Most African-Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, have essentially been forced through a cultural funnel to become a new thing. Up until retail DNA testing, the average AA person would have no idea if their ancestors were from Angola or Sudan or Zimbabwe. Teaching ancestral language and culture was generally forbidden. People from a vast set of backgrounds were forced together. Sometimes bred against their will. We are not "heading to" equating culture with skin color, we did it as a matter of policy centuries ago. And it's produced an incredibly vibrant culture at that. African-Americans are arguably the most significant cultural force in the world through music and entertainment.