Here is a post from Elder Kieth Shull, in a response to my catalyst post. Elder Shull brought up some good points and this is actually a few comments combined into one train of thought, that I requested he write for our edification. My question to Mr. Shull was “doesn’t assimilating to the larger American culture, mean conforming to white Anglo-Saxon culture?” His response is in bold. I would love for everyone to contribute to this dialouge as we attempt to build bridges where there should be no gaps. This is difficult for me to say; however, I am becoming more and more convinced that the subcultures created here in American has had a negative impact on the Gospel. Not that subcultures are bad in themselves, but when a subculture prevents you from interacting with others on a more intimate level, then I believe that subculture has a negative impact. Those subcultures can easily lead to partiality, classism, and seperation, which are all sins within the body of Christ. It happens more often than we think.
So please read this with an open mind and comment as you fell led. God bless.
Lionel & All:
Came by your site today thanks to a mutual friend,Chermone (aka JulianofGod). He attends our church, Fellowship of Grace, PCA in Peoria, AZ, where I’m an elder. I’m also the founder of Arizona Christian Worldview Institute (Check us out at http://www.acwi-online.org)
Chermone shared your “Be a Catalyst” post with several of us and asked for our wisdom & insight (such as it is!)
First off, I’m a Reformed white guy, raised in VERY white upper-middle class suburbs. A few years ago, I taught at a small start-up Christian school connected to a predominantly black charismatic urban church (with a sprinkling of Hispanics). Now THAT was an interesting couple of years! So my perspective will be limited, but here are my two cents and random thoughts.
You said you were stuck on the horns of a dilemma,
“As a Reformed black guy who thoroughly enjoys reformed theology, should I:
A) Sacrifice my theological distinctives which are important to me?
B) Sacrifice my ethnic distinctives which are important to me?”
The question as I see it is one of priorities. Which one is MORE important to you? Think of it this way: Would your Christian faith suffer if you weren’t reformed? What if you weren’t black? Of course it would be different, but that’s not the same as “would it suffer?” Next, which change (supposing you could make such a change) would do the LEAST harm to your spiritual growth & maturity? If you say “My faith would suffer more if I weren’t reformed,” then sacrifice your ethnic distinctives and cling to your theological distinctives. If you say “My faith would suffer more if I weren’t black,” then sacrifice your theology and hold fast to your ethnic distinctives.”
=========================================On a related note – and this is gonna sound really racist, coming from a white guy, but hear me out, please. I recognize that what I’m about to say was done first by whites.How important ARE your racial/ethnic distinctives? For your man Tyris in K.C., purity of the Word was all that mattered. He chose to sacrifice his ethnic distinctives and cling to doctrinal purity.
In America, the great melting pot, it seems that more and more minorities, immigrants, etc. are more interested in maintaining their own ethnic identities and creating their own subcultures – TO THE EXCLUSION OF the larger American culture.
In contrast to the melting pot idea, much of today’s emphasis on multiculturalism tends to overemphasize “old country” nationalist/ethnic traits among immigrants to the exclusion of America’s national traits. Rather than assimilating, learning the primary language of America, and joining the melting pot, many today seem to want a “cafeteria tray” where the individual ingredients aren’t “lost in the soup” but rather retain their uniqueness in SEGREGATED compartments. They want to remain Mexican/Pakistani/Guatemalan/Korean, etc. in every way but they also seem to want all the benefits of America – without actually accepting American culture or becoming part of it.
We even see it in our overly hyphenated language: people are identified as African-American, Korean-American, even student-athlete. As a former English teacher, this change in language is straightforward. It means that someone is an American (noun) and African is an adjective, a descriptor. In other words, he/she is PRIMARILY American, and SECONDARILY African. Why is a he not simply an American? (Same with student-athletes: based on this terminology, they are athletes FIRST AND FOREMOST and only secondarily are they students. (But this is a whole ‘nother discussion for another day about what’s wrong with our educational system.)
And what does it mean to be an American? There must be a balance – how to maintain pride in (and connection with) one’s national origin, traditions, language, customs, etc. but still be an active part of the larger community (the melting pot). . . where English is the dominant language, where there is a basic knowledge of America’s history, laws, and traditions, and where the word “assimilate” isn’t seen as a four-letter word.
