Date Posted: 11/17/2016 8:10:57 AM
Posted By: iann Membership Level: Gold Total Points: 1081
Ethnic culture are the characteristics, values, beliefs, religion, attitudes, customs and language that pertain a given group of people who share a common ancestral origin. It is the behavior of a certain tribe. Every ethnic group or tribe has its own distinct culture though some cultures may be shared by different ethnic groups. In Kenya there are many ethnic groups and each has its own customs since each ethnic has a distinct origin. Due to this diversity, some customs may be outdated or have a negative impact on the nation. However, the customs are still important in our today's life hence its important to embrace our cultures.First of all, ethnic cultures and customs are important in a way that one has a sense of belonging and identity. This will make you able to define who you are, where you come from and slightly define your future. You will be able to associate with others from the same ethnic background comfortably and you will also be able to learn how to associate with others from different ethnic cultures. This will improve your self esteem and boost your own personal character. Once you have a sense of identity you will be comfortable with your own life and you will know where to run to in case of any problem.Our ethnic cultures are also a basis for understanding of many of the subjects we study in learning institutions. Subjects like history, geography, law, economics, political science, linguistics among others rely heavily on our ethnic cultures. Even before studying the subjects, any one who embraces his or her culture and customs has personal education and knowledge about ethnic customs even before joining any learning institution. It is also a basis for research for these subjects especially history and linguistics. This reasons and many other reasons make the ethnic customs be an important base of information in the education field.Our ethnic cultures and customs can be used as a means of entertainment. Since one ethnic group's culture is different from the other, when exposed to different culture can be a major form of entertainment. Watching dancing styles or hearing songs from other ethnic groups really entertains many people. Also articles and carvings from different ethnic groups are entertaining materials for different people. This can also act as a tourist attraction to the nation and earn income for the country hence raising her economy. It is also a source of income for individuals where it will raise their way of living hence improving the standards of living of the citizens.Ethnic cultures are important in a way that one will appreciate his or her ethnic background. One will also be able to appreciate other ethnic backgrounds. This will bring about social cohesion since there will be peace among different ethnic groups. This will enable exchange of different practices, learn other group's way of living. Appreciating and exchanging of values between is one way of keeping our nation at peace thus let us always appreciate other people's way of life and culture keeping in mind that we are all different from different cultural backgrounds.On the other hand, ethnic cultures and customs also have their disadvantages. Firstly, this is the one and only cause of tribalism. This is a form of corruption where a person favors another person of the same ethnic background regardless of an objective evaluation of ability or suitability. For instance, favoring a person who did not deserve is corruption caused by ethnicity. Many employers tend to favor employees from their own communities who do not deserve the employment at the expense of many others who are suitable. This type of corruption brings underdevelopment to the country and can bring about fights hence ruining the country's peace and peace between different ethnic groups.Each ethnic group is associated with its distinct language. Since it is difficult to learn and understand the ethnic languages, a language barrier is created between different ethnic groups. This will make understanding of one another at workplaces, schools among others difficult. Lack of communication will bring about underdevelopment or may trigger even wars due to different people not understanding each other. Language barrier can also cause wars between communities which is a threat to national security. Ethnicity also causes war between communities due to land ownership. This is also another threat to the national security.Some ethnic cultures have outdated practices which can not be accepted in today's world. Some cultures like female genital mutilation are outdated and not accepted. In fact it is illegal to carry out such a practice in our country today. Our ethnic background bring forth many practices that are outdated, shameful and which have no value to our daily lives hence this is one of the disadvantages of our ethnic cultures.As we can see, ethnicity has its advantages and disadvantages but it is upon us to choose what is good for ourselves and leave what is not beneficial. We should choose to embrace and appreciate both our ethnic groups as well as others; this promotes peace. We should also not embrace the outdated cultures of our ethnic groups. We should not hang ourselves of non-beneficial cultural practices. Therefore, let us embrace our cultures, appreciate other cultures gain every good thing from them and be alert not to be driven to cause harm to others and the nation using our cultures.
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