Differences Between African American Culture

There are two main cultures in the movie “12 Years of Slave” (IMDB) that will be considered in this milestone. The first culture is the African American culture, who were mostly represented by the slave culture in the film. The culture is easily defined by the dark color of their skin, and the poor shabby clothes that they wear. The male slaves are dressed in beige shirts and pants, while the women wear beige hammy down dresses. Often female slaves wore head wraps, that is connected to the African tradition. Some slaves were even naked when they were sold to plantations.

The Caucasian culture (a predominately white race) are the families who own the slaves and plantations in the South. They come from a long line of slave traders, slave overseers,

For example, the style in language differs between both cultures even when the speaker is conveying the same message. From examining the film, it is obvious that the language of the slaves is recognized for their uneducated speech patterns, yet, southern drawl. Instead of saying the word “master,” a slave would pronounce the word as “Massa.” This was typical back in slavery times with “Native African Americans” who had to quickly adapt to the English language of their masters” (Ettlinger). The Caucasian culture, however, had a more proper tone to their speech. Although they were recognized by their southern drawl, their language was much clearer than the slaves’

The world that he once knew as a free man has suddenly changed. After having flashbacks, he then realizes that he’s been tricked by two slick British men and kidnapped. Moments later, Solomon faces off with a white southern slave trader. He declares his freedom to him and demands that he be released. The slave trader becomes enraged with Solomon, calls him a “runaway nigger,” and unleashes his anger out on him by beating him with a whip (IMDB). The ethnocentrism is then established between the two cultures, as the slave trader feels that he is superior to Solomon and his African American