Stand Up for Africa Essay Example for Free

Stand Up for Africa Essay Culture can be known as the identity or distinction of the people belonging to a certain religion, area or country. Culture shows the way in which the group of people led their life. Culture basically shows the beliefs, values, standards, life styles, traditions and behavior of the people that are belonging to a certain class. Culture makes a difference between the people of different areas and religions. People from different cultures can share each other’s culture if some aspect of one culture attracts them. (Define culture, 1, 2009) Ethnic Culture: Ethnic culture refers to the group of people that are having same historical culture or same geographical location. It simply refers to the entire background of the people. The basic traditional approach and background of ethnic groups are same. The word is basically a Greek word and it means the tribe or a nation. Ethnic culture has not been created on the bases of racial differences rather it is quite a different concept than races. The ethnic groups are made on the bases of their original land, tribes and history. The characteristics that are shared in ethnic culture may include country, origin, language, religion, ancestors and the culture shared by the ancestors. Ethnicity depends upon many different features and these features are related to the biological and historical attribute so the ethnicity is never affected and get changed by the culture in which a person is living. He will always be linked up with his ethnic culture no matter where he is living. The preservation of culture and ethnicity is the responsibility of the people belonging to that culture or ethnic group. A person should always be proud of his history and ethnicity. (Allison, 1, n. d) Western Society: It is considered that the western countries that are forming the western society are having a much modernized way of living. Their life style is pretty high as compared to the other countries of the world. Western society is mostly identified by the high levels of educated people and the modernized way of living. Western society is purely based on the modernized world and fashion and they are apparently not following any ethnic culture. The western society is totally moving ahead towards glamour, fashion and high levels of life styles. Many of the western society related people believe that ethnicity is of no value now. They consider people old fashioned if they are ethical. The western society follows the values that are set by their own. The western values include freedom, equality and modernism. All the European countries are basically western countries. (Western society, 1, n. d) Integration of Western Society and Ethnic Culture: In today’s world the ethnicity and culture are becoming so complex due to the integration of ethnic culture with the western society and as it is a known fact that western society keeps on changing and new trends and traditions are emerging in the western society. The integration of western society and ethnic culture is really a confused one as both are having different values and believes. The western society is very much impressed by the new innovations and developments. This is the age of globalization and developments and the ethnic culture is obviously lacking the innovative approach as well as it does not present any independent system. The ethnic culture is totally dependant over the customs and traditions that were set by their ancestors. Although the western society is having their own values and are just concerned with the independence and innovation but still the presence of ethnicity in the western society can not be denied because no matter to which direction the society is moving but the basis were obviously the ethnic culture of Europe. The ethnic culture has provided the roots from where the society started to flourish so the ethnicity can not be denied. Every culture and society does posses some root culture or tradition and the western society also follow the ethnic culture of Europe. But apart from the development and innovations it is recommended that the ethnicity should also be protected. (Bazieva, 1, 1998) Ethnicity can be defined as the perception of a person about himself by being a member of an ethnic group having some history and attitude to follow. Ethnic culture continues to develop and it is not a static process. Ethnicity develops by adapting a process of observing the ethnic culture for some period of time and then exploring many new things and making their relation with the changes that are being made in society today. So in this way developments in ethnic cultures are being made. Although the western societies are hardly following any ethnic culture but whatever they are doing in the world today they always integrate their modern doings with their ethnic cultures. So with the integration of ethnic cultures in to the western society it can not be said that the ethnic cultures have lost their identities because even in today’s modernized western society still the people want to show some history of their ethnic culture in all of their changing trends some how. But the main thing is that how can the ethnic cultures and western society can merge together as they are two quite different ways of living. If both the cultures are integrating then again there will be some people who would not be able to manage. The integration of ethnic culture with western society obviously provides bicultural environment in which in most of the cases it has been observed that ethnic culture never loses its identity instead the ethnic culture comes first always. When the ethnic culture is being mingled up with the western society then according to the Sommers, â€Å"Understanding the process and components of the ethnic identification is valuable. In addition, it may also help to prevent numerous psychological dysfunctions related to identity confusion† This statement illustrates that the integration of ethnic culture and western society is possible but it is necessary that the elements of ethnic culture should be understood properly and also should be preserved as they have got a lot of value because they belong to their background and history and also have been shared by their forefathers. The elements and characteristics of ethnic identity and culture are very much valuable assets for any individual that he should keep safe through out his life no matter where is he living and how. It is not bad to adapt some thing new or to be modernized but the main thing is that one should never forget his ethnicity. If the ethnic identities are getting mixed up or lost then it also can create serious mental confusions for a person and he will be confused that what he should adapt or what he should not so the ethnic culture should never be ignored. (Huang, 1, 1996) Obviously the western culture has got a lot of differences if it is compared with the ethnic culture and every ethnic culture is different from the other then still in these situations if the adaptation or integration of ethnic and western cultures occur then a lot of struggle is required to bridge the gap between the two cultures. This amalgamation some times also creates conflicts between the groups of people because in this modernized society there are many people who do not believe in ethnicity and also do not respect their history and background so the people who are in favor of ethnicity get hurt by this thing and such a situation creates the situation of conflicts. In this diversified world it is not possible to avoid the amalgamation of different cultures in to the modern world so the bond between different cultures is getting necessary but the main thing is to highlight the ethnic values and believes so that the up coming generations do not completely forget the values of their fore fathers. If the ethnic values are not presented clearly then the upcoming generations will never be able to understand their history and culture. There should be always space for all the ethnic cultures when they are being adapted by the western society. The western society should not adapt it in such a way that the ethnic culture looses its identity. There should always be a balance between the different cultures; which means that the attitudes, identity, beliefs and values should never be ignored. If the different identities are maintained then the integration of western society and ethnic cultures will never create any issue like loss of identity and so on but if the ethnic values are being ignored then this will lead to some loss as the values that are given by the elders are always helpful in all the aspects. Basically the integration of cultures never makes any culture to loose its values and beliefs until and unless the people who are following that culture are also respecting the customs and traditions set by their ethnic culture. The adaptation of modernization is not some thing wrong but the thing is to preserve your ethnicity and develop your society by keeping in mind your ethnic culture and new customs and traditions should be introduced only by having the background in the mind. (Boulding, 1, 1998)