ABSTRACT
Sequoyah's death in a lonely cave in Mexico symbolized the defeat of early nineteenth century resistance to cultural and political domination. The story of Sequoyah and Cherokee resistance exemplifies the complexity of cultural domination. There are many groups in the United States that can be described as "dominated cultures," defined as those groups that were forced to become part of the United States through slavery, conquest, or colonization. The chapter explains how African cultures and languages changed under slavery. The intersection of African and European American cultures left the African with what DuBois calls a double consciousness that was internally at war with itself. The culture of slavery was a product of the conditions of slavery. Enslaved Africans came from a variety of regions, cultures, and language groups in Africa. Supporting ethnocentric education, Jawanza Kunjufu argues that the inherent racism of white-dominated institutions hinders the education of African Americans.
