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African-Americans
Health beliefs among African-Americans varies across sub-cultural groups
related to urban or rural residence, geographic location in the U.S. (north
versus south), class, and age. In addition, and pertinent to South Carolina,
are African-American cultural sub-groups based upon geographic origin and
historical experience in the U.S.
Sea Islands People or Gullah
An important cultural sub-group in the Southern U.S. is the population
of the Sea Islands, or Gullah. The islands that begin off the North Carolina
coast and continue along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia to the
Florida border are known as the Sea Islands or Gullah Area.
| About
the Sea Islands |
- range in size from very small and uninhabitable to the
largest of these islands, Johns Island here in South Carolina.
- were accessible only by boat until the beginning of the 1930s.
- pre-Civil War economy was based upon plantations, and in
many areas, enslaved blacks outnumbered the white inhabitants.
On
many islands, the only white individuals in residence
were
the plantation owner or overseer.
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| A
unique culture developed in part because: |
- The influence of American white culture was minimal because
the islands were isolated and populated by a large number
of enslaved blacks.
- In the early 18th century, a more favorable
duty was placed in
South Carolina on slaves brought directly from Africa.
This practice continued even after the 1808 Slave Trade Act,
and as
late as
1858, enslaved Africans were brought to the Sea Islands.
This meant a
large number of slaves arrived to this area from Africa
bringing with them their cultural traditions.
- The relative isolation on the
Sea Islands meant that several features of African culture
were retained in the area, and subsequently
modified into a distinctive African-American culture.
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Although contemporary changes in the last few decades have dramatically
reduced the isolation of the Sea Islands people, a syncretism of African,
American, and slave patterns, plus contemporary American life styles does
exist.
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