By referring to the larger American culture, I’m thinking of a culture that isn’t defined by its race or ethnicity. I realize this may sound hollow coming from a white guy, but I’ve never really thought much about my whiteness. It just is. I don’t think of myself as a German-American. Perhaps my ancestors did in the first or second generation off the boat, but somewhere along the way, my family self-identified as simply “American.”
What I sense is – and please correct me if I’m out of line here – that some/many/most minorities in America feel a need to express their racial/ethnic identity – perhaps as a way of countering years of oppression and the resulting lack of respect & lack of recognition.
As I said, most whites I know don’t think about their race. It could be said that this is because we’re in the majority, so we don’t “feel” our race as much as a minority might. Who are the most vocal black or Hispanic activists – the ones who make the most noise about their racial or ethnic identity? Consider the flip side: the whites who emphasize and express their whiteness tend to be the white supremacists, to my observation. You can draw your own conclusions.
You asked me, “isn’t American culture the same as Anglo Saxon culture?” I don’t think so. American culture by its nature is diverse, but not divisive. And that’s the key – to not be divisive. What I fear is that some may try to emphasize & maintain their own ethnic identities by creating their own subcultures – TO THE EXCLUSION OF the larger American culture. By emphasizing the identity of the smaller group (racial, ethnic, tribal), it’s harder to see yourself as part of the larger group.
We see it all over the world today: Sunni Muslims see themselves FIRST & FOREMOST as Sunnis, not as Iraqis, and so fight with Shia Muslims – their fellow countrymen. The current violence in Kenya was triggered by political elections, but largely split along ancient tribal lines. Their identity is FIRST with the tribe, and only secondarily with the nation of Kenya. Several years ago, the violence in Northern Ireland was Protestant vs. Catholic, ignoring the fact that they were all Irish. In each case, it’s emphasizing the identity of the smaller group.
Your question to me was, “Should blacks be required to conform to “white, English” culture?” If you mean “neglect your black heritage and traditions, etc.” then no. If you mean “pretend to be white” then no.
For years, whites successfully segregated society – intentionally. But what is the advantage of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Chinese, or anyone else INTENTIONALLY creating our own ethnically or racially-segregated subcultures?
=========================================
See the book, “Americans No More” by Georgie Ann Geyer:
Ms. Geyer focuses on immigrants to America rather than on race. She fears American “balkanization,” the valuing of group rights over individual rights and national identity, calling it “a mostly nonviolent version of Yugoslavia.” In other words, my rights as a Mexican-American are MORE IMPORTANT THAN my individual rights as presented in the Bill of Rights. My rights as an Asian-American are MORE IMPORTANT THAN our national identity as Americans.
I fear that just as many modern immigrants are “balkanizing” America, the same could be said for most ethnic/racial groups. As I said, whites did it first through segregation and class warfare, so we’re far from innocent. But what does it say about reconciliation and bridge-building if I have my suburban “white church” with traditional hymns and you have your urban “black church” with hip hop? Aren’t we both creating our own racially-segregated subcultures?
We’re all called to be catalysts in one way or another. . . called to be agents of change, agents of reconciliation. As you recommended in your “Diversity – Part 2” post, there are lots that both white & black churches can do TOGETHER to build bridges.
Keith Shull
This may seem silly, but I’ve always been under the impression that one can maintain a smaller subculture yet at the same time connect with the LARGER culture by connecting with other subcultures..
Why not have both cultures celebrate one another? One thing, for example, that my church used to do was have a month was to have celebration of a different culture. For example, for the Jamacians in the church, we had something called “CELEBRATE JAMAICA”, where the worship style was done in Jamaican songs…….and there was food as well from the culture during the church fellowship. Later on, there was something called “Celebrate Nigeria”, where the same was done as well…….
It was all done with the intention of trying to be like Revelation 5:9 and Revelation 7:9, WHERE THE issue of culture isn’t overlooked……for each praised the Lord in their own tongue….but all were united in praising the Lord TOGETHER ….TO ME, that seems like a clash of sub-cultures in one setting but it was all nonetheless glorious..
The example from your church sounds ideal!
My comments were not intended to eliminate all subcultures, but simply to not use subcultures as a means of division and self-segregation.
Keith
Righter believes the logic presented in regards to the subcultures is somewhat misconstrued and is presented in reverse order.
The subcultures (at least in the American African community that I am familiar with) resulted from a refusal of the majority to accept the minority.
