Creolization in the United States

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          Since we have been talking about creolization in class a lot recently, we have generally been talking about it in reference to music and the mixing of African and European music to create something new. This term can also apply to different aspects of culture beyond solely music, including food and religion, and also can include indigenous culture. Although it is a term typically used to describe culture in the Caribbean and Latin America, we can also see some creolization in the United States. My question is - why don't we see it more? 
          In the United States, the only traces of creolization that are really prominent are Louisiana Creole cuisine, and jazz music. Besides those, there are not any more examples of creolization that I can think of in the United States. This blog is one where I pose a lot of questions, because I'm really curious to hear other people's input on the topic. Do you think there are other examples of creolization in the United States that I'm leaving out? Are there subtle aspects of creolization in the United States that aren't acknowledged or appreciated? If there really are no other aspects of creolization in the United States, why is that? What makes it so different from the Caribbean and Latin America?
          It's an interesting topic to think about because Latin America as a whole entity consists of different countries that cultures' contain different aspects of creolization, but even separately, all seem to have more creolization in their cultures than the United States culture. This brings another question to my head - what is the culture of the United States? I suppose most countries don't necessarily have a defined unified culture, but other countries seem to have more of one than the United States. But what makes the difference in the impact of creolization? Both the United States and Latin American countries had indigenous populations, along with bringing African people over in order to fuel slavery. Perhaps the impact of creolization lies in the difference between the way that the United States treated the indigenous populations and slavery and the way that Latin America did. I'm not sure though, so I would really love to hear your guys' insight on creolization in the United States - is it a thing, what are examples of it, why is not pervasive in United States culture?

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 23, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    I've been thinking about the questions that you asked a lot too. Maybe there's a book or something we can read/watch/learn from to find out what forms creolization takes on here in the U.S.. I think that some are more evident than others as you said, jazz coming from the African-American populations here in the United States. But my mind drifted to hymns and beats. I think a lot of American culture comes from others because white people here have no culture of their own, really.
    Americans take from others the beats, rhythms, and sounds that Africans brought to the United States. They take clothing from European and indigenous cultures, fashion from anywhere but within themselves. They take art techniques, literature styles, and cultural identities from elsewhere.
    I'm not commenting this in an angry way but rather as an observation and as a prelude to say this: I want to know where everything comes from and to give credit where credit is due. If Americans say something is part of American culture I want it to be a true American creation. And if it isn't, that we will give credit to those who are truly responsible for its creation and institution. If things we credit to ourselves are creolizations, I want to know. I'm going to google it to see if there are any books like that or documentaries and I will let you know, girl.

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