The black population of the United States has grown from three-quarters of a million in 1790 to nearly 30 million in 1990. As a percentage of the total population, blacks declined from 19.3 in 1790 to 9.7 in 1930. A modest percentage increase has occurred since that time.

Over the past 300 and more years in the United States, considerable racial mixture has taken place between persons of African descent and those with other racial backgrounds, mainly of white European or American Indian ancestry.

Shades of skin colour range from dark brown to ivory. In body type black Americans range from short and stocky to tall and lean. Nose shapes vary from aquiline to extremely broad and flat; hair colour from medium brown to brown black; and hair texture from tightly curled to limp and straight.

Historically, the predominant attitude toward racial group membership in the United States has been that persons having any black African ancestry a

the rural South to cities of the North and West during the 20th century constitutes one of the major migrations of people in U.S. history. This enormous shift of population has put severe strains on the fabric and social structure within both the old and new communities of migrating blacks. If one adds to this the problems of low income, high unemployment, poor education, and other problems related to racial discrimination, it could be said that the black community in the 20th century has existed in a perpetual state of crisis. The black community, however, has developed a number of distinctive cultural features that black Americans increasingly look upon with pride. Many of these features reflect the influence of cultural traditions that originated in Africa; others reflect the uniqueness of the black American in the United States. The unique features of black American culture are most noticeable in music, art and literature, and religion. They may also exist in speech, extended family arrangements, dress, and other features of life-style. Whether African ancestry or survival in the hostile environment of slavery and Jim Crow was more important in shaping existing cultural patterns of black American life is a question that requires further study.

Religion has traditionally been important to black American life. The first major denomination among blacks, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, grew from the church established by Richard Allen in Philadelphia in 1787. With Emancipation, most former slaves joined Baptist or Methodist churches. These remain today as the church groups with the largest black memberships. Smaller numbers belong to other denominations and to independent churches of varying sizes. Among non-Christian religious groups that have attracted sizeable followings are the Peace Mission of Father DIVINE and the Nation of Islam, often referred to as the Black MuslimsThe Peace Mission is strongly integrationist in teachings, a concept opposed by the Nation of Islam during most of its history. In recent years the racial character of leadership and members of the Peace Mission have become increasingly white. In 1985 the main Black Muslim group was unified with the Muslim community world-wide.

The black family through much of U.S. history has borne the strain of slavery and Jim Crow. These institutions limited the opportunity for the black male to fulfill his traditional role of head of household and protector of and provider for his family. Because women were often able to find domestic employment when no jobs were available to black men, women often provided more dependable and regular incomes. Statistically, black women are more frequently the head of families than is the case in nonblack families. In addition to problems of unemployment, urbanisation produced strains of overcrowding, weakening of the extended family concept, and alienation. Nevertheless, relations among family members have traditionally been close. Many first-and second-generation city-dwelling blacks continue to think of home as the Southern place from which the family came.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2616
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)