Thus, I believe the subculture (AA) is not reluctant to assimilate because of biases, they merely feel and have always felt unwanted. Okay, you say, we/they are all not like that, but who wants to go through all the motions during church?
On the flipside-who wants to be troubled with the “we good white folk” line, which often comes across as sheer phoniness.
I agree whoelheartedly that it is truly sad-but who made it that way and why is it so in the 21st century???
I applaud churches that have multicultural congregations; I have been a member of a few in my lifetime. But I am not, at my age, about to go and reinvent the wheel by trying to get let’s see, what’s the word, oh yeah, “assimilated” in any church where I stick out like a sore thumb…
LOL–I wear braids and have for years and white people often ask me dumb questions like, “how long did that take” “does it hurt” or” “is that your hair”? LOL
Now, can you imagine me being up in a church when somebody ask me this and I give them the responses I give to the nasty old men in the Walmart! lol I’m like, you better watch where you going in that motorized wheelchair! lol
Talking about studying their Bible and listening to the Word, some white folks are distracted by Black folks! lol
So, the white folk need to change their attitude and then we will be more inclined to join them in worship. As long as race relations are what they are in America, segregated church services will remain.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game…
I believe that church is the least place to fight–it should be a house of prayer and peace. Being the militant that I am, I am certain that I would disturb the quite often “prim and proper” services because I am highly compassionate and outspoken when it comes to racial injustice. Thus, I stay away…
In addition, Righter asserts that the questions of “which is important” is somewhat fugile because culture is who God made us to be and my Bible tells me that it is “all good”.
Thus, the question is not why Black folks won’t go to white churches but what is the white church going to do when they” get there? Let’s say there is some intolerance which results in a departure-does that impact salvation? Let’s say Black folk don’t want to go to a white church, is that going to cause them to lose salvation?
I have read the arguments on both sides and I do not believe that Heaven is off limits for those that refuse to go to a white church.
History speaks for itself, not to sound negative. But because of it, and because of racism in contemporary society, a lot of American Africans, if that sounds better, prefer to worship without the racial element that has been ugly, historically.
I don’t have a problem going to a multi-cultural church. I do however have a problem with racism on all levels.
Myth Debunk Number1:
White people do talk about being white, which is cool. The problem comes in when they start talking about being better that other races, telling other races what they “should” be doing because of a “I have supreme intelligence who knows better” attitude, and negatively stereotyping
In conclusion, diversity, differences, are good things because God so decreed that we be that way–
Insider writes on the topic: “Subculturalism, Separatism, Assimilation and How it Relates to the Gospel” wooh! Scripture says to all nations,ethnicity, and tongue, wooh! From Genesis three, to the the four gospels, the sinfulnesss of man is laid bare. Man is sin-filled to the core–intent on pride, selfi, and arrogance. Man has to be real about sin and not skin, Jesus Christ will deal with those who are HIS elect–4sure.
American culture by its nature is diverse, but not divisive.
Righter:
Not a true statement. America was built on the backs of slaves, which resulted from a culture that was racist. I therefore assert that American culture, by nature, is divisive, althought great strides have been made in the areas of racial reconciliation.
As I said, most whites I know don’t think about their race. It could be said that this is because we’re in the majority, so we don’t “feel” our race as much as a minority might.
Righter:
How does one know what another thinks?
Righter responds to Insider:
Racism is a form of sin and it is an issue that I address on the regular
Righter, I definitely feel you on dealing with folk who probably don’t want to be involved with you in the first place. However, I take this view: I hate racism, but rather than always place myself in comfortable surroundings, I choose areas that can be impacted in an a way that glorifies God and teaches His children. (Now righter, I am not implying that you are sitting back, these are only my thoughts)
I decided to attend a church body (that happens to be 99% white) that teaches the Gospel in Truth and in Spirit. IS this body perfect? Far from it. We have had several encounters with attenders that although they didn’t come straight out and say we should leave and never return, the stupidity of their questions make you wonder what they were thinking and if they are truly saved and not just having a form of godliness. Now, on the flipside, when we attended churches that were 99% black some people acted just as stupid. Unfortunately, the Gospel being preached there was one of health and wealth and did more spiritual damage than edification. So in my quest for the truth, I sided with a congregation/pastor that was willing to stand for it. And for the most part we have been well accepted (which is what I would expect from any congregation).
