The Historicity of a Cultural Narrative

Jumping the Broom begins as a matter-of-fact account documenting the origins of the "jumping the broom" marriage tradition, where a couple walks forward and backward over a broomstick to signify their union. Historian Tyler D. Parry focuses on its historical foundations in Europe and the United States before delving into the potential reasons behind its cultural manifestations. Not content with simple explanations about the custom, Parry is concerned with the central question of why, why did some ethnic groups engage in this ritual, and why did it persist? What are the origins of the tradition, and what rich symbolism is contained within the ritual? (2). Moreover, Parry challenges the popularly held notion that jumping the broom is an exclusively Black American practice, exploring its European origins and gesturing to the broader multicultural roots of traditions throughout the African Diaspora (4).

Though insistent on the varied ethnic origins of the custom, Parry cautions that the enslavement of Black people in the U.S. was unique, and therefore requires careful attention concerning the broomstick ceremony. In his introduction, he asserts that the ethnic groups explored, including Romani, Celts, and rural Euro-Americans, have similar "degrees of marginalization," but in the proceeding chapters notes the distinct experiences of Black people who were forced into enslavement (13). While the text comments on the connection between marginalization and jumping the broom, the importance of relating the traditions of varying ethnic groups to one another is not pursued in great detail, other than to clarify historical genesis.

The elements I found most compelling in the text dealt with the tradition's appearance in Black American history. In chapter 2, Parry contends with the experiences of enslaved Black people, parsing their agency in relation to the nearly complete power enslavers had over their lives. Differentiating degrees of autonomy in the midst of marriage ceremonies is an act made virtually impossible due to the relative lack of firsthand accounts from the enslaved and the dearth of specifics within the accounts available (47). The search for an expression of personal power leads Parry to speculate over the broom itself as an object of agency: a tool that allowed enslaved people to assert some control over their own domestic space and establish their own marriage rituals with meaning particular to their communities (55). Despite the chapter's sojourn into this history, how much control enslaved people had over their marriage rituals remains a matter of debate. Ultimately, Parry is forced to accept a sense of mystery that haunts so much of the work around the intimate lives of enslaved people.

Determining the meaning of the broomstick custom becomes a much more attainable goal in chapter 6, where Parry explores the modern incarnation of the ritual as one steeped in symbolism, resurrected into the mainstream by the descendants of enslaved people who want to honor and connect to their ancestors (121). He pays particular attention to the impact of Alex Haley's book and consequent television series Roots and the contributions of authors Margaret Walker and Ernest J. Gaines (137). As scholars and storytellers, they brought jumping the broom into the popular imagination of Black Americans, distinguishing the ritual as uniquely Black. During this era, the effort to establish the history of Black culture as one separate from white Americans obscured the multicultural roots of the broomstick ritual. What impact this obfuscation ultimately had on the broader culture is difficult to discern. How does unveiling the multicultural nature of the ritual change its symbolic importance to Black Americans? Whether or not Celts or rural white Americans performed it, it was also practiced by some enslaved Black people, which is the only origin story relevant to most of the descendants of the enslaved who wish to engage with the practice.

Continuing his analysis of the muddled origin story of the custom, in chapter 7, Parry discusses the shaky attempts by some historians and intellectuals to connect the broomstick ritual to the African continent throughout...