African American Family Customs

I consider myself to be part of the mainstream American culture. However, there are a few customs and traditions that I’ve recognize as being present in my family. I think the first thing that has always been very prominent in my household is behavior and attitude. My sisters and I were brought up to always say thank you, your welcome, and to just be polite. So when we are around other family members or friends they tend to comment on how polite we are, or say “you don’t have to say thank you”. But, it’s just natural for us to say thank you even when it’s relating to something small. Another custom that my house hold has always shared is saying grace before eating. When I was younger I remember thinking that everyone had the same grace. But, as I started to get older I started to realize that a lot of people had different prayers before eating. I would sometimes even find myself saying grace at other people houses, while they were already starting to eat. My grandfather and great uncle were pastors so religion was something that was really installed in my mom. However, my mom was never really religious on my sisters and me growing up. She was
So in the south soul food is a custom that a lot of families have. It’s also a big thing for the black culture. So being African American and from the south, soul food (home cooking), which includes things like macaroni cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, etc. has always been really prominent in my life. My family always go to my great grandma house for those home cook meals on certain Sundays and on special occasions. It’s really common after church; the whole family, some family I don’t’ even know will meet up at my great grandma house just to eat. I found this discussion board to be pretty cool, because when I first found out about the topic I thought I didn’t really have any customs or traditions, but I guess I do after