Yes, white America has created the air of separation. I don’t deny it, I believe it fully. Yet I also know, those that are in Christ Jesus will allow nothing to separate them from HIM! Neither death nor life, things present or things to come, black or white, height or depth and so on- should separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Now I know added some things to that scripture, but I did so only to expound upon it. We as African-Americans or Black folk who love Christ cannot allow any hinderances to the Gospel. White Americans as well must stand up and take part. But not a single one of us can coily sit back and wait on someone else to help America do the changing. We must all do it now. As much as there were whites responsible for the slave trade- there were Africans profiting off of it as well. There were whites throughout history who fought to help Africans gain freedom in America. And there have been countless Blacks in America who stood for Christ and the freedom that we should have. Still, God in His sovereignty has pulled people from all nations to be glorify himself through. Our grandparents had their fight in the 60’s and we have our fight today. We all know evil is ever present. But by the grace of God working through us, we can do good in building up one another to His glory.
Now do cultures segregate themselves on purpose? I know it for a fact. Go around and the country and you see it. Jamaicans, Haitians and Cubans in Miami have there own little areas named after them. Same thing in Cali with the Chinese in San Francisco. Same thing with the Mexicans here in Phoenix. Is there anything wrong with preserving heritage? By no means. But every last one must step out of that if they are to engage holistically outside of that environment. Can they survive within their own cultures? yes. Can they survive out of those cultures? yes. But the point rests in this, “will we glorify Christ in everyway possible- to include stepping out and pro-actively dealing with those of another race?” We cannot sit back and wait on other folk to make things right.
I agree Julian with much that has been said. However, I do not believe that change in the “white” churches is going to occur without legal action because change did not occur in the secular arena without such. To this point, I don’t feel like the race issue should be a church fight because there is already “too much” fighting that IMHO, is upsurd.
It is really sad that today, in the 21st century, we are even having this discussion. I really do wish that it were different and that all races could indeed live and worship together in harmony, but in America…
Now it may seem as though I push an “all-Black” agenda-but I do not. You will never find anything that I have written on this forum or others that pits blacks and whites against one another. However, you will see me address critical issues that involve the races in order to bring it to the forefront for discussion because I am a “no-holds barred” style writer. My intent is to get others to see and think critically about behaviors that are exhibited in regards to race related issues.
And do not think for one moment that I don’t write about the pitfalls in the Black community as well, because I am an “equal opportunity” writer. I recently moved from VA to Baltimore and I give the Black people here no slack when it comes to the wide spread heroin problem, gang activity and the lack of business sense to the point where the Koreans are on every corner selling “soul food”!
Why are we so “sorry” that we cannot do what we’ve always done, “cook” so that we can profit? We did it for free for years! lol
And the murder rate? Man, it got so bad that the Baltimore Sun published the number of deaths every day like it was the Pick 3!!! So, I got a problem (actually, several), with inappropriate behaviors within the Black community as well…
For years, I have talked about Blacks and the “crab in the barrel” mentality so no one is safe from my pen! lol
Thus, you have my name-which was developed to say that I write about things that need to be: identified, addressed and finally corrected through a viable course of action. As such, I am Righter…
But, Righter is not on the “jumping out” bandwagon. Call me a coward but I just have other things to do and quite frankly, I do not believe that my lack of trying to get white folks to embrace me is going to have any impact on my salvation for it has all been said before.
However, I never have had a problem with going to diverse churches that have taken strides to embrace other cultures and truthfully, I have found that diverse churches are for the most part better off because they have a sense of respect for others that are different from themselves.
In conclusion, I do not believe that black folks should have to go through the stresses of getting embraced by white folks because racism has been proven to be stressful and stress has been proven to be detrimental to one’s health. However, if there are churches that have a solid program of diversity, Blacks should be open minded enough to join them.
My advice to Black folk; stay out of churches where you are not wanted, it is not worth the trouble and God will effectively deal with those who have hatred in their hearts.
My approach falls on the offender, fix the attitude problem and we can sup…
Righter yousaid-
“However, I do not believe that change in the “white” churches is going to occur without legal action because change did not occur in the secular arena without such. To this point, I don’t feel like the race issue should be a church fight because there is already “too much” fighting that IMHO, is upsurd.”
