The Africans: A Triple Heritage - Program 2: A Legacy of Lifestyles

Описание: In this program, Dr. Ali Mazrui explores identity, family ties, tradition, and modernity. In Nigeria, a baby has three badges of identity: scars, circumcision, and a name. The African family does not differentiate between siblings and cousins, nor do it differentiate between children and nieces or nephews. Traditionally there is a strong loyalty to the old, and children spend time with the old. A man can have as many as eight wives and twenty-five children, because to be remembered after death intimates immortality.

Modern life in the cities does not change an African's loyalty to his village. Even after worldly success, the man makes a pilgrimage back to the village to render advice and give money. In the village, democracy rules. The elders of the village discuss a situation until a consensus is reached. When a man marries a woman, the man needs to get a plot of land for his wife. The woman has dual fertility in that she gives birth to children and causes the land to produce food.

In African history, there have been remarkable women like Hashitsup, who ruled Egypt. There have been women warriors in West Africa called the Amazons. There were African female crusaders as well. In modern times, African are more removed from their role in dual fertility as they take secretarial jobs and become less influential on the world around them.

Modern British law requires precise measurements of land to settle land disputes. Islamic law advocates the division of land among a man's heirs. These two kinds of law conflict with the old African culture, which treats land as limitless, and values having many children. In Zimbabwe, there was a great city rising out of the prosperity due to fertile land and gold. However, about 500 years ago, because of the over-cultivation and use of land, a great city declined.

For Africans, though civilizations may come and go, families stay. The polygamous African family is a bit different from the Islamic family, for there are only four wives allowed under that religion. The Western ideal of one man and one wife may not be found even among Catholic Africans. A Catholic journalist in Zaire has two wives, and thus two families to spend time with.

Dr. Ali Mazrui ends with the presentation of the problem of infant mortality in Africa. He states the solution to the high birth rate in Africa is to lower infant mortality. It is the fear of infant mortality that causes Africans to have more children. For them, children are important as carriers of the family line and a source of support.