Cultural adaptation and change
Introduction
Human beings have different ways of life that are influenced by their faith and principles. Culture continuously changes and can be mastered or inherited through family customs (Srivastava et al., 2018). People’s identity, which consists of their racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, dialect, and religious beliefs, is what expresses their cultural traits. A community can also express their culture through the things they create, such as artwork, buildings, attire, dance styles, and food. This essay will analyze the cultural adaptation and change within my family history. The discussion will be a summary of the results of an interview I held with my grandfather, which will provide an insight into my family-related experience over time.
Part 1
Life goal
My grandfather’s philosophy of life is “in life, there is no wrong, there are no mistakes, and we only become perfect through experience.” In other words, my grandfather had a firm conviction that people should never be judged for mistakes because, according to him, we learn through mistakes.
Setting
My grandfather was born in Oakland, which is located in Northern California in the United States (U.S). Born in 1945 immediately after the Second World War, my grandfather was brought up in the City of Oakland, which was sometimes unsafe due to the conflicts between African American immigrants and native white Americans. As a preteenager in the 1950s, my grandfather witnessed riots and confrontations between police officers and the African American immigrants who were protesting against racial segregation. This made the City of Oakland unsafe for children. My grandfather lived in the City of Oakland and owned neither a farm nor a ranch throughout his life. The City of Oakland had a population of approximately 380,000 people.
Growing up in the City of Oakland, my grandfather visited landmarks within the City. Some of the unique landmarks were the Cathedral building built in 1914. The cathedral building was the first Gothic Revival style skyscraper located in Oakland. The other monument that made the City of Oakland unique is the Dunsmuir House and Gardens. This house was built in 1899 had a neoclassical –revival architectural style. According to my grandfather, Lake Merritt was a popular site for city dwellers on a picnic or who just wanted to take a walk. Shops and retail outlets were housed in the Jack London Square. Due to high amounts of rainfall, the most predominant forms of vegetation were oak trees, pine trees, and fir.
The housing types were a mix of high rise apartment blocks and the Victorian styles that housed families. The commercial buildings were located in the City’s central business district. As a teenager, my grandfather’s neighborhood lacked public parks for recreational activities and was also unsafe. My grandfather remembers the noise from planes landing at Oakland Airport, currently the Oakland International Airport. At 75 years of age, my grandfather prefers to stay in one place. The City of Oakland had racial diversity, and my grandfather’s neighborhood had diverse groups of people; native whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. Due to the high levels of insecurity, my grandfather was never allowed to go out alone. Growing up in a neighborhood with diverse cultural backgrounds enabled him to learn about different cultures, and that is his favorite memory. However, witnessing bloody confrontations between police officers and rioters are his least favorite memories.
Home
My great grandfather owned a house in which my grandfather lived. It was an excellent looking three-bedroom Victorian-style single dwelling unit. The house had five rooms; a living room, a dining room with a fireplace, a kitchen with in-built kitchen cabinets, three bedrooms with inbuilt wardrobes. The master bedroom had a toilet and shower for my great grandfather. The rest of the family members shared a toilet and a bathroom. This house was constructed using brick and wood, and at times, it could be freezing, especially during winter because it lacked air conditioning system. There were a small kitchen garden and a yard for playing and airing the laundry behind this house. The house was approximately 1,600 square feet, and the nearest neighbor’s house was about 200 meters away.
Homelife, when young and as an adult
The total number of people who lived in this house was six; my grandfather, his two parents, and four siblings. My grandfather did not know most of his neighbors during his childhood, but only came to know them later on as an adult. According to him, neighbors kept to themselves, and there were limited interactions. Once in a while, there were visitors in his house, especially relatives. In this house, people woke up at different times, and his father ate breakfast first because he had to board the first train to work. Breakfast was mainly coffee and brown bread, at times with some sausages. Not everyone was at home during lunchtime; therefore, they did not have lunch together as a family. Lunch was mainly rice and chicken stew. In the evening, the family had a more substantial meal together. His favorite meal was marinated spring chicken.
