Introduction
Migration can be defined as the movement of people from one place to another in a specified period whereas mixing is defined as the intermingling of different races or ethnicities that often meet in a new place especially through migration and therefore need to live together by co-existence. Culture on the other hand is defined as the people’s way of life. Every society is faced with problems of migration and this will always continue. This was my motivation for choosing this topic to understand the complexities of migration and mixing. When the topic was discussed in class, I could not help to be drawn to this particular topic as it helped to open up a lot of issues that people struggle with either as immigrants or the host society.
The issue of migration brings up other challenges like integration of the immigrants, relationships between minorities and majorities in the host areas, and the issue of interculturalism. These challenges, therefore, lead the immigrants to feel the need of mixing with the host society to co-exist. Mixing of different cultures is inevitable if people are to live together peacefully. From an intercultural point of view, a person who migrates to a different location should be in a position to live harmoniously with the people of the host society. An intercultural effective person should be in a position to communicate well of different cultures in a way that they will be able to respect him/her and in the long run earn their respect, secondly, be in a position to adjust his/her way of life to cope with people of the host society and therefore be at ease with his/her new environment. And lastly, the interculturally effective person should be in a position to adjust his/her life (both technical and professional) to be comfortable with the new and local conditions and also have the necessary mechanisms to deal with the constraints that he/she will encounter.
Identification of people’s cultures
One way through which people’s cultures are identified is through their language. One major way in which people mix their culture is through language skills. For instance, people who migrate to other societies feel the need to learn the language of the host country to communicate effectively. People who migrate to the developed country feel the need to learn English as a foreign language. At times this is even a requirement from the host society. This is one way in which cultures are mixing, whereby immigrants acquire the language of the host society. Most of the people who live in the
Diaspora had to learn English as a foreign or second language. This is one way of mixing the cultures of the different societies and with time the communities that live together feel the need to learn other languages to communicate with each other effectively. Today very many countries have taken up English either as a foreign or second language. This is because the language has been introduced to them by people who migrate to these areas. For one to be effective in his/her communication he/she must also vary his/her intonation and voice inflection to communicate effectively. This situation has led to the mixing of different cultures through the taking up of different languages by different societies. This is one way of enhancing effective co-existence between the two cultures.
The culture of different communities
Migration also brings about the issue of people taking up different cultures, for example, people who migrate to other areas need to take up the culture of different communities while at the same time share out some of their cultural practices. One major example is the samba dance which today is recognized internationally. This dance was taken up by the Brazilians from the Angolan slaves who had migrated to Brazil. The Brazilians mixed the samba dance with other dances to have the samba dance. This is another example of how cultures mix through migration. This is one way of how people adjust their culture to fit and cope with the new culture and one step closer to becoming an effective intercultural person. Today the samba dance has spread all over the world through the migration of people. Therefore migration enhances the mixing of different cultures and consequently leads to intercultural effectiveness, whereby the different cultures are allowed to mix and therefore this brings about peaceful relations between the people.
Migration also brings the challenge of cultural identity, for instance, the issue of minorities and majorities arose because of people migrating to different societies. In America, people who are considered as minorities have a different background. That is they migrated to American from different societies. Since their culture and way of life are quite different from the host society, they are considered minorities. For example, African- Americans, Chinese- Americans, Asian Americans, and others are considered as minorities since they migrated to America from Africa, China, and Asia respectively. This is because they are few and also as a result of the culture of the immigrants being practiced by the minority. This migration, therefore, affects the cultural practices of the people, whereby even at times the people who migrate to different host societies are forced to abandon some of their cultural practices to fit in the lifestyle of the host society. Interculturalism makes one adjust to the way of life of the host society. This is only possible if people are willing to adjust to the new culture.
Intercultural music
Migration and mixing also bring intercultural music. Today in the world we have different type of music which has been created from different cultures, For example, when Africans master western music. The result of this fusion is intercultural music. The composers of this kind of music have good knowledge about the cultures of the two communities. As stated earlier the samba dance was inherited from the Angolan slaves who had migrated to Brazil. The people took up some of the steps in the original Angolan samba and incorporated some Brazilian rhythms and therefore creating a unique dance. For one to create an intercultural dance/music, one has to be in a position to recognize his/her culture and at the same time recognize the new culture.
Conclusion
Migration has brought about the mixing of different cultures. It has thus resulted in the creation of intercultural effective people. In the world today every society has people who have migrated from different societies and people have learned to co-exist by mixing the different cultures. This is by recognizing and respecting individuals as unique and that each person has his way of life.
References
Caroline, Brettell. (2000), Migration Theory; Talking Across Disciplines, (London, Macmillan).
David, Eltis. (2002), Coerced and Free Migration: Global Perspectives, (New York, Prentice hall).
Patrick, Manning. (2005), Migration in World History, (New York, Routledge).
Monika, Kaup. (2002), Mixing Race, Mixing Culture: Inter-American Literary Dialogues, (New York, University of Texas Press).
Migration and mixing, Web.