Abstract

African-American, also called afro-American or black American, is the descendants of African blacks who are sold to American as slaves by the European colonists in history. They were considered as slaves until the Civil War when Emancipation Proclamation was issued, they then became free citizens. But things seem not good for them because in the following more than one hundred years, they faced another problem-segregation. Facing the segregation, African-Americans didn’t stop their feet to fight for equality. In the process of their fighting for equality, they created their colorful cultures. As the time going by, their culture significantly affected the mainstream of American culture or the culture of white people as American mainstream culture. American music and sports were the two culture parts which were affected by American black people. By the analysis the influence of black American on American music and sports, this paper is trying to explore the impact of black Americans on American mainstream culture.
The paper firstly introduces some background information about African-American, followed by the analysis of American mainstream culture and its relationship with African-American. Then, the influences of African-American on American mainstream music will be discussed. Finally, the paper will discuss the influences of African-American on American sports.

Key words: African-American; American mainstream culture; influence

摘  要

所谓美国黑人，就是历史上被欧洲殖民者从非洲贩卖到美洲充当奴隶的非洲人的后裔。过去，他们一直被迫当作奴隶。南北战争期间，随着《解放黑人奴隶宣言》的颁布，他们才从奴隶变成了自由公民。然而，他们并没有迎来好日子而是陷入了一百多年的种族隔离的境地里边去了。面对种族隔离政策，美国黑人并未停下斗争的脚步而是为了平等努力争取着。在追求平等的过程中，他们创造了自己丰富多彩的文化。随着时间的推移，以白人文化为向导的美国主流文化也渐渐受到美国黑人文化的影响。其中，美国音乐和体育这两个文化形式便深受其影响。本文通过分析美国黑人对美国音乐和体育的影响，试图探索美国黑人对美国主流文化的影响。
文章首先介绍了一些美国黑人的背景信息。接着分析美国主流文化及其与美国黑人的关系；继而探讨美国黑人与美国音乐之间关系；最后分析美国黑人对美国体育所的影响。

关键词：美国黑人；美国主流文化；影响