Black Panethnicity: Origins and Evolution

Abstract

Unlike studies of Asian, Hispanic, Indian, and white panethnicity, systematic research on black panethnicity is lacking. To fill this lacuna, this study examines the origins of black panethnicity in colonial America and follows its evolution through U.S. historical periods. Comparative-historical methods are used to assess the creation and development of black panethnicity and to compare it with other types of panethnicity. The analysis focuses on two periods of black panethnicity. In the first stage, black panethnicity emerged from the racialization of black Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the black slavery era. The second stage revealed how black panethnicity evolved during the historical periods of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights. The similarities and differences between black panethnicity and panethnicities of other groups are also discussed.