African Americans in Virginia explained

Group:	Black Virginians
Total:	1,607,581
Total Ref:	^[1]
Languages:	Southern American English, African American English
Religions:	Historically Black Protestant^[2]

African Americans are the largest racial minority in Virginia. According to the 2010 Census, more than 1.5 million, or one in five Virginians is "Black or African American". African Americans were enslaved in the state.^[3] As of the 2020 U.S. Census, African Americans were 18.6% of the state's population.^[4]

History

The first twenty African slaves from Angola landed in Virginia in 1619 on a Portuguese slave ship.^[5] Lynchings, racial segregation and white supremacy were prevalent in Virginia.^[6] The first African slaves arrived in the British colony Jamestown, Virginia and were then bought by English colonists.^[7]

Great Dismal Swamp maroons fled to swamps in Virginia to escape slavery.^[8]

Notable people

• William T. Amiger (1870–1929), college president, educator, Baptist minister^[9]
• Chris Brown (born 1989), singer^[10]
• Missy Elliott (born 1971), rapper
• Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), educator, author, orator and adviser^[11]
• Pharrell Williams (born 1973), musician, singer
• Trey Songz (born 1984, né Tremaine Aldon Neverson), singer^[12]
• Wanda Sykes (born 1964), comedian and actress^[13]
• Plaxico Burress (born 1977), football player

See also

• Great Dismal Swamp maroons
• Black Southerners
• First Africans in Virginia
• History of slavery in Virginia
• Demographics of Virginia
• List of African-American newspapers in Virginia

Notes and References

1. Web site: Black Population by State .
2. Web site: Religious Landscape Study .
3. Web site: Claibourn . Michele P. . Blacks in Virginia: Demographic Trends in Historical Context . Weldon Cooper Center . University of Virginia . May 28, 2022.
4. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/virginia-population-change-between-census-decade.html VIRGINIA: 2020 Census
5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/06/virginia-is-birthplace-american-slavery-segregation-it-still-cant-escape-that-legacy/ Virginia is the birthplace of American slavery and segregation — and it still can't escape that legacy
6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/02/06/virginia-is-birthplace-american-slavery-segregation-it-still-cant-escape-that-legacy/ Virginia is the birthplace of American slavery and segregation — and it still can't escape that legacy
7. https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/first-african-slave-ship-arrives-jamestown-colony First Enslaved Africans Arrive in Jamestown Colony
8. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/petit-marronage-in-the-great-dismal-swamp/ Petit Marronage in the Great Dismal Swamp
9. Book: Mather, Frank Lincoln . Who's Who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent . 1915 . 1 . 6–7 . en . Amiger, William Thomas.
10. News: Aitkenhead . Decca . October 4, 2013 . Chris Brown: 'It was the biggest wake-up call' . . Brown was born in 1989 in a small Virginia town called Tappahannock.
11. Web site: Wells . Jeremy . December 7, 2020 . Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) . Encyclopedia Virginia . en-US.
12. Web site: 2020-10-22 . Trey Songz comes ‘back home’ for mural unveiling, block party . NBC12 Newsroom . en.
13. News: Belcher . Walt . August 17, 2001 . Wanda Sykes' Star is Rising . The Tampa Tribune . 3.