Borrowed Chains: How White American Culture Shaped the Black American Mindset

Black American culture is often celebrated for its resilience, creativity, and power. From jazz to hip-hop, soul food to street fashion, and civil rights activism to modern political organizing, Black Americans have built a cultural legacy that resonates worldwide. But what’s often left out of that celebration is a sobering truth: much of Black American culture—especially its more rigid beliefs about religion, sexuality, beauty, class, and relationships—is a byproduct of white American culture.

The average Black person may disagree to the sentiment that our standard of humanity is shaped by white supremacy, but the fact remains: white supremacy shapes the entire world. There is no white supremacy without anti-blackness, so every divisive mindset you may have is rooted in white supremacy AKA anti-blackness. To understand where we are today, we must confront the roots of how oppression not only restricts our bodies but also infiltrates our minds.

1. Religion: Christianity and the Plantation Pulpit

The Black church has long been a cornerstone of community and activism—but its foundation was laid in bondage. Enslaved Africans were stripped of their indigenous spiritual systems and indoctrinated into Christianity, often under the threat of violence. The version of Christianity they received was filtered through white slaveholders’ interpretations: obedience, submission, and the promise of heaven over freedom on earth.

Over time, this deeply embedded religious structure became both a sanctuary and a system of social control. Today, many Black communities still uphold conservative Christian values that mirror those of white evangelicalism—including rigid stances on gender roles, sexuality, and morality.

Black people are stuck in Christianity because of how we see ourselves in Jesus. His suffering seemed to mirror that of our ancestors; we are trauma bonded to his story. The problem isn't our love and devotion to Christ, it is our attachment to the Bible and the belief that our clergymen are our "leaders" who can do no wrong. We have been tricked to believe the natural ways of spirituality is demonic because white people told us so. We are bamboozled by their standards of humanity.

2. Queerphobia: Imported Shame

Homophobia and transphobia within segments of the Black community are often discussed without historical context. But prior to colonization and enslavement, many African societies had diverse and fluid understandings of gender and sexuality.

The rejection of queer identities within Black American culture is largely inherited from European Christian doctrine and Victorian-era morality. White supremacy taught us to view anything non-conforming as deviant—not just to whiteness, but to humanity. Today, queerphobia in the Black community often mimics white conservative rhetoric, even as it disproportionately harms Black LGBTQ+ people.

This phobia runs rampant like a plague in how we treat each gender. We glamorize bisexuality or lesbianism in women, whilst holding disgust for queerness in Black men. We hold the status of a Black man's manhood and masculinity by a tiny thread based on the gender of the person he has sex with. It is due to the sexual violation of our ancestor's enslavers that led to such stringency in our sexual freedom.

3. Colorism: The Lighter, the Better

Colorism—the preference for lighter skin tones—is a direct byproduct of slavery and colonization. Enslaved Black people with lighter skin, often the result of rape by white enslavers, were sometimes given preferential treatment, such as domestic work instead of field labor. This planted the seeds for the toxic idea that proximity to whiteness equals worth.

Media, beauty standards, and dating preferences today often reflect that hierarchy. Lighter skin, looser curls, and Eurocentric features are still favored in entertainment, advertising, and even within Black families. This also has an indirect affect on texturism-- hair texture preference.

4. Classism: Respectability Politics in Disguise

Respectability politics—the belief that Black people must behave in “acceptable” ways to gain white approval—stems from a survival tactic that morphed into a cultural norm. Dressing well, speaking “proper,” avoiding public conflict—these behaviors were adopted in response to white stereotypes of Black inferiority. This leads from and to a general mindset that "white is right". In reverse, some Black people gain an aversion to some of the positive attributes associated to white people. The general distaste for things like healthy eating, therapy, and gentle parenting is from a belief that those behaviors are "white people sh*t".

Unfortunately, this has created internal class divisions. Working-class and low-income Black people are often criticized by middle- and upper-class Black folks for being “ghetto” or “uneducated”—a reflection of white capitalist values around productivity and success. Some people in the hood never want to leave, and don't understand why others would want to. They believe it is selling out. Contrarily, some Black people leave the hood and never give back, often forgetting where they came from.

5. Romance: White Norms, Black Love

Ideas about gender roles and relationships within Black communities often mirror those of white patriarchal society. The ideal of the “provider man” and the “submissive woman” didn’t originate in African culture but in Victorian-era gender norms imposed through white domination. Shaped by classism, sexism, and religion, our standards of manhood and womanhood was shaped by "massa and missus".

Black love, therefore, is often evaluated against a white mold—heteronormative, monogamous, and patriarchal. Even the idea of a “strong Black woman” can be traced back to coping mechanisms shaped under the pressure of systemic abandonment and the devaluation of Black masculinity through white supremacy. Black men could never fully live up to the white man's standards of manhood because of oppression. Being pushed out of the workforce and into the streets led to a slippery slope in how Black men provided.

This led to unfair or unrealistic expectations from Black women, or the need for Black women to settle for someone of lower financial means. Similarly, Black men have unrealistic and unfair expectations of Black women due to the white-washed standards of womanhood. They want Black women to be subservient and submissive like our white cohorts when it is not in our nature to do so. It is time we rid ourselves of the standards of manhood and womanhood that was set by white patriarchal standards.

6. Politics: Red, Blue, and Still Not Free

Historically, Black Americans have been pushed into a narrow political lane—first by white Republicans during Reconstruction who turned on us in the name of a dollar, then by white liberals during the civil rights movement. Today, Black political identity is often assumed to align strictly with the Democratic Party, even when that party fails to deliver transformative justice.

This loyalty reflects a survival strategy, not full political freedom. Even within activist movements, there is sometimes an unspoken pressure to remain palatable to white allies or funders. Our political strategies often reflect white institutional norms more than radical Black imagination.

There is a division amongst us when it comes to political parties, because it is clear that one party "tries" to do the right thing over the other. There is also a division on belief in the system of voting. I believe it is time we understand that the enemy is not likely to look like us, no matter where the fall on the spectrum.

So, Where Do We Go From Here?

This isn’t to say that Black culture lacks agency or originality—far from it. Black Americans have transformed oppression into art, pain into purpose, and silence into song. But part of liberation is unlearning. We must examine how deeply white American culture has seeped into our beliefs, practices, and self-perceptions.

Decolonizing our minds doesn’t mean rejecting everything we’ve built—it means interrogating where our values come from and who they serve. It means reclaiming spiritual traditions, affirming queer and trans lives, celebrating all shades and classes, and redefining love and politics on our own terms.

Because true freedom isn’t just breaking physical chains—it’s unlearning the mental ones too.

Author’s Note: This piece is written not to shame but to spark reflection. Our culture is powerful, but our power multiplies when it’s rooted in truth. Let’s keep questioning. Let’s keep healing. If you love this take, be sure to

and look out for upcoming releases such as my free E-book on August 8th and my upcoming publishing in February 2026.