins, and tomatoes
b. Native West African foods included watermelon, black-eyed peas, okra, sesame,
and taro
c. American southern cuisine is an amalgamation of West African, British, French,
Spanish, and Native American techniques
2. African Fare
a. West African
 (1) Coastal area—corn, millet, and rice used; southern region—yams, cassava,
plantains
(2) Can’t farm dry Saharan areas; herding instead
(3) Chickens were higher-status meats
(4) Boiled or fried foods were eaten by hand
(5) Tomatoes, chili peppers, onions for seasoning
(6) A thick, sticky texture preferred
(7) Many tropical fruits and vegetables
(8) Nuts and seeds as well as the resulting oils
(9) Palm oil also used as a fat
(10) Modern-day West African fare is mainly vegetarian and has many of the
traditional foods.
b. Ethiopian, Eritrean, Somali, and Sudanese
(1) Arid climate with mountainous plains and lowland valleys
(2) Millet, sorghum, plantains are staples
(3) Many Ethiopians follow the Eastern Orthodox religions and eat little meat
because of religious reasons; or Moslems who follow Halal dietary practices
(4) Injera is the traditional Ethiopian flat bread
(5) Berbere, a hot spice mixture, is a frequent flavoring
c. East African
(1) Climate and geography are suited for farming and ranching
(2) Cassava, corn, millet, sorghum, peanuts, plantains are common staples
(3) Cattle indicate wealth, raised by northern tribes including the Maasai
(4) Predominantly vegetarian cuisine, but influenced by Arab, Asian Indian, and
British food habits
(5) Coconut milk is a frequent flavoring
d. South African
(1) A very temperate climate favors many fruits and vegetables that are not
common in the rest of the continent
(2) Cuisine has been strongly influenced by the European settlers—including the
Dutch, British, and French; some Asian Indian influences
(3) Many regional meat specialties are eaten
3. The Slave Diet
a. After slaves arrived in America, available foods were whatever the slave owners
provided—depending on local availability and agricultural surplus
b. Typical foods: salt pork, corn, sometimes rice—occasionally, greens, legumes,
milk, sweet potatoes
c. Hunger was common among slaves. Some slave owners allowed or required
slaves to maintain personal garden plots: slaves grew greens, okra, and cow peas
from Africa
d. Meat: small wild animals, wild pigs, fish
e. When pigs were slaughtered, the variety pork cuts were often given to the slaves.
Chicken continued to be a status food
f. West-African cooking methods were adapted to slave conditions with corn
substituted for traditional starches
 g. Common ingredients: peanuts, hot pepper sauces, corn-based dishes, pork fat
(lard) for cooking
h. Portability of foods resulted in many one-dish stews and corn cakes
i. Fried chicken and fried fish become popular
4. Foods after the Abolition of Slavery
a. After the Civil War, most foods that blacks were eating were similar to what
whites of the same region and socioeconomic class had—except that whites
switched to beef while blacks continued to eat pork variety cuts
5. African American Southern Staples
a. Key features of the diet
(1) Texture more important than flavor
(2) Many pork products and greens
(3) Pork variety cuts, pork skin fried for cracklings
b. Barbeque and barbeque sauces
c. Gumbos combine meats, poultry, and fish
d. Local indigenous vegetation was the basis of experimentation during the Civil
War; many types of greens are eaten today, often stewed with pork parts.
B. Table 8.1 Cultural Food Groups: African Americans (Southern United States) – Common
foods for each food group are included as well as comments on the regional adaptations
in the U.S.
C. Meal Composition and Cycle
1. Daily Patterns
a. In West Africa, two meals a day were typical and snacking was common
b. People served in this order: men, boys, girls, women
c. The traditional southern meal pattern was adopted by blacks in the U.S. as
economic conditions improved; typical: a large breakfast, lunch as the main meal
of the day eaten at mid-afternoon, and a lighter supper
d. The traditional southern style breakfast is now only eaten on weekends or
holidays.
2. Special Occasions
a. Sunday dinner had become a large family meal during the slave period and
continues to be the main meal of the week in African American families. The
family matriarch prepares a traditional meal
b. Other holiday meals are similar to the Sunday dinner, but more foods are served
c. Buffets are common, parties often enjoyed for a variety of occasions
d. Kwanzaa
(1) Holiday created in 1966
(2) Celebrates the unity of all people of African heritage
(3) Emphasizes personal strengths and virtues
D. Role of Food in African American Society and Etiquette
1. In the American south, food has traditionally been a catalyst for social interaction
a. Sharing food helps to maintain the cohesiveness of African American society
b. In Africa today, sharing food is still an important social activity
c. In many urban areas, Western styles of dining are practiced. However, in rural
regions meals are often served communally and consumed with the hands. Only
the right hand may be used for eating, and the left hand should not touch anything
 on the table
E. Therapeutic Uses of Food
1. African Americans have both traditional and biomedical views of health and illness
a. Eating three hearty meals a day is important for health
b. “High blood” is caused by excess blood that migrates to one part of the body or
by eating too much rich food or red foods
c. “Low blood” is associated with anemia; thought to be caused by eating too many
astringent and acidic foods and not enough meat
d. “Thin blood” can’t nourish the body
e. “Bad blood” is due to hereditary, natural or supernatural contamination
f. “Unclean blood” is due to accumulated impurities
2. Pica is the practice of eating nonnutritive substances; examples: clay, chalk, laundry
starch
a. Pica has been extensively studied
b. Various reasons for this behavior have been hypothesized

IV. Contemporary Food Habits in the U.S.

A. Adaptations of Food Habits – The major influences on food habits today are current
socioeconomic status, geographic location, and work schedule
1. Ingredients and Common Foods
a. Though food preferences do not vary greatly between blacks and whites, African
Americans choose pork chops, bacon, sausage, poultry, fresh fish, sugar, and non-
carbonated fruit drinks more often than whites and fast food is popular
b. “Soul food” is the term for traditional southern black cuisine and serves as an
emblem of identity
2. Meal Composition and Cycle
a. Work habits drive meal cycles, content, and size more than tradition does.
b. Foods associated with poverty, such as pigs feet and chitterlings, are not eaten as
often by many blacks
c. Frying is still a popular cooking method
B. Nutritional Status
1. Nutritional Intake
a. Nutrient deficiencies associated with poverty are prevalent in poor blacks
b. Dietary variety increases with increasing income for some food groups
c. Calories, iron, and calcium are the most frequent insufficiencies
(1) Anemia rates are high
d. The diets are low in fresh fruits and vegetables; therefore, also in fiber
e. Diets are high in percent of calories from animal protein
f. High rates of preterm and low birth-weight babies
g. High obesity rates—with more upper-body and deep-fat depositions than whites
h. High rates of type 2 diabetes related to obesity levels
i. Hypertension is a leading health problem for this group
j. Mortality rates among African Americans are significantly higher that the U.S.
average
 k. The study of diets in African immigrants shows that some vitamin and mineral
deficiencies are common. Vitamin A deficiency is related to occurrence of
blindness
2. Counseling
a. Limited access to health care is an issue
b. Attitudes of fatalism, self-reliance, and distrust of the dominant medical
community all impact use of services
c. Both verbal and nonverbal communication styles are engaged and expressive
d. May not communicate needs or questions to a health care provider
e. Traditional health care practices, such as using diet to treat high or low blood,
may complicate nutrition counseling