Black Legacy

Intriguing and challenging, this multidisciplinary study argues for more recognition of the African influence on the culture of the United States and the rest of the Americas. Historian Piersen ( Black Yankees ) first compares African and African American folk myths in which blacks attempted to understand the reasons for their enslavement; he finds in the tales hints of a ``common pan-African world view.'' Many African slaves had royal blood, he notes, and their leadership qualities were honored in New World black communities. Piersen also presents evidence that Africans brought skillful holistic medical techniques, including a form of inoculation against smallpox, as well as a great concern with personal cleanliness. While Piersen argues cogently for greater recognition of the black influence on New Orleans' Mardi Gras, his suggestion that the Ku Klux Klan borrowed its masked style from African secret societies is admittedly speculative. He also finds African influence in Southern manners, cooking and preaching. This study, Piersen writes, makes a strong argument that a melting pot existed. (June)