I don’t want the law (i.e. the gov’t) in the church. It has no business in the church. Therefore, since change is needed I cannot look to others to instigate change. I must press on by the grace of God and do what He allows me to. Superbowl 42 is going on as I am writing. It is literally down the block from my house. There are men playing with all shades of brown skin. That was possible because men like Jackie Robinson stepped out of their comfort zone to make things right. They did that in the secular arena. I press on in the church. It is a must that members in the church correct the problems in the church.
I respect your stance Righter, by I think you are wrong in keeping back and waiting on the lawyers to fix the problems.
As for the rest of the stuff you said, I didn’ realize that folk were still getting high off of heroin. That’s a sad case. I would agree with you to speak on those things in our communities that are just plain ole stupid. I hope that some folk would listen to what you have to say and effect a change.
I respect your stance as well Julian however, I think that I am “right” in stating that change is not going to come in the church because of resistance, and I am at a point of my life where I’m simply not going through it. Now my children, who are 22 and 28, would be more willing to do so than I am, and I would never speak against it.
If I may ask, how old are you? I will be 47 this year and you know, I am just getting to a point where I don’t have any stress. I have done a lot of “fighting” in my life by way of activism so I don’t feel like I haven’t contributed. As such, I’m passing the torch…I’ve done my time and now, writing is the main avenue that I use.
In addition, I believe that I am right in choosing not to be on the front line with you. I am called to do what I do and I know in my heart that the proposed is not it.
Nonetheless, I have much respect for you, b and r, Tyris and others who will boldly take the “polar bear plunge–:-)
As a matter of fact, I look at those who will with pride and I also look at those who don’t with pride. Thus, what has been asked is a matter of personal conviction and I am in no position to judge either way.
Thanks for the dialog and if all goes well, and I pray that it does, my grandchildren will someday read about you all in the history books!
I would however be interested in knowing what the course of action is once going into an all white assembly for gp–:-)
Cultures provide adherents to the culture with a common frame of reference for communication and understanding. However, I don’t agree that human cultures are intrinsically good. Cultures live in and are contributed to by fallen human beings. As such Until Christ returns, cultures will divide people according to the pattern God demonstrated so poignantly at Babel. This is sociological death. Understanding various cultures is important for being able to share the gospel. This is the only truly transcendent unifying culture and I’ve seen it referred to somewhere recently as “CROSS-cultural”. God intended it this way to mark the veracity of His Truth. So we can complain about this culture or that culture that has developed according to the sin of man, but the culture of the cross is what we must strive for as Christians.
Good points
Righter, the course of action would be the same as in a black church. Recognizing the call in your life, working to fulfill it, fellowship with one another, being open and honest, prayerful, obedient to Christ, and being proactive to good works. We leave the increase to God, but we plant and we water. Thank you for your encourging words!
It seems to me that this whole idea of “subculture” is being used in the chronological context. In other words it’s a “we were here first” mentality. Or is it a case of “majority rules”. In other words, who defines what the main culture is that causes other cultures to be labeled “sub”, the group with the largest number of people?
Also, You said most whites that you know don’t think of their race. How does that fit with these comments you made:
“On a related note – and this is gonna sound really racist, coming from a white guy, but hear me out, please. ”
” I realize this may sound hollow coming from a white guy,”
It appears obvious to me that you have done some thinking about your race. It seems to me that your ability to anticipate responses comes because you have done some thinking on race relations which requires examining one’s own racial distinctives.
Your description of what it means to be American was fine until you invoked “traditions”. Well, if you ask me to define the most prominent American tradition, I would have to say that it is being racist/separatist. I’m all for everyone who is a citizen having a working knowledge of the language, history, and laws but the traditions should be established by each individual family group if so desired. That is, of course, unless you would like to be more specific as to what those traditions are.
So far as the church is concerned, I don’t believe that I would require a church to change their worship style to fit me based on my skin color. Since love is the binding law and principle of all believers, I should be able to feel comfortable around Christians of any and all races. So far as the church structure is concerned, I would only require the following: Strict adherence to biblical exposition in both preaching and teaching, genuine and not contrived love between the congregants, the ability to depend on the church and staff should a need arise in my personal life rather spiritual or natural and to be treated like an adult by the leadership (in other words, no covenant signing, attendance demands, or accountability partners).
I welcome all comments.
You’re welcome and thanks for sharing–:-)
Hey Lawrence,
My only rebuttle would be to this:
(in other words, no covenant signing, attendance demands, or accountability partners).
