Interracial Relationships

Even in countries like Ghana, where the population is mostly black, they have issues of inter-ethnic relationships.

Firstly, old creepy (and probably married) white men come to find a young voluptuous African beauty. This isn't an uncommon sight at all. I cannot remember how many times I had to check my facial expression when I saw these men carrying these gorgeous women on their arms and parading them around town. It's pretty much prostitution. But these women submit themselves to such exploitation simply because these men are spending DOLLARS, and a lot of them. Actually the money may be nothing to these business-minded pimps, but its the key to a golden lifestyle for these women who obviously see no other opportunity for glamor and wealth, thus desperate for a white 'savior' to relieve them of their 'poor' condition.

Secondly, (a little history) there are 10 different regions in Ghana, each with its own language, customs, and culture. In fact, the only reason that they are together is because the European colonists just grouped them together, gave them a flag, and called them the Republic of Ghana.

So anyway, the conservative, traditionalist viewpoint is that you don't date or marry outside of your ethic group. This wasn't really ever a problem since there wasn't much interaction between the different groups. However, because of modern technology, travel, and most significantly, education, the interactions and thus the intermarriages have greatly increased. However, here's the problem:

The blurring of these ethnic lines have resulted in a MAJOR loss of culture for these different groups.

For example, if the mother and father speak different languages, the child usually speaks the language of the mother, simply because the gender roles provide that the mother spends the most time rearing the child. Therefore, the father's language is lost, hence creating significant language barriers with the paternal side of the family. This is rather ironic, because most of these ethnic groups are patrilineal, meaning one inherits their cultural identity from their father. So let's say the father is a Ga, the indigenous people of the Greater Accra Region, and the mother is an Ewe, the indigenous people of the Volta Region. Well if your mother only taught you Ewe and your father was never around, then you are still considered a Ga... just a Ga that doesn't speak Ga or knows nothing about the Ga culture, or as the local people might refer to it, a LOST Ga.

The second scenario is worse. Because the mother and the father are from two different regions, neither can understand the other's vernacular. So they communicate in a common language, most likely English. And they only communicate with the kid in English. And the kid knows neither language. So both cultures are officially lost with that kid's generation. Can you say disappear?

However, this may not be completely detrimental to Ghanaian society, yet. Ghanaians can actually take this opportunity to encourage cultural knowledge and enrichment, as well as develop a multilingual society. Many people can speak fluently or have conversational knowledge of three or more languages. This should be encouraged. This way, the generational language barrier between grandparent and grandchild can be eliminated. Also, a country with a culture as rich as Ghana's cannot afford to lose it to ignorance and Westernization. I mean, English is cool and whatnot, but why should a country so desperate to be European forfeit the only thing that is authentically Ghanaian? That's like selling your soul to the devil for jeans, business suits, and iPods. I don't know ONE Ghanaian that would choose hamburgers, or even fish and chips, over kenkey or freshly pounded fufu and light soup.