To compensate for a lot of damages done to the African civilization, a lot of African gatekeepers cling onto the redundant practices that are poisons to the mental and emotional health of the general population.
In the name of preserving culture, they cling onto inhumane practices, forgetting that there are bigger fish to fry. Many have demonized civilization, progression and technology like it is the reason Africa is stuck. They forget the fact that every society undergoes change constantly; integration, unlearning, relearning, embracing and letting go. Nothing is constant, except change.
People often forget that history is written by victors. Africa was colonized by the Europeans years ago and prior to that, the whites had been exploiting and brainwashing Africa. The damage done is still felt today in ripples.
In the present day Africa, many Africans believe in the white supremacy. They worship the whites and every time attached to them. This can be seen in religion, clothing and certain festivities.
Africans, generally, scorn their gods and mode of worship and see it as inferior. They embrace the religion brought by the slave masters. These religions have been means to mentally enslave the Africans even after the physical liberation.
The Africans have been taught to abandon common sense and objectivity and instead, mask the intellectual laziness with religious zeal and extremities. The average African would rather build churches and mosques, rather than schools, hospitals and roads that would increase national development.
Also, the beautiful native attires of the Africans have been relegated to the background and seen as ‘unofficial’ while the ugly drab of the Europeans is the acceptable norm for official attires. Imagine, a stranger’s attire being the norm in one’s country while the indigenous attires are seen as less.
A lot of Africans place the ‘white wedding’ over the traditional wedding, forgetting that the supposed ‘white wedding’ is actually another man’s traditional wedding. They adopt another’s traditional wedding and cherish it over theirs. They spend a lot of money unnecessarily, planning a foreign festivity.
The most important is the Language. A lot of people argue that because a lot of African countries are multi-ethnic, it is best to have a foreign official language. However, a lot of organizations value the foreign language. For instance, in many Nigerian schools, English is the only acceptable language. Native languages are called vernacular. Many Africans raise their kids to not speak their native languages, calling it local.
As seen above, there are a lot of core issues that African culture gatekeepers need to address, not gatekeeping how ‘cultural’ enough people are, based on their yardstick.
Also, the white culture should be seen as what it is - just another culture, instead of being seen as superior and a replacement for the African culture.
The neo-colonial mentality needs to be shed off and everyone has a crucial role to play.
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