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Reflections on African-American Culture?

My cousin and I were recently compiling a list on African-American culture. Things that were common to Black households as we were growing up in the 60's through the 80's. Like I remember my mother used to keep frying grease in an old Crisco can on the stove. And my dad used to keep his valuables in that blue velvet Crown Royal bag with the gold tassel draw strings. And hot combs and blow-out kits! Those yellow spindles that you had to put in the middle of 45's to play them on your turntable. And getting spankings with those orange hot wheel tracks. A calendar with MLK's picture from some local business every year. Collecting S&H Green Stamps. I don't think we ever actually got anything from that damn catalog! Anyone else have these recollections? Or some of their own? Hey, you don't even have to be African-American. It should just be something most people could identify with.

Public Comments

1. You're making the gigantic assumption that those things are specific to African-American culture. They're not– they're pretty much indicative of growing up in working class America in the 60's, 70's and 80's. I saw pretty much ALL of it, or some very close facsimile in my very white family. Pretty much everybody collected S&H Green Stamps. I think almost everyone ended up with one of those velvet Crown Royal bags– my family did and nobody even drank! And who didn't have a 45 spindle?
2. o.o a lot of those things happened in every house hold, not just black houses. I was born in 88, so a little late to remember anything, but my parents tell stories about the cartoons they had, the pet rock, those lovely PSA ads like "don't drown your food"
3. you forgot having to be home before the streetlight came on. We always got spanked with either a wooden yardstick (mom) or a belt (dad). Mom used to collect free yardsticks from vendors at the fair that they gave out with business names on them because she would spank us so hard it would break. we had about 12 different pieces of yardsticks in the corner of the kitchen but could never measure anything over 14 inches long...lol P.S. I'm white
4. African-american culture is impossible to pin down because the notion of an african-american is flawed. it refers to black people, yet not all black people live in africa or america, and the disctinction of race is blurred and problematic. also, it sounds like your assuming that because your family is black, that your customs must be typical of african-american culture.