My grandfather’s mother did the grocery shopping in the grocery stores that were near their home. The family members gathered in the living room and had few outdoor recreational activities due to the neighborhood’s insecurity. My grandfather spent most of his playtime in the yard and rarely ventured into the community. As a young adult, he performed some domestic chores and took care of his younger siblings. The family had a housekeeper who cleaned the dishes and did the laundry in their house. While in school, my grandfather played baseball and football. As an adult, my grandfather stayed in touch with his parents until they passed away.
Music
As a young adult, my grandfather’s favorite music was funk, which he listened to on the radio. He neither sang nor owned or played a musical instrument. His favorite musicians were band members of the Slay and the Family Stone. My grandfather was not a fan of movies and therefore had no favorite film.
Holidays
During his childhood and adulthood, my grandfather celebrated special holidays such as Independence Day, Christmas, New Year, and Easter holidays. There were special foods and attires associated with holidays such as Christmas and Easter Holiday. During Easter, my grandfather took his family for trips to public parks within the City of Oakland and, after that, had meals together as a family. There were particular customs associated with weddings and birthdays. My grandfather married at 25 years of age and had five children.
Religion
According to my grandfather, his family attended religious services in one of the catholic churches in their neighborhood every Sunday. All his family members attended church service, and they discussed religion as a family. His neighbors also attended church, and the most predominant religious denomination in his neighborhood was Christianity, specifically the catholic churches.
Language
Members of my grandfather’s family spoke English. However, his youngest sister spoke Spanish. His parents spoke only English, which was their native language. Other languages, such as Latin and Spanish, were spoken in his neighborhood. As a teenager, their speech incorporated slang, which was borrowed from funk musicians.
Education
My grandfather attended school near his home and completed 12 years of school. While in school, he liked mathematics and science. He did his homework in one of the bedrooms that he shared with his younger brother. He joined college because, at that time, employers wanted people with relevant training obtained from the college.
Politics
As an adult, my grandfather, together with his siblings, read daily newspapers and discussed local, national, and international politics. Politics was a major topic of discussion because of the political transformation that was taking place in the State of California. Because of varying political opinions, family members occasionally argued about politics.
Economic / work
My grandfather never worked as a teenager due to the strict employment laws at that time but worked as a young adult after college. His parents are the only people who worked and contributed to the total family budget. He worked as a railway locomotive engineer, and that was his favorite job because it was his career. His place of work was about 15 kilometers away from home. Hence he used buses as the means of transport. His parent had one car, and his father was a technician in the railway company while his mother was a housewife.
Part 2
Cultural consistency and change
The above summary of the interview with my grandfather shows that a significant proportion of my family history is consistent with my current life. Today, adults read daily newspapers and discuss local, national, regional, and international politics just like they did during my grandfather’s time. In my life today, discussing politics sometimes causes arguments similar to what was witnessed during my grandfather’s time. Today just like during my grandfather’s time, people join college to acquire the relevant skills required in the labor market. People enter college to accomplish both their career and educational desires. Also, most families today hire housekeepers who clean dishes and maintain the general cleanliness of their house, just like it was during my grandfather’s time.
According to Srivastava et al. (2018), cultural behavior changes over time and is influenced by ethics that determine people’s conduct. For instance, during my grandfather’s days, all family members needed to attend church service. In my life today, attending church service is optional. Morals guide people’s conduct and are shaped by cultural habits and religion, which are applied to individuals in the community. Also, in today’s life, our culture has significantly changed in terms of the number of languages one can speak. There has been a need for people to learn different styles to avoid culture shock due to globalization. Today, I can speak a minimum of three global languages as opposed to my grandfather’s days. The other inconsistency between my life today and my grandfather’s life regarding education is that children were encouraged to attend schools that were close to their homes in his days. Today, children attend school far away from their homes. There has been a cultural change that allows teenagers to be engaged in paid employment today, unlike during my grandfather’s time. In my life today, most houses have air conditioning systems, which were never there during my grandfather’s time. In terms of food, culture has significantly changed, and today my favorite food is pizza. Eating habits have also changed today because I prefer eating out instead of having a meal together as a family.
References
Srivastava, S. B., Goldberg, A., Manian, V. G., & Potts, C. (2018). Enculturation Trajectories: Language, cultural adaptation, and individual outcomes in organizations. Management Science, 64(3), 1348-1364.