Wide fleurantus

Dr. Williams
HUM
09/10/15

The Myth of the Negro Past

Herskovits study was base of black African American people not only in U.S.A, but also
in South America, the West Indies and West Africa. The African American as a physical type,
Herskovits was led to an interest in their social problems and to their cultural roots in Africa. He
systematically attacked some widely held myths in The Myth of the Negro Past (1941) and also
opposed the assumption that Africa must follow the Western model and remain under the
continuous direction of Europeans. His research had clearly demonstrated the reason of black
people behavior, their trait and most importantly their past history.
Herskovits pointed the reason of black African American behavior. He distinguished
some of the aspect behind the black civilization to order our thoughts with reference to sequence
in time and to think in terms of origins. He stated that Negroes who has been brought to the
United States came with their own culture and their African heritage has been retained to
influence life in America today. Furthermore, my own impression is that the amount of African
tradition which the Negro brought to the United States was very small. In fact, there is every
reason to believe, it seems to me, that the Negro, when he landed in the United States, left behind
him almost everything but his dark complexion and his tropical temperament. It is very difficult
to find in the South today anything that can be traced directly back to Africa (pp. 326-340).
Herskovits pointed some of the trait of African American have. The Negro people were
brought to America in small con-signments from many parts of the African continent and over a
long period of time. In the course of capture, importation, and enslavement they lost every
The Myth of the Negro past. Melville J. Herskovits. New York and London: Harper
and Brothers
Pp 374
Page 1

vestige of the African culture. The native languages disappeared immediately and so completely
that scarcely a word of African origin found its way into English, owing to the dispersion, to
The accidental or intentional separation of tribal stocks and to the sup- pression of religious
exercises. The supernatural beliefs and practices completely disappeared; the native forms of
family life and the codes and customs of sex control were destroyed by the circumstances of
slave life; and procreation and the relations of the sexes were reduced to a simple and primitive
level, so with every element of the social heritage.
Herskovits specifically pointed out African American past history. It is clear that no
African element is granted in the background of the unified mode of speech, which is assumed to
be solely European in origin, for no single reference appears in his work to any African
Phonetic system. 7 Concerning the speech of the Sea Island Negroes, Guy B. Johnson writes in
not dissimilar. As regards Negro slavery the history of the West Indies is inseparable from that of
North America. In them the plantation system originated and reached its greatest scale, and from
them the institution of slavery was extended to the continent. The industrial system on the
Islands, and particularly on those occupied by the British, is accordingly instructive as an
introduction and a parallel to the continental
Regime. 12
Most of Herskovits work was to illustrate the relationship of black African Heritage and
most importantly the origin of our trait. The issues that black people are facing came from the
myth of a Negro past. Analyzed the cultural heritage of the Negro in a novel and realistic way
and this is substantially true (374).

The Myth of the Negro past. Melville J. Herskovits. New York and London: Harper
and Brothers
Pp 374
Page 2