Compare And Contrast African American Culture

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Most people do not realize how important their cultures values, traditions, and beliefs are to them until they start comparing those morals to another culture. Many of our cultures have various behaviors and patterns that are similar to each other. These behaviors and patterns are called cultural universals. Cultural universals are “all the behavior patterns and institutions that have been found in all known cultures (McWhorter p.449)”. Specifically, the African American and Native American cultures share many of these behaviors and patterns. For instance, African Americans and Native Americans are similar in the value and structure of family, and religious rituals and the role of women these are some of the similarities between these two cultures. …show more content…
Typically the structures of the families are set up like a pyramid. For instance the leader of the pyramid would be the senior citizens of the family. The older members of these families are usually the problem-fixers of the families because they are seen as the wisest and smartest members. In both cultures the head of the pyramid is what keeps the family close and together regardless of any situation. Usually these individuals incorporate the grandmas, granddads, great aunties, and uncles. The next set of the pyramid is the offspring of the head. These relatives are in charge of ensuring the head is taken care of and they are also the individuals that sort out family social affairs like thanksgiving, Christmas, and pow-wow meals. Whatever is left of the pyramid comprise of the grandchildren, great grandchildren, and cousins of the family. The vast majority of these individuals simply assist the family whenever they are required. African Americans and Native Americans generally have huge families and sometimes many of them stay within the same household. This predicament make the value of family extremely important because they all depend on each other to survive. Throughout history these two cultures had to rely on their values and morals to overcome hardships. Not only did they value family they also valued their
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