But that is for another blog.
Good ones b an r
Missed your dialog BLD, sorry. Nonetheless, it is good to have open discussions such as these.
Thanks a lot
I’ll make a deal with you Bro. Lionel. I’ll sign the covenant if it would show true committment and unity and not just another head count. I’d accept an accountability partner but only after I’d been there for more than 6 months. And finally, I’ll always be in attendance when I find the fellowship beneficial or if I’m being a benefit to anyone else. But I better not get any calls on Monday morning asking me “Where were you yesterday” or “Can we come by to pick up your offering?” That won’t fly with a grown man. LOL!!!
I need you to sign the covenant and let me call you if you are suspected of backsliding Lawrence.
)
A few random thoughts in summary:
Bro. Lawrence D. noted that I referred to myself at least twice as “a white guy,” then added “It appears obvious to me that you have done some thinking about your race.”
To be frank, I recognize the fact that I am in the minority here; both the address/name of this blog “blackandreformed” as well as the majority of those who write and comment here are African American. As such, I’m a bit more self-conscous about race.
(And I recognized the irony that my first blog post ever published – not just a comment – was posted here.)
To re-state one of my earlier comments:
“My comments were not intended to eliminate all subcultures, but simply to not use subcultures as a means of division and self-segregation.”
For those who say “I’m all for multi-cultural congregations, but. . . I expect the other race/ethnic group to make the first move” seems to be the attitude of “I demand that things change – but I won’t lift a finger to see things change. I expect the others to do all the work.”
Perhaps (tho’ I don’t know) this view comes from the fact that “the others” caused the problem, so they should be expected to fix it.
I would agree with JulianofGod, who said, “We cannot sit back and wait on other folk to make things right.” We all have an obligation to rememdy the problems of our society.
What I hope we can all agree on:
As Righter said,”Diversity, differences, are good things because God so decreed that we be that way.”
and “Racism is a form of sin.”
and as I said earlier,”There are lots that both white & black churches can do TOGETHER to build bridges.”
Keith
Good morning Keith,
The point that was being conveyed was that quite frequently, a defense is put up that says “I don’t think about race” when in fact, all of us do.
Thus, to say that you don’t raises a red flag. It is therefore my prayer that we all can have an honest dialog on this forum and others (because the issues are wide spread) so that we can begin to see how we really think down inside.
“It’s the heart of the matter” because “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh”
Maybe I’m missing it, but I don’t see a need to pick one over the other. Is there anything intrinsically sinful about my culture?
Plus I think I need a little more clarification in terms of what you consider a culture to be. For instance, we have what amounts to an American culture, developed over a period of some two hundred years. There are various cultures that come into the United States. But these cultures are the dominate “behavior and value set” for a group that is predominate in a geographical area.
Is it valid to designate Skinheads as a culture? Is it valid to refer to Hip Hop as a culture? (Not to equate the two in any moral sense)?
Being Korean is not an issue. Being Buddhist (which generally directs the culture) is an issue. Being Arabic is not an issue (generally). Being Muslim (which generally directs the culture) is – with respect to Christianity.
Preferences in dress, music (in general), specific slang, etc don’t make up a culture. At best they make up community or group of people with common tastes in those things.
So why would Tyris have to give up being Black (which I don’t see as a culture (sub or otherwise) in order to be a Christian?
Tyris doesn’t participate in the multiple wives, libations, or other such things as practiced by our ancestors. He doesn’t participate in ancestor worship, animism or other such activities.
As I think about it, American Blacks are in a really unique spot in the United States. As someone has said on another site, if Black Africans had been left to themselves (i.e. no trans-Atlantic slave trade) it seems unlikely that the continent would have done any better than the Arab Peninsula. There culture (spread among all of the African nations, would have been quite hostile to Christianity. We, as slaves, were removed from that general culture and introduced to British and American culture.
I still have trouble equating the Hip Hop “culture” to various African, Asian or Latin cultures. Instead, I tend to view Hip Hop as a manner in which people choose to behave. Within music, it is simply a style, varying from community to community.
From where I stand, a Black would have to actively reject the culture we are a part of, however hesitant some may be to accept us. Our values are American and generally based on Christian ethics and ideal. Our culture is American (and somewhat less generally based on Christian ideals).
Very good points Melvin, thanks