What is Black Culture....

It seems like a simple question right... I was confronted with this what I was reading an article from the New York Times. The title of the article was Overcoming Adoption’s Racial Barriers. It raised several questions for me. Can black children learn and understand black culture from un-black parents? How important is it to have parents to have the same cultural understanding as the child? When white parents looking to adopt a black child they have to show that impart black culture to there child, it made me pause, and ask what is black culture.

It seems like an easy question, no? It is BET. It is style of dress. It is black films. It’s voting for Democrats. It’s soul food. It’s a shared history. It just is... right? Basically, it s a sum of values and behaviors that makes up a people’s lifestyle and approach to life. Culture is most easily seen in everyday life, like the things that I listed above.

What if you do like BET or Black films? Does that mean that you are not black? Of course not....
What if you do like the “that” style of dress? Does that mean you are not black? Of course not...What if you are vote Republican?.... Are you not black then... (well you have to draw the line somewhere...) No, No, Of course not...

If it black culture is truly values that expressed on a daily basis. Can someone that does not express it’s values on a daily basis, teach a child black culture?

Please don’t miss understand, I’m happy that these children are being a adopted. A loving family is clearly, a better choice for the child then foster care. So, these families may raise little Carltons and Carltonettes. ( I know that you remember our favorite white/black person from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air) And in the children’s future they will deal with there blackness or lack of it.

All I would like to highlight is... what is the role and importance of culture in raising of a child? And for the answer of this, I’m unsure.