During slavery, at the master's whim, many families were broken up, with members oftentimes never seeing each other again. Post-slavery conditions were so harsh that it behooved all family members to stick together for survival. I believe this tradition of keeping the family close has all but negated the WT shunning directives.
I do believe that family attitudes are shaped by life events and are passed down the generations ....yes even
centuries ! For example just this summer we had a family Reunion of sorts all the generations down to the present
from my grandmother (my grand father died young was not to much in the scene )
Many of my female cousins now from their forties and older talked about the lack of hugging and affection shown
by my grandmother (she meant to harm but was just down to business trying to raise 9 children without a husband)
They all agreed that this distance , this lack a hugging affected them and their whole family.. influenced their
ability to openly display affection for their families even though they dearly love them !
Caliber
Allan Jackson pose