Jumping the Broom

The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual

Tyler D. Parry

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781469660868, 9781469660851
• eBook ISBN: 9781469660875
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Social Sciences

In this definitive history of a unique tradition, Tyler D. Parry untangles the convoluted history of the “broomstick wedding.” Popularly associated with African American culture, Parry traces the ritual’s origins to marginalized groups in the British Isles and explores how it influenced the marriage traditions of different communities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. His surprising findings shed new light on the complexities of cultural exchange between peoples of African and European descent from the 1700s up to the twenty-first century.

Drawing from the historical records of enslaved people in the United States, British Romani, Louisiana Cajuns, and many others, Parry discloses how marginalized people found dignity in the face of oppression by innovating and reimagining marriage rituals. Such innovations have an enduring impact on the descendants of the original practitioners. Parry reveals how and why the simple act of “jumping the broom” captivates so many people who, on the surface, appear to have little in common with each other.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Graphs and Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: A Multicultural Tradition
• Chapter One: Irregular Unions: The Broomstick Wedding in the British Isles
• Chapter Two: As If They Had Been Joined by a Clergyman: Jumping the Broom and American Slavery
• Chapter Three: Don’t Tell Things Like That: Matrimonial Change and Continuity after the Civil War
• Chapter Four: Into the White Mind: Jumping the Broom and Social Divisions among White Americans
• Chapter Five: Better than Nothing: Broomstick Weddings in European American Ritual Practice
• Chapter Six: No Expression as Prevalent: Civil Rights, Black Power, and Alex Haley’s Roots
• Chapter Seven: Every Black Person Should Do It: The Rise of the “Heritage Wedding”
• Chapter Eight: To Create Our Own Rituals: Same-Sex Marriage and the Symbolic Value of Jumping the Broom
• Chapter Nine: Beyond Black or White: The Broomstick Wedding’s Expanding Meaning
• Conclusion: Whose Heritage? Whose Culture?: The Uncertain Future of Jumping the Broom
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index