African Americans in Louisiana

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African Americans in Louisiana
Arna Bontemps African American Museum in Alexandria

African Americans in Louisiana or Black Louisianians are residents of the

African ancestry; those native to the state since colonial times descend from the many African slaves working on indigo and sugarcane plantations under French colonial rule.[4]

Within the U.S., Louisiana has the fifth largest overall African American population. Louisiana has the second largest percentage of African Americans in the country, only behind Mississippi.[5] As of the 2020 U.S. census, Black Louisianians of African heritage were 32.8% of the state's population.[6]

History

Runaway slave ad in Louisiana, 1851

The first enslaved people from Africa arrived in Louisiana in 1719 on the

Nago people, a Yoruba subgroup.[14]

The slaves brought with them their cultural practices, languages, and religious beliefs rooted in spirit and

ancestor worship, which were key elements of Louisiana Voodoo.[13]
In addition, in the late nineteenth century, many Afro-Haitians also migrated to Louisiana, contributing to the Voodoo tradition of the state.

During the American period (1804–1820), almost half of the African slaves came from the Congo.[9][15]

Before the American Civil War (1861 to 1865), African Americans comprised the majority of the population in the state, with most being enslaved and working as laborers on sugar cane and cotton plantations.[16]

African Americans left Louisiana by the tens of thousands during the Great Migration in the first half of the 20th century, seeking work and political opportunities elsewhere. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, African Americans were 31.2% of the state's population.[17]

Of all deaths from COVID-19 in 2020, African Americans in Louisiana died in greater numbers than any other racial group.[18]

Louisiana Creoles in Louisiana are of French, Spanish, Native American, and African American ancestry.[19] Creoles of color are Creoles with black ancestry who assimilated into Black culture. There is also an Afro-Gypsy community in Louisiana developed as a consequence of interracial marriage between freed African Americans and enslaved Roma.[20]

Historically black colleges and universities in Louisiana

There are six

historically black colleges (HBCU) established in Louisiana. The Southern University System is the country's first and only HBCU college system.[21]

Culture

African Americans have contributed to Louisiana's culture, music, and cuisine. African slaves have influenced New Orleans dishes such as gumbo.[22] African slaves also brought Louisiana Voodoo to the state.[23] African Americans have influenced the music of Louisiana and helped develop jazz, blues, hip hop, R&B, Zydeco, and Bounce music in the state.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Louisiana - Place Explorer - Data Commons". datacommons.org.
  2. – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Religious Landscape Study".
  4. ^ "Slavery in French Colonial Louisiana". 64 Parishes.
  5. ^ Voting Rights Act: Evidence of Continued Need, Volume II, Serial No. 109-103, March 8, 2006, 109-2 Hearing, *. 2006. p. 1600.
  6. ^ U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Louisiana
  7. OCLC 25131336
    – via www.worldcat.org.
  8. ^ "The Arrival Of The First Africans In Louisiana". evergreenplantation.org. 7 May 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Louisiana: most African diversity within the United States?". Tracing African Roots (in Dutch). 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  10. ^ a b "The Ivory Coast and the Gold Coast". whitneyplantation.org.
  11. ^ "The Slave Coast and the Bight of Biafra". whitneyplantation.org.
  12. ^ Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion, Volumen 2. Writing by Junius P. Rodriguez
  13. ^ a b Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo (1995). Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Louisiana State University Press. p. 58.
  14. – via Google Books.
  15. ^ "The Louisiana Slave Database". www.whitneyplantation.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-03. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  16. ^ "Antebellum Louisiana: Agrarian Life". Crt.state.la.us. 23 January 2014.
  17. ^ "Louisiana QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". Quickfacts.census.gov. 2011. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  18. ^ "African Americans in Louisiana Are Dying at an Alarming Rate During Pandemic". NPR.org.
  19. ^ Louisiana Creoles: Cultural Recovery and Mixed-Race Native American Identity. 2006.
  20. ^ Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. 2008.
  21. ^ "What is the mission of an HBCU today?". Theadvertiser.com. 22 August 2017.
  22. ^ Gary, Megan. "From West Africa to Southwest Louisiana: The Origin of Gumbo, by Phebe A. Hayes". Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce. Glue Up. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  23. ^ Mythologies. p. 507.

External links

Further reading

  • Broussard, Sherry T. African Americans in Lafayette and Southwest Louisiana (Arcadia, 2012) online.
  • Crouch, Barry A. "Black Education in Civil War and Reconstruction Louisiana: George T. Ruby, the Army, and the Freedmen’s Bureau." Louisiana History 38#3 (1997), pp. 287–308. online
  • De Jong, Greta. A different day: African American struggles for justice in rural Louisiana, 1900-1970 (U of North Carolina Press, 2002) online.
  • De Jong, Greta. "" With the aid of God and the FSA": The Louisiana Farmers' Union and the African American freedom struggle in the New Deal era." Journal of Social History 34.1 (2000): 105-139. excerpt
  • Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo. Africans in colonial Louisiana: the development of Afro-Creole culture in the eighteenth-century (LSU Press, 1995) online.
  • Keele, Luke, William Cubbison, and Ismail White. "Suppressing black votes: a historical case study of voting restrictions in Louisiana." American Political Science Review 115.2 (2021): 694-700.
  • Scarpaci, Vincenza. "Walking the color line: Italian immigrants in rural Louisiana, 1880–1910." in Are Italians White? (Routledge, 2012) pp. 60-76. online
  • Vincent, Charles, ed. The African American Experience in Louisiana: From the Civil War to Jim Crow (Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1999).
  • Vincent, Charles. " 'Of Such Historical Importance...': The African American Experience in Louisiana." Louisiana History 50.2 (2009): 133-158 online.