Here we go again. I only defended Christianity because of the role it played in a society at a time when emansipated slaves needed to institute a value system. There is nothing wrong with the Christian Value system. People who follow the Ten commandments to the tee are in my opinion people who are worthy of inclusion to any society because they would eliminate many destructive behaviors that can sooner or later harm the economy and cause social problems. I believe this to be true out of most religions that I have studied. Back to Black. I believe and many believe, that in the evolving culture of African Americans after emancipation, that the church was a key ingredient into the social acceptance of moving on from a social and cultural genocide.

When you say that Blacks are trying to be or would rather be white, you have to define or be more carefull of your intent. For Example, if you have a group of people, and their language and majority of their cultural practices are taken away while in your possession, who do you think they are going to reference when it comes to standard of living. By default, they are going to take on a different identity. That is exactly what happened. The only problem is that the identity that they were taking on was for the most part against them because not only because of race, but economic loss. The race begins after Emancipation to preserve social privilage for those closest to the group in charge. Hence, social distance starts and is employed in every aspect of society.

I will grant you this, African Americans are more like their European American counterparts than they are like Africans in the motherland or the Carribean. Africans in the Carribean have more in common than those of the United States. The one thing that all three share is the evil oppression suffered under European rule.

This shared experience is the only glue to identify the emancipated in the U.S.. So as economic gains are made and the acceptance or subscription to U.S. European standards of living are sought, the African group within the United States is divided. That is all without mentioning the affect of drugs, the lack of lack of employment, education, housing, and community stability on the neighborhood or local level.

I do not recognise a culture for emancipated Africans Americans. I was under the impression that every group of people had a chance to develop their own culture from total freedom and exposure to the elements around them. That did not happen for Africans in the U.S. and if anything is just now starting to happen. Thats why it's ever evolving, but at the same time it's canceling itself out. In attempt to identify Black culture in the United States, you have to realize that it's only American culture. You could say that it is more of a sub- culture for the nation. However, it is all American. The language may be English, but the manner in which it is spoke is American. The history even told by biased scholars and obviously racially biased is American.The diet which may contain remnants of dishes that have originated in Africa, the Carribean, or Europe have been combined and perfected to be identified as the dishes they are today are American. Dance, Music and other arts are shared in the American way. Everything that is supposed to be Black culture in America is really when you actually examine it , American Culture.

In acknowledging in the U.S. that European Americans may be viewed as the only Americans, that doesn't mean that this sub culture doesn't exist or that it is specifically "Black" culture. European Citizens had an Equal hand in forming what some blind "black" leaders define as "black Culture".

I wanted to say also and it may have no relevance to what we are discussing, but you may need to know. For many years after the abolishment of Slavery, there was a very very low immigration rate of Africans from other European Colonies into the United States, while Asians and central and eastern Europeans flooded the gates of our borders. Now there is a surge from South America and Southwest Asia, and Northern Africa. It is my belief that in it's attempt to make the United States more integrated racially, they are preventing or discouraging the immigration efforts of people from Africa and the Carribean. The reason being is that this nation has about a 30% African Population in it if you include the emancipated. The problem is as I have just illustrated, people from Africa and Haiti aren't having a chance to network with people who can really help stabilize their nations and strengthen those regions. We can discuss that along with the question in which I could not decipher next.