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[[image:Freddouglas.jpg|225px|thumb|[[Frederick Douglass]], historic [[Abolitionism|abolitionist]] activist, historic member of the [[Republican Party]] of the United States.]]

[[image:Freddouglas.jpg|225px|thumb|[[Frederick Douglass]], historic [[Abolitionism|abolitionist]] activist, historic member of the [[Republican Party]] of the United States.]]

'''African American''' is a [[politically correct]] term some use to describe the ethnic background of Americans with [[Africa]]n ancestry. The  great majority of African Americans are descended from Africans brought to North America as [[slavery|slaves]] beginning four centuries ago.  Others (like [[Colin Powell]]) were twentieth century immigrants from the [[West Indies]] or Africa. Many American [[conservative]]s believe that the use of terms such as "African-American" or "Mexican-American," collectively referred to as "[[hyphenated American|hyphenated Americanism]]," make the mistake of "putting America second" and emphasize racial differences over common national identity <ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/on_becoming_an_unhyphenated_am.html</ref>

'''African American''' is a [[politically correct]] term some use to describe the ethnic background of Americans with [[Africa]]n ancestry. The  great majority of African Americans are descended from Africans brought to North America as [[slavery|slaves]] beginning four centuries ago.  Others (like [[Colin Powell]]) were twentieth century immigrants from the [[West Indies]] or Africa. Many American [[conservative]]s believe that the use of terms such as "African-American" or "Mexican-American," collectively referred to as "[[hyphenated American]]ism," make the mistake of "putting America second" and emphasize racial differences over common national identity <ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/on_becoming_an_unhyphenated_am.html</ref>

==Terms==

==Terms==

==Politics==

==Politics==

Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but few who lived in the South voted--some states even stopped people of African ancestry voting by the use of literacy tests, poll taxes and other measures. The [[New Deal]] provided large-scale relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]]. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. This sudden change is often attributed to the leftist sentiments that were growing in the late twentieth century. The [[15th Amendment]] allowed blacks to vote, but despite vigorous enforcement in the South prior to the [[Voting Rights Act]], minority voter registration was still much lower than white voter registration.<ref>Issacharoff, Samuel; Karlan, Pamela S.; Pildes, Richard H. (2012). ''The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process'' (4th ed.). New York, NY: Foundation Press. ISBN 1-59941-935-1, p. 514</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040806055436/http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_a.htm</ref> After the Voting Rights Act, black turnout increased substantially.  Since 1964, blacks have voted 85% to 95% for Democrat presidential candidates, with an occasional black Republican elected to state office.

Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but few who lived in the South voted—some states even stopped people of African ancestry voting by the use of literacy tests, poll taxes and other measures. The [[New Deal]] provided large-scale relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]]. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. This sudden change is often attributed to the leftist sentiments that were growing in the late twentieth century. The [[15th Amendment]] allowed blacks to vote, but despite vigorous enforcement in the South prior to the [[Voting Rights Act]], minority voter registration was still much lower than white voter registration.<ref>Issacharoff, Samuel; Karlan, Pamela S.; Pildes, Richard H. (2012). ''The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process'' (4th ed.). New York, NY: Foundation Press. ISBN 1-59941-935-1, p. 514</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040806055436/http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_a.htm</ref> After the Voting Rights Act, black turnout increased substantially.  Since 1964, blacks have voted 85% to 95% for Democrat presidential candidates, with an occasional black Republican elected to state office.

==Religion==

==Religion==

[[Image:President Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|150px|Barack Obama, the first President with black ancestry]]  

[[Image:President Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|150px|Barack Obama, the first President with black ancestry]]  

Among African-Americans, religiosity is very high, and the standard practice since [[Reconstruction]] is for black ministers to be community spokespersons, and political power brokers; they often run for office. The great majority of African Americans are [[Protestant]]s, with their own [[Baptist]], [[Pentecostal]], and [[Methodist]] churches.  A few are [[Muslim]]s.<ref>The Pluralism Project at Harvard University[http://www.pluralism.org/resources/statistics/tradition.php#Islam]  Twenty-four percent of American Muslims are black, according to American Muslim Council's Zogby poll of August 2000.</ref>

Among African-Americans, religiosity is very high, and the standard practice since [[Reconstruction]] is for black ministers to be community spokespersons, and political power brokers; they often run for office. The great majority of African Americans are [[Protestant]]s, with their own [[Baptist]], [[Pentecostal]], and [[Methodist]] churches.  A few are [[Muslim]]s.<ref>The Pluralism Project at Harvard University [http://www.pluralism.org/resources/statistics/tradition.php#Islam]  Twenty-four percent of American Muslims are black, according to American Muslim Council's Zogby poll of August 2000.</ref>

==Racial registration and anti-miscegenation laws==

==Racial registration and anti-miscegenation laws==

[[category:Ethnicities]]

[[Category:Ethnicities]]

[[category:The South]]

[[Category:The South]]

[[category:Civil Rights]]

[[Category:Civil Rights]]

[[category:Black History]]

[[Category:Black History]]