African-American culture,[1][2] also known as Black American culture or Black culture in American English,[3][4][5][6][7] refers to the cultural expressions of African Americans, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. African-American culture has been influential on American and global worldwide culture as a whole.[8][9][10]
African-Americans have faced systemic and violent racism through periods of enslavement, discriminatory Jim Crow laws, segregation, as well as through the civil rights movement. This racism has led to African-Americans being excluded from many aspects of American life and these experiences have profoundly influenced African-American culture.[11][12] Moreover, even in the face of these significant challenges and other experiences of racial discrimination, African Americans have produced distinctive traditions and radical innovations in music, art, literature, religion, cuisine, and other fields. These cultural expressions in fields such as these often serve as powerful apparatus for advancing racial justice which shapes African-American culture.[13]