To discover humanity, it is important to determine how their interactions affect their culture and their relations. The degree of influence is mostly affected by the extent of interaction and how friendly the two groups were to one another. To conduct a comparison on cultural influence and integration between the American and the Africans with that of the China and India, it is important to know how the groups interacted and responded to one another.
In case the response or the interaction was poor, it is hard to have a comprehensive influence between the two groups involved. This is supported by the fact that a group of individuals will copy each other if they developed a liking at the initial levels of interaction. Hence, it is important to look at the legacies left by the encounters and interactions of cultures to present day.
Some of the influences traced into the interaction between the cultures vary from social lifestyle, economics, political to the general use of language (Smith, 1992, p. 498). The interaction between the Americans who are referred to as the ‘westerners’ had massive effect on the culture of Africans more than among the Indians and China as a result of the resistance they subjected to the interaction.
To begin with, lifestyle changed because of the interaction between the Americans and the Africans; this created social classes that fell under color and social responsibility (Smith, 1992, p. 498). There was stratification among the blacks; the blacks were considered as slaves. The black slaves did not have any rights as compared to their white masters.
Presently, it has created the discrimination experienced in some of the states that are regarded as white dominated or black dominated states (Lipsitz, 1995, p. 397). The other social effect brought about the interaction between the whites and the blacks was the social stratification. Historically, there are groups of individuals who were considered noble; they were made judges, rulers of the land as well as opinion makers.
The idea was positively taken up by the Africans; it can be explained by the present fight for power and positions in Africa and America (Lipsitz, 1995, p. 397). This is very different in India and China; Chinese and Indians resisted interaction between the westerners that would have changed their culture. The resistance has maintained their social norms and formats without compromising their integrities.
Another example of the legacies left by the degree of interaction between the westerners and the Africans is the spread of Christianity. In Africa, Christianity has spread to the most interior regions as fueled by the interaction experienced between the Americans and the natives (Smith, 1992, p. 498). This can be contrasted to the present spread of Christianity in India and China. The variance in the degree Christianity could be due to the resistance to cultural integration between the westerners and natives of China and India.
The degree of interaction between westerners and the Africans can be shown by the economy (Stearns, 2003, p. 212). Most of the African countries rely on the western countries to maintain their economies. This is as a result of African countries considering trading with Americans and disregarding their region inter-trade (Stearns, 2003, p. 212).
Trading continuously built American economy at the expense of the African economies. This is different when compared to the Asian economy; the economy basically relies on fellow Asian countries to keep it running and reliable (Lipsitz, 1995, p. 398). This is also explained by the fact that India and China were resistant to adopting the western lifestyle and cultures.
The influence of the integration spreads deep to languages used; most of the African countries colonized by the westerners have English as their official languages (Stearns, 2003, p. 214). The language is taught in classes as the second language to most of the African countries. This is contrasted to the fact that China and India do not recognize English as an official language.
Despite the differences, political structures in Africa, China, India and American cuts across board regardless of the degree of interaction and integration. All the regions show respect to the rulers of the land and hold the position with dignity. In addition, the citizens elect representatives to represent them in government.
In conclusion, the higher the degree of interaction between cultures so does the legacies left behind. Since China and India resisted interactions and changing of their cultures; hence there are fewer influences that have left their traditions intact and original. Africa was most affected by deep interactions they had with the westerners.
References
Lipsitz, G. (1995). “The possessive investment in whiteness: Racialized social democracy and the “White” problem in American studies. American Quarterly, 47(3), 396-387.
Smith, T. W. (1992). “Changing racial labels: From “colored” to “Negro” to “Black” to “African American””. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 56(4), 496-514.
Stearns, P. N. (2003). Western civilization in world history. New York, NY: Routledge.