REFLECTING ON OUR ETHNIC IDENTITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

Dr. Tesfa G. Gebremedhin

West Virginia University

A variety of immigrants have been coming from many countries to the United States of America over the years. There is no doubt that these immigrants have made tremendous economic, social, and political contributions to this country. Having come to this nation for many reasons, seeking liberty, religious freedom, economic opportunities, and a better life style, their ethnic differences have enriched the history and multi-cultural activities, and their varied perspectives and knowledge have improved the lives of the people. The relationships and interactions among the various ethnic nationalities and social groups would have been boring if they were all the same people with the same cultural background. Life has become interesting because immigrants have brought the uniqueness of their values and traditions and the diversity of their cultural heritage has contributed to the extreme superpower position and greatness of the United States of America.

Culture is a defining feature of identity of any society, contributing to how the people see themselves and the community with which they identify. Every community or ethnic group has its own social values, beliefs, morals, ethics, and ways of living which are transmitted from one generation to another. The observable aspects of culture, such as the kind of food eaten, the type of clothing worn, celebrations of religious and political nature, traditional music and dances, and different languages spoken are only part of the people's cultural heritage. The shared values, norms, customs, and historical and traditional characteristics of culture shape the way people think, behave, and view themselves and the world around them. A shared cultural heritage bonds the members of the community together and creates a sense of belonging and adherence through acceptance and active participation in own ethnic community.

Culture also refers to any form of identity - the customs, practices, languages, values and world views that define us in relation to other people - both individually and collectively. Cultural identity is a state of mind and heart. It is about how we feel any given day and at any given place. An individual's sense of identity is grounded in our cultural heritage and ethnic integrity. Cultural identity is important for people's sense of self and how they relate to others in the world they live in. Our cultural identity defines who we are and how we are viewed by other people. Understanding others makes possible to have a better knowledge of our own self. Identifying yourself with a particular ethnic culture gives you the feelings of belongingness and self-security. It also provides the ethnic community with access to social networks which provide support and shared values and aspirations to its members. These can help break down barriers and bottlenecks and build a sense of trust among members of the community which enables them to pass their cultural traditions on to future generations. A strong cultural identity can also contribute to the wellbeing of the community by identifying and promoting the various sources of technology, economic strength, and higher material standards of living to its members.

Language is fundamental to cultural identity because it is intrinsic to the expression of cultural heritage. As a means of communicating social values, beliefs, and customs, it has an important social function and fosters feelings of community identity and solidarity. It is the means by which culture and its traditions and shared social values may be conveyed and preserved for future generation. Since the unique culture of people everywhere is expressed in their native languages, it is important that parents in Diaspora keep their own languages alive through their children and grandchildren. Within multilingual societies, the maintenance of the languages of the various ethnic and cultural groups is critical for the preservation of cultural heritage and ethnic identity. We need to understand that the loss of ethnic languages means the loss of culture and identity. As languages disappear, cultures die and consequently ethnic identity is lost and the community also sacrifices raw knowledge and wisdom of its cultural heritage. Nowadays, in many places many concerned ethnic families and communities in Diaspora are in a constant battle to prevent their native languages and culture from dying off and strive hard for preservation. Denying ethnic cultural heritage to children means limiting their expression of the unique perspectives on life and restricting the transmission of knowledge and wisdom from generation to generation. Children need to develop their ethnic identity and cultural heritage starting from birth and should be shaped by the values and attitudes prevalent at home and in the surrounding communities. They must feel free to explore and identify the uniqueness of their ethnic identity and cultural heritage while reflecting and developing understandings of the cultural diversity that exists in the world around them.

Cultural pluralism is observed in Eritrea where social harmony has led to the stabilization of multi-ethnic integrity and active participation in economic and social activities. Over the years, Eritreans have developed a sense of national identity and communal allegiance in their cultures. Despite this given ethnic identity and cultural heritage, how much do our children know about their family history? How much do our children know about their ethnic identity? How much do our children know about their cultural heritage? How much do they know about the country their parents came from? How much do they know about Eritrea and its people? After a hundred years from now, I believe none of our children and grandchildren will be able to trace their cultural heritage to us, who immigrated to this country as the first generation, if we have not been teaching them where their parents came from and who their ancestors are in Eritrea. If we have failed to teach our children the languages, history, customary laws, and cultural heritage of their ancestors, they would be culturally bankrupt and homeless in terms of ethnic identity. It is commonly observed among Eritreans in Diaspora that many of us do not make the time, or even care to teach our children the history, languages, and cultural heritage of the people and country we have come from to North America, Europe, or Australia. Thus, we need to understand that learning about their ethnic identity and cultural heritage will not only teach our children something about their ancestors, but it will also teach them about themselves and how they are related to the world around them.

