Culture, Identity, and Community: From Slavery to the Present 131and the jazz scat). Combined, these examples point to a
rich and ever-evolving culture with tangible and continu-
ing links to Africa and its Diaspora.Walter C. RuckerBibliography
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tance in the American South and the British Caribbean, 1 736–
1831. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994.African population than previously assumed. Th e diff er-
ence between Morgan’s conclusion and those forwarded by
Gomez, Chambers, and others might be due to the geographic
scale on which they focus. By looking at the slave trade on a
continental scale (e.g., all of North America), Morgan sees a
very mixed group of African imports; however, by focusing
on smaller regional units, such as states or colonies, other
scholars have seen much more pattern to the slave trade
and much less ethnic randomization.
Th ese regional patterns and concentrations meant that
full-fl edged language communities of specifi c African eth-
nic groups probably emerged throughout North America.
Th ese language communities contributed to the rise of Af-
ricanized regional dialects in the United States and even
the infusion of a number of African words. Th e Gullah and
Geechee of the South Carolina and Georgia coastline are
the most studied example of this phenomenon. As anthro-
pologist Sheila Walker and ethnolinguist David Dalby il-
lustrate, African American speech—even in the late 20th
century—continues to bear the marks of this level of lin-
guistic connection to Africa. Such common words and ex-
pressions as “hip” (as something “in” or “cool”), “cat” (as
a hip or cool person), “dig” (as in “do you understand?”),
“jive,” “wow,” “jazz,” “OK,” and “tote” have roots among the
Wolof, the Bantu, and the Gola of Atlantic Africa. Like-
wise, even some common grammatical constructions,
such as double negatives or the expression “he been gone,”
have strong analogues in the languages of Atlantic African
peoples.
It was, perhaps, from these early African language
communities that other African-derived forms and prac-
tices emerged. For example, the African American notion
of eating black-eyed peas for luck on New Year’s Eve has
direct analogues throughout the African Diaspora, includ-
ing similar beliefs and practices in the Danish Virgin Is-
lands, Senegal, Brazil, and Martinique. Spirit possession, as
an intrinsic element of African diasporic ritual practice, can
be found in any number of black religions and religious in-
stitutions, including African American Christianity (in the
guise of “catching the ghost”), Haitian Vodun, Cuban San-
teria, Brazilian Candomblé, and a large number of Atlantic
African systems. In addition to these ritual beliefs, African
Americans continue to employ other African-derived prac-
tices and expressive modes, including musical improvisa-
tion (e.g., rap freestyles and jazz music), call and response,
blue notes, and vocal instrumentation (e.g., the beat box