Jumping the broom is a tradition sometimes practiced in African American weddings in which the couple leaps over a broom to symbolically represent the leap into domestic life. The tradition was practiced by enslaved Americans and other groups of low social class in the United States through the 19th century. It was revitalized by Alex Haley after it was prominently featured in his novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family in 1976 and became part of a broader reclamation of Black heritage at the time. Other marginalized groups, such as the Celts and the Romani, have historically been described as practicing similar traditions in Britain. The precise origin of jumping the broom is uncertain.
Jumping the broom is a tradition sometimes practiced in African American weddings in which the couple leaps over a broom to symbolically represent the leap into domestic life. The tradition was practiced by enslaved Americans and other groups of low social class in the United States through the 19th century. It was revitalized by Alex Haley after it was prominently featured in his novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family in 1976 and became part of a broader reclamation of Black heritage at the time. Other marginalized groups, such as the Celts and the Romani, have historically been described as practicing similar traditions in Britain. The precise origin of jumping the broom is uncertain