Blending of Two Cultures - Essay Example

30 Apr. 2008 Blending of Two Cultures Introduction: Culture generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. It is with which everyone in the society are identified. Cultures both embrace and resist change, depending on culture traits. In years of colonization and today's Globalization, there is mix up of different cultures, through inter ethnic marriages that blend two cultures. There have been a lot of examples of this cultural mix up. Some common examples are colonial influenced ones in Asia and Africa (Anglo Indians, Anglo Chinese). These inter ethnic marriages have grown in large scale in last for or five decades owing to increase in globalization and consequent interdependency. The cultures of the participating nations generally change to a greater extent.. it is evident in number of case. Three kinds of influence of interethnic mix up on culture can be felt 1. forces at work within a society 2. contact between societies 3. changes in the natural environment The inter cultural relationship brings about a lot of changes in the society. It may be either positive or negative. It may create discrimination in society, as is the case with black slavery, or it may induce formation of new cultures through interethnic marriages. It creates contact between two ethnic groups and there is corresponding cultural change in them to accommodate the new culture. There has been a drastic change in their art, architecture, music and many others. With current trends of globalization, these inter ethnic cultural studies and their impact on society is gaining importance. Nowadays not just two cultures interact, but its interaction of many different ethnic groups and their effect on individuals is of great importance. The example taken for study in this case is that of European- American Black Native or Black African cultural Blend. The very base of American culture rests on these intercultural marriages. America is made of people from different countries and cultures. They either mix with Native American Indians or mix among themselves to create new cultures. American White and Black Ethnic Mix up- A case Study: Background review: The European culture is by itself is made up of a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of West as opposed to East; Christianity as opposed to Islam; many have claimed to identify cultural fault lines across the continent. Much of the European philosophy and thinking has been influenced by Christendom. European philosophy is the most dominant strand of philosophy globally, and is central to philosophical enquiry in the Americas and much of the rest of the world. But in common there was always a mindset of cultural leadership existed among 19th century Europeans. Most of them considered other cultures inferior to them and even thought that they must teach others the basic culture (White Man's burden). This cultural leadership feel created a kind of resistivity for inter ethnic marriage especially marrying Black ethnic people. Most of the English men along with their American Descendants of the past century associated black with evil, sin and unclean and considered black men as those who live in jungle with primitive culture, have violent behavior and carryout cannibalistic life style. The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. These people once occupied the full of America. But with the arrival of Europeans and the diseases they brought along with them, their number as drastically came down. Still there was a great deal of mix up between these people and The Europeans. Also at the beginning of the 16th century, many Black slaves from Africa were brought to America and these people form a good share of American Population. The Core of the Case: At the beginning of colonization, the superior cultural feel of Europeans, greatly hurdled the interethnic marriage with Blacks. And also most of the Blacks of the period were either slaves or servants. These people were treated badly by their White masters. But at the start of colonization, the white's formed only a meager portion of the American population. Also most of them were men especially in the southern colonies and this created sexual parity. This resulted in a number of forced sex by White masters with their black slave women. Throughout the slavery period a small number of legitimate inter ethnic marriages alongside large number of illegitimate sexual contacts happened. Even though the mix up started very early, legitimate marriages grew in number only after the Civil War. There were number of illegitimate children through these marriages, referred to as Mulatto. The Native Americans, who lost their land and property due to colonial expansion, were made slave along with their African counterparts. They apart from mixing with Europeans also mixed with Africans. White Men Reaction to Interethnic Marriage: Mostly, the white people firmly opposed to interracial sex and marriage, though they seem to have been more bothered by marriage than sex. Casual sex, sometimes extended liaison, gave no formal status to black partner and posed no threat to slave system. They passed on strict laws using the parliaments influenced by white men to prohibit any sexual relationship between black and white. Although the law theoretically opposes any kind of interaction, practically it is intended at black men who create relationship with white women. Only a little number of Whites opposed this discrimination, though most of their voices were neglected. After the civil war, the white men views started to change and they have started to respect Black's human rights. Their point of view on interethnic marriage has also started to change and many have started to accept them. Black Men Reaction to Interethnic Marriage: From Black slave's point of view, they resented interethnic mating. They opposed depredations against their wives and daughters. They greatly resented prostitution, but mostly tolerated interracial marriage. But mostly they had no voice in legal issues and were not able to sue white men who took undue advantage on their black slave girls. The marked and refused to have more than perfunctory dealings with those prostitute women. In course of time, many interracial mix resulted in many blacks losing their black identity and mulattoes colour pigmentation changed almost same as that of white counterparts. In some early periods, some white mulatto even exerted their superiority over black pigmented Mulattoes. Post Civil War After the civil war, this state of Blacks has greatly changed. At first they were given little freedom and later massive civil rights. Number of legitimate interethnic marriages is on the rise with Blacks given social status. They started to move to urbanized north from southern villages. They started to identify themselves as part of a particular tribe and had benefits from them. The government also passed on several laws after the civil war, to reduce the social discrimination of Whites on Blacks. It even gave some special rights to black tribe courts, to take decision in some tribe related cases. These tribes take pride in their tribal group and these groups create a feel of oneness among the members. Conclusion: The cultural blend between any two ethnic communities, generally bring about lot of compromises on the part of both. There is always mismatch between the two groups. It may be evident from clashes in their philosophy, art, literature, music, etc. still in modern era of globalization and world citizens, it is unavoidable. The effect of the cultural blend can be both positive and detrimental. It influences the society on the whole to a greater extent. In many cases these cultural blend helps the growth of society on the whole. It helps people understand, art, literature, inventions, music of another culture. It drives the social growth of the Human beings on the whole. On the other hand, it may create a lot of discrimination of particular ethnic community in the society. The evidence from history clearly indicates this. The apartheid, discrimination of black people by white people, is a product of cultural mix. This greatly undermines the basic human rights. On the whole, the cultural blend brings about bad and good to the society. But in recent decades, the good as outnumbered the bad, with the sense of equality on the rise among men of different culture. This cultural blend and its effect has already become a part of everyone's life Work Cited Spickard, Paul R. Mixed Blood: Intermarriage and ethnic identity in Twentieth century America. Wisconsin: Univ of Wisconsin Press.1991 Read More