- Source: African Americans in Louisiana
African Americans in Louisiana or Black Louisianians are residents of the US state of Louisiana who are of 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.
Within the US, Louisiana has the fifth largest overall African American population. Louisiana has the second largest percentage of African Americans in the country, only behind Mississippi. As of the 2020 US census, Black Louisianians of African heritage were 32.8% of the state's population.
History
The first enslaved people from Africa arrived in Louisiana in 1719 on the Aurore slave ship from Whydah, only a year after the founding of New Orleans. Twenty-three slave ships brought black slaves to Louisiana in French Louisiana alone, almost all embarking prior to 1730. Between 1723 and 1769, most African slaves imported to Louisiana were from modern-day Senegal, Mali, Congo, and Benin and many thousands being imported to Louisiana from there. A large number of the imported slaves from the Senegambia region were members of the Wolof and Bambara ethnic groups. Saint-Louis and Goree Island were sites where a great number of slaves destined for Louisiana departed from Africa. Very few slaves from the Ivory Coast and the Gold Coast were imported in Louisiana except the Mina who were among the most frequent ethnicities in this country. They belong to the Ewe group and their traditional domain is rather centered on the Mono River, encompassing eastern Ghana, the territory of modern Togo, and the west of modern Benin. It is more likely that most of the Mina transported to Louisiana were shipped from the Bight of Benin also known as the Slave Coast. During the Spanish control of Louisiana, between 1770 and 1803, most of the slaves still came from the Congo and the Senegambia region, but they imported also more slaves from modern-day Benin. Many slaves imported during this period were members of the Nago people, a Yoruba subgroup.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Of all deaths from COVID-19 in 2020, African Americans in Louisiana died in greater numbers than any other racial group.
Louisiana Creoles in Louisiana are of French, Spanish, Native American, and African American ancestry. 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.
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.
Culture
African Americans have contributed to Louisiana's culture, music, and cuisine. African slaves have influenced New Orleans dishes such as gumbo. African slaves also brought Louisiana Voodoo to the state. 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
Lil Wayne, musician
Anthony Mackie, actor
Tyler Perry, actor
Madam C. J. Walker, entrepreneur
Louis Armstrong, trumpeter
Bill Russell, professional basketball player
Randy Jackson, bassist
YoungBoy Never Broke Again, rapper
Kevin Gates, rapper
Johnnie Cochran, lawyer
Clyde Drexler, former professional basketball player
Mahalia Jackson, singer
Karl Malone, former professional basketball player
Bryan Christopher Williams, musician, entrepreneur
P. B. S. Pinchback, former governor of Louisiana
Sidney Bechet, musician
Buddy Bolden, jazz pioneer
James Booker, musician
Fats Domino, rock n' roll pioneer
Mannie Fresh, record producer, musician
Buddy Guy, blues musician
Boosie Badazz, musician
Juvenile, musician
Ernie K-Doe, singer
Ellis Marsalis Sr., jazz musician, civil rights activist
Frank Ocean, Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer
Wendell Pierce, actor
Professor Longhair, musician
Allen Toussaint, musician
Buckwheat Zydeco, zydeco musician
Jon Batiste, singer
Willis Reed, professional basketball player
See also
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail
History of slavery in Louisiana
Creoles of color
Louisiana Creole people
Cajuns
French Louisianians
Isleños
Black Southerners
Demographics of Louisiana
List of African-American newspapers in Louisiana
Iberia African American Historical Society
African Americans in New Orleans
References
External links
64 Parishe
Slavery In Louisiana | Whitney Plantation
African Presence in Louisiana
African Americans of New Orleans
The African American Experience in Louisiana
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.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- John R. Lynch
- Migrasi Besar (Afrika Amerika)
- James T. Rapier
- Jeremiah Haralson
- Amerika Serikat
- Thomas Dixon Jr.
- Sejarah Amerika Serikat
- Daftar orang Afrika-Amerika dalam Dewan Perwakilan Amerika Serikat
- Perbudakan di Amerika Serikat
- Konfederasi Amerika
- African Americans in Louisiana
- African Americans in California
- History of Louisiana
- White Americans in Louisiana
- Demographics of Louisiana
- Louisiana Creole people
- African Americans
- Religion of Black Americans
- African Americans in the United States Congress
- Index of articles related to African Americans