African American Studies Midterm Exam Flashcards

Racial Ideologies

Sets of beliefs and ideas that justify racial hierarchies and discriminate against certain groups based on perceived racial characteristics. They influence social, economic, and political structures, maintaining existing power dynamics.

Social Death

The condition in which a person is repeatedly denied recognition or acknowledgment by society, often resulting in the loss of identity, agency, and connection to community.

Afrocentricity

A cultural perspective that centers African culture, history, and values, emphasizing the importance of African experiences in shaping identity and knowledge.

Zanji Rebellion

An uprising of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean during the 18th century, aimed at resisting colonial oppression and demanding freedom.

Matrilineal Society

A social system in which lineage and inheritance are traced through the mother's side, influencing family structure and kinship.

Barracoons

Enclosures used to hold enslaved Africans before their transportation to the Americas from the 16th century through the 18th century.

Capitalism and Slavery

A system based on profit and ownership, where Africans were forced to work on plantations in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. This is relevant to Africana history because the slave trade was exploited while it built European nations and businesses and contributed to the growth of racial inequality.

Chattel Slavery

A system where mainly Africans were treated as property that could be bought, sold, and passed down through generations. It existed mainly in the Americas from the 1500s to the 1800s. This is relevant, as it stripped Africans of basic human rights and made slavery hereditary.

The Moors

North Africans and mixed Arab people ruled parts of Spain from the 700s to the 1400s. They are relevant because they contributed to advances of science, mathematics, medicine, education, architecture, and culture that influenced Europe

Racial Consciousness

Awareness of your own race and how it shapes your identity and experiences during and after European colonization and the transatlantic slave trade in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. this is relevant because it shaped how Africans and people of African descent understood their identity, experiences racism, and fought against slavery and discrimination.

Herodotus

An ancient Greek historian who lived from 484 to 425 BCE. He traveled around Africa, including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, as he wrote about the people, culture, and history. His writings provide early narratives of African civilizations and how ancient Greeks viewed Africa and the people.

Manumission

Freeing an enslaved person by their enslaver. Occurring during the 1500s and the 1800s, this allowed some enslaved Africans to gain freedom, although many others did not.

Christianity before Christ

African traditional religions and spiritual practices existed before Christianity spread throughout Africa in the first century. Africans had their own beliefs, cultures, and religious systems before Christianity arrived, disproving the “Dark Continent” claim.

Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa, the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire of the 14th Century, his journey to Mecca that introduced the Mali Empire to Europe and the Middle East. He challenged outdated Eurocentric narratives of medieval Africa.

Crows of the Arab

The Arab literary term to designate a group of pre-Islamic poets who were African or of mixed African-Arab heritage. social context is that they were typically born free; in contrast, they inherited the status of their mother and remained slaves unless their fathers freed them.

Hajj

African Muslims: The Islamic holy journey to Mecca that Muslims are expected to complete at least once, if able. It has taken place for centuries in Saudi Arabia. African Muslims traveled to Mecca for religious purposes while building trade, cultural, and educational connections.

Nubia

An ancient African civilization that existed around 3500 BCE in modern-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan. This developed powerful kingdoms, traded with Egypt, and produced cultural, political, and technological achievements.

Racialization

Racialization

Racial stereotypes tied to appearance and culture, shaped by colonization and slavery in Africa, Europe, and the Americas, have justified slavery, racism, and discrimination against people of African descent.

The Manden Charter

A set of laws and principles established by the Mali Empire around 1222 CE under Sundiata Keita in West Africa. This promoted human rights, social justice, responsibility, and protections against slavery.

The Course of Ham

Primary ideological justification used by Europeans to legitimize the transatlantic slave trade, racial hierarchies, and colonialism.

The Middle Passage

A forced voyage of 10 to 12 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, which displaced and killed millions of Africans.

Maat

An ancient Kemetian concept representing truth, balance, order, harmony, and morality. This guided Egyptian laws, leadership, and moral values, emphasizing fairness and harmony in society

Black Power Movement

The movement that mainly grew in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States helped African Americans fight racism, celebrate their culture, and gain political power.

Structural Theory of Racism

Racial inequality is not just caused by individual racism or unfair rules, but also by how society works together to keep inequality going.

Black Feminist Epistemology

A system of knowledge and theory that centers U.S. Black women's lived experiences, values, and standpoints as legitimate sources of truth.