[MMMMMM]

Another way to look at this, Jdanz, is to imagine the following: two random groups of 1000 humans on two isolated islands in the South Pacific. No outside influences whatsoever. Would they independently develop the same cultures, religions, languages? 300 years from the outset, might they not have widely differing customs, learning, etc? Even if enormous differences did not exist after 300 years, you can be sure there would be many smaller differences, and varying cultural developments and traditions.

Therefore, it would be wrong to assert that all in culture is developed EITHER due to historical pressures or racial predilection. In this imagined scenario, the false dichotomy of such a choice would be readily apparent. And it is also a false dichotomy to argue that all black culture must either be the result of long-past historical influences or racial predilection. Culture is something that is evolving, developing, growing all the time, and even building on itself; and it is created in the present moment, as well as carried on.