Culture is the people’s way of life. It includes their dressing, language, greetings, food, relationships, marriages, religious practices, etc. Man is a social animal and the social arrangements that make up every human society derive from and respond to the culture of the people. These social fabrics of society identify as well as differentiate one society from the other. They could make all the difference between human beings and being human. A people are identified and could be differentiated from another group by their cultural practices.
In Africa, we could differentiate one ethnic group from the other by way of their culture. Although theoretically one could speak of African culture but in practice there could be slight variations even though the core aspects would be closely aligned, and this is because Africans are not necessarily a homogeneous group. Just in Nigeria alone, there are a couple hundred ethnic groups each with their unique culture. The diversity in this unity makes us a people rich in culture even though it could also be a dividing line between a people that otherwise are assumed to be one. The difficulty in managing and integrating these diverse people into one cohesive group has been the bane of Nigeria’s political and socio-cultural crises.
The issue of identity crisis cuts across ethnic groups and nations. In America, we see these culture shocks among people who either came to America as adults or were born in America of parents who grew up in another culture. Sometimes we have seen people who, in the course of acculturation in the American society get confused on whether to behave in tandem with the African culture or the American style. This culture clash manifests first in the African-American, Nigerian-American, Mexican-American or Biafran-American dichotomous identification. I am not suggesting that anything is wrong with those dichotomies, but I am afraid that people that identify as those become hybrids. I think that hybrids are neither nor.
Every black person in America is technically African-American but there is a difference between African-Americans with remote family ties in Africa and those who still have direct family ties. Over time, those whose forefathers came by ship have lost some of their African cultures while those who later came by flight still remember some of what makes us Africans. Problem is that most of us, especially the women tend to quickly jettison their African-ness in a quick bid to embrace America, with the vices that come with this new identity. This madness could be explained by the fact that someone has allowed himself to be convinced that everything African is bad and everything American or European is good. Again I am not saying that one is better than the other but I consider it an error when I see how quickly people that came from Africa the other day forget their language, basic family etiquette, cultural duties and the like. I understand that the dynamics are different in the two cultural settings but isn’t that the same for Chinese, Mexican or Indian folks? Do they abandon their cultures as quickly as we do? I do not think so…
So why does it seem as if this cultural identity crises are more of an Africans in America issue? Look at the Mexicans, their children speak Spanish. They eat their Mexican food. They dance their music. They maintain family ties. They even celebrate their holidays and so on. The Chinese are like that. The Jews also and so are the Indians. If you work with and observe them closely you see that they are very committed to their core cultural practices regardless of their educational qualifications, job titles, income, or social status. They speak in their accent and dress in their attires. Their men still lead their families and model for their children according to their cultures. Regardless of status they do not forget where they came from and how things are done.
In the African communities it is different. Our children do not understand let alone speak our languages. Our women hardly dress the African way and our men likewise. Even those who grew up in Africa soon forget the language and would not even eat African food anymore because they want to be more catholic than the pope. When you speak with our people, they want to fake Americana…how irritating!
How many of us still know how to present kola nut to guests and how to break it? How many of our elders know how to give a girl out in marriage according to the African norms? How many of our women know enough to fit in were they to be reunited to African family today? How many of our young people know that we don’t meet a boy at Walmart and follow him to his house without him paying dowry? How many of our young people know that Africa still has what is considered ‘bastards’ even though it is not necessarily American? I am not suggesting that these practices are good or bad, but do we know about them and do they influence our decisions?
I am afraid that most of us have resolved that our children are hybrids, and so we are confused about whether to bring them up as Africans or as Americans. Again, I am not suggesting one or the other but that is surely something to think about. I know that someone may say ‘if Africa is good why are you here?’…Well I am also aware that we want our children to benefit from both worlds. If you are like me, it might be a good idea for us to proactively start teaching our children our African language at least. One of the reasons the children wouldn’t want to go back to African is if they cannot speak the language. Even though I am not ignorant of the fact that most of our women do not want to go back under any arrangements…but that will be our discussion for another day.
In my twelve years of living and working here, I have seen several African-Americans who wish they could move back to Africa. Maybe our children would be in that situation someday and they wouldn’t be happy that their parents did not teach them the language and the culture. As they try to figure out their identity in the early stages of life, I don’t think it would be a bad idea to raise them with all the norms and morals with which we were raised back in Africa. If we train them the African way, they will grow up to become African men and women of substance in American. Then our houses could be little Africa in a foreign land. Wouldn’t that be a good way to start reintroducing Africa to them in a way that will appeal to their sense of fashion and modernity? How about that?
Mezie Okolo is a leadership analyst @ www.mezieokolo.com