Cultural Amalgamation Issues

I realize that there are some of you who read this with your children, and for those of you I’d like to suggest that you screen this before reading it together—the rating for this post is mature audiences only. I promise to post pictures soon for the Brents and Kyles of my readership!

The issue of multiculturalism comes up a lot in South Africa, as I’m sure you can imagine. At Wits alone, we have Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Christians, Atheists, Blacks, Whites, Indians, Coloureds (a term meaning mixed-racial and also representing a distinct cultural group in the Eastern Cape), Zulus, Sothos, Xhosas, Afrikaaners, British, etc., etc. There is no way to go out your door and know who you will see that day in most instances. We are constantly confronted here with the issues that face a multicultural society. As a result, there is a lot of debate about how society as a whole should handle these differing influences. A friend in one of my classes rightly called these quandaries “cultural amalgamation issues.” I wanted to present to you what we’ve been talking about in Human Rights class as a set of questions first and then in a second installment, I’ll discuss what we have concluded in class. (I know, I know, I’m being a teacher again. It’s in my blood, what can I say?)

1. When in a multicultural society, who should assimilate?

To elaborate on this, let me give a few examples. I think I’ve made some of the cultural influences of South Africa clear, but a quick and dirty explanation would be that South Africa was originally populated by many cultural groups, most of them what is considered black and was colonized by two main cultural groups, both of which were what is considered white. So, there was a blending of a traditionally “African” worldview (this is a VERY broad generalization) and a traditionally “European” worldview (again, broad). These two distinct worldviews come into conflict in many ways due to misunderstandings of each other’s beliefs, customs, and behaviors. One example is this: until recently (and still sometimes) when a person from a particular black culture would come to be interviewed for a job, he or she would insist on sitting on the floor as a sign of respect. Who in this case should assimilate to the other’s practice? Should anyone? An assumption inherent in colonialism was that the colonialised culture should assimilate.

2. Who decides which practices are right and which are wrong?

In several African cultures, there is an embracing of what many Westerners would consider to be misogynistic views. It is customary for the wife to bow to the husband as he is served, to have no right as to when conjugal acts occur, to prepare the affairs of the house (including all of the children), and not to be educated. Please note here that I am not suggesting that in one cultural group all of these events occur, simply that they are common throughout African cultural groups. Even in relatively “metropolitan” households, a son is still named “The one we have waited for has arrived,” even though there are already multiple daughters in the family. Most Westerners would consider these practices to be clearly degrading to women. How do we determine whether or not a cultural practice should be contested? Which values should be used—those of the culture or those of the “rest of the world”? Since these examples are “affairs of the home” and “more difficult to determine on a group basis” (we’ll flesh that out later), let me diverge to an example which you may find to be less in the grey area.

There are several African cultures which practice the ritual of “Female Circumcision,” also called “Female Genital Mutilation” in some groups (not within the cultural group performing the circumcisions). This practice involves the excision of the clitoris and sometimes portions of the labia minora and labia majora, rendering the female unable to experience sexual stimulation. It is understood that this ritual originally occurred to guarantee the virginity of a woman at her marriage as well as to discourage female promiscuity. Regardless the reason, it is considered a rite of passage and is staunchly defended on cultural grounds by men and women in the cultural groups who perform the ceremony. Is this practice categorically wrong? What if the woman chooses to be circumcised? Whose values do we use to judge? On what basis do we condemn? Health? Mysogyny?

As you can see, there are many slippery slopes when it comes to the successful mixing of cultures, and decisions made must be made rationally and soberly. I’d love your thoughts on this topic, whether by email or comment. If you want to email but don’t mind me posting part of your response anonymously, let me know. Since part of my job here is to educate, I think I ought to use this forum to do so.