Once Upon A Culture

Every individual is a product of a culture. In Anthropology, it is definitive that all cultures are equal, with no further distinction. It follows that there is no such thing as a superior culture. Culture is what makes the quidity of any people; what makes them integrally unique. Culture is what makes people who they are. A people's culture gets expressed in/and through, but not limited to their language, food/diet, dance, dressing, belief system etc. It is therefore ridiculous to hear or know of anyone think of or tell another that his/her culture is superior to the other person's. All colonial masters were very guilty and or ignorant of these basic reality in human history. It was common knowledge that all the people they met were bound to lose their own mother/native language. My people, the Igbo in West Africa were among the victims of white man's "domination" Whenever possible, and it was not argued, they forced the people to drop their language and embrace the English language, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German etc. Their pride gave itself away when this dominance began to show its ugly head; they had no apologies in dealing thus with the people. Even the missionary groups copied their civil counterparts in dealing rudely with the folks they came to "evangelise". They imported their canned and packaged food from Europe, America or Australia. For Baptism, for instance, they forced the people to take "English" names of Saints as their patron Saint. Even if the name has no substantial meaning in itself. The great Igbo names were sacrificed on the altar of "English" Saint names. Traditional Religion had no way of canonizing their own, otherwise I bet you that there were many saints among them. About food, since they import theirs from overseas and dared not try native food of the people they came to serve. They seem to have forgotten Jesus' injunction: "eat whatever is set before you." Definitely they will rationalize their actions in their assumed/presumed "superiority complex". Is it any wonder that the peoples of Africa were asked to drop their language/native tongue to learn that of the "stranger" who came to make gains/exploit their host nation/peoples.