Natalie Gilbert: Outside Reading

One scholarly journal I found on ProQuest that I ended up not using for my final research paper was Death in Black and White: A study of family differences in the performance of death rituals by Charlton D Mcllwain. While I ended up not using it in my paper I found it to be a very interesting article. He studies the different behaviors of two racial backgrounds when dealing with death. He writes how both white and black Christians participated in the same death rituals, yet the expression of emotion was completely different. The observations and data showed that the amount of emotional expression demonstrated by the African American community was much more than that of the White community. Both participating in religious rituals and stemming from the same religion, why is it that their behavior so different?
I believe it the historical tradition and culture of the people that develop their own identities and behavior as a community. While both groups practice Christianity, their culture and social development that frame the performance of ritual. According to Turner on page 244, “performances of ritual are consider distinct phases in the process.” These two communities perform ritual to maintain order in life, they just demonstrate their emotions during the process differently.