A wise person says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s Children." When we think of inheritance, we usually think in terms of money or land or possessions. Yet it is appropriate to think that a good parent leaves a good cultural heritage to the children and the children’s children. The extension of what we leave behind beyond our children to our children’s children introduces the concept of legacy, an inheritance the worth of which goes beyond that of silver, gold, or land. Legacy includes the value of tradition, history, culture, and family honor. Legacy incorporates core social values, culture and faith of a certain ethnic society. To those who follow us behind, we have the moral obligation and parental responsibilities to provide culture, prestige, ethics, and faith to our children, upon which they can build their lives with pride and integrity. We may pass down huge wealth and fame but if we have not passed on our ethnic identity and cultural heritage – an honorable legacy – we have left our descendants precious little and that would be a moral crime inflicted on the children by the parents. We have to remember that "Cultural goods are good for more than their economic value."

What is true for individual Eritrean families is equally true for the Eritrean communities. What is true for the Eritrean communities is also true for our children and grandchildren. We should be wise to ask ourselves, "What legacy will we leave to our children, grandchildren, and to the Eritrean communities? How will our individual families and Eritrean communities be better because we have passed down some important social values?" The good inheritance for our children and grandchildren should be rooted in gratitude, virtue, and respect. We leave little of lasting value unless our descendants see in us a people who gratefully recognize and acknowledge our cultural heritage and ethnic identity as great value to us and them. The legacy we should leave to those who come after us should be compassion, morality, ethics, trust, unity, and love of each other. It is commonly observed among many young Eritreans in Diaspora that they seem to be unwilling to accept and respect what their ancestors have bequeathed them. The lack of interest in cultural heritage has become commonplace among our young generation because they are not appropriately taught by their parents. Indeed, for many of our children, the idea of inheriting cultural legacy from their parents has never occurred to them in many places.

Noting that our cultural and natural heritages are increasingly threatened with destruction, not only from decay, but also by negligence, carelessness, and obsession for material quest, the protection of them at any level is essential and very important. Many communities around the world invest large size of capital and wealth for heritage protection and preservation. Considering the deterioration of our cultural heritage and the damage to the erosion of our ethnic identity, measures at community and household levels should be taken to prevent cultural heritages from being further damaged. We, by establishing viable and formidable communities in our respective locations, need to allocate quality time to teach our children our cultural heritage so that they will be able to pass them over to the next generation. The preservation of our cultural heritage should not be reduced to just empty talks and petty gestures. We, as concerned parents, should get to the root of the problem we have to solve and care about our children and grandchildren both at household and community levels. We must create a favorable environment in our respective communities and make sure that all the necessary programs are in place to teach to our children and preserve our cultural heritage.

Once our children reach the ages when they spend a lot of time away from home at school, college, or elsewhere, they are barraged with ideas and images that are beyond our control. They may be old enough and able to form value judgments and have their own perspective about life. Since they will be inheriting an even more diverse society than their parents did, we need to talk openly to them about our history, culture, and tradition which are different from others. Our guidance is important while they are old enough to think about social issues and young enough to be flexible in their opinions to understand the importance of learning and preserving their ethnic identity, cultural heritage, and social diversity. The Eritrean communities and households should encourage young children to learn our own languages, maintain our strong positive cultural values, sustain community life cycles and events, and protect our identity and rights as Eritreans in Diaspora. Our children must be given the opportunity to be the custodians of the wisdom, knowledge, skills, values, and traditions that are unique to our indigenous cultures and heritage. In inheriting this responsibility, our children will be able to get involved and committed in nurturing, maintaining, and transmitting our cultural heritage for future generations.

It is evident that we cannot all be the same because we are all different. Since we do not see things as they are, we create misunderstandings and conflicts among ourselves. We have conflicts among ourselves because we see things as we are, or as we would like to see them, without considering the thoughts and perspectives of others. We need to introduce a free and sustained problem-solving dialogue and open lines of communication among ourselves in order to bring us together to address real relationship issues of families and communities and seek appropriate solutions to our problems. As matured and civilized people, if you have sensible comments to make about this article, my email is tgebrem@wvu.edu. It is also noble to share your perspective and wisdom to your fellow Eritreans by sending your responses to the web sites. Thank you and God bless us all!