Identity: Cultural vs Racial. Ideals, expectations, black and African American re not One in the Same.

 Yamariana Easley-Jones

Dr. Harris

African American Literature I

1 March 2026

Identity: Cultural vs Racial. Ideals, expectations, black and African American re not One in the Same. 

My topic was loosely inspired by the debates of DuBois and BTW. The heart of their debates is to find out what is best for the black collective and how black people should be living their lives. This led me to question “What Does it Mean to be Black?” From there, I wanted to explore the concept of cultural vs racial identity and how the two may be seen as interchangeable; they're not. African American is something referring to only Black Americans while Black can cover many cultures and places. The primary reading that I chose for my mixtape is Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin. I was mostly inspired by the essay within my text titled “Stranger in the Village.” Baldwin is telling a story of how he is staying in a small Swiss village where he is the first Black man most of the people there have ever seen. During his time there, he is not treated the best as the inhabitants are ignorant and uneducated. The people do not see him as an African American man because to them, black people are only from Africa. This reinforces my idea of identity because when he is in this village, he is stripped of his cultural identity of being an American and seen only as his race which is Black. So, while he identifies as an African American here, he is just black. 

              

Similarily, another text I was really inspired by was Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This story fits my theme of the differences between cultural and racial identity because the main character Ifemelu is a Nigerian woman who comes to America for higher education. She is forced to adapt to American societies complex ideas surrounding race and culture. In the novel, she starts to think of herself as black even though she never had before. This shows that while other people may have similar skin tones, not every place feels the need to put emphasis on racial labels and categories about the way we do. 

Both texts are communicating the idea that Black and African American are not interchangeable terms. Black is a racial category pertaining only to skin tone and can be used between different areas across the globe and African American is the culturally founded upon and reliant on the United States of America and the systemic racism deeply rooted in this country.  While these two can go hand in hand, they are different. Race and culture play a major part in one's self-identity and perspective but in fundamentally unlike ways. 

              

BLACK IDENTITY MIXTAPE

Black-Dave

Focuses on the collective. This song is speaking to black people everywhere and what his experience has been like being black and facts that most people would not know. He is able to provide perspective as he is not from America. 

Johannesburg- Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson

This song is by an African American man who emphasizes with the issues happening in Africa because despite not being there or experiencing it firsthand, there are common struggles for Black people. 

PART II 

These songs are for the Black race not just African Americans but using America to critique oppression and systemic racism. These songs describe outside pressures and expectations forced on Black identity. 

The Story of O.J.- JAY Z

They Don’t Care About Us- Michael Jackson

PART III

Songs that reflect the African American experience. Songs that highlight the oppression, inequality, injustice and racism Black people face in America constantly. Both songs are speaking from personal experience. Black Like Me is telling about her experience and how she has experienced bad racism and discrimination in what is supposed to be “the land of the free.” The song is a commentary on how society could have made her  hate herself and she does not and This is America says how when you are Black you must be dressed expensively and flashy to be considered important or valuable. 

This is America- Childish Gambino

Black Like Me- Mickey Guyton 

PART III

For the final part of my mixtape, I chose songs about people reclaiming their identity despite the pressures of society. In these songs black people are using both race and culture to show a sense of self pride to form their own separate identity. 

Brown Skin Girl-Beyonce 

DNA- Kendrick