Life Voice: Minority Groups, Language and Culture - Term Paper Example

Running Head: LIFE VOICE Topic: Life Voice: Minority Groups, Language and Culture Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction In virtually every society, there are usually one or more minority groups who are different from the mainstream. These differences are associated with culture, physique, social hierarchy, gender, educational background, race, ethnicity and disability or chronic diseases among other aspects of society. The minority groups are usually deprived of many privileges in the society, making them to feel inferior and excluded. Discrimination against certain groups in the society is unethical, and is an indicator of lack of morals among the people who practice discrimination. Many governments have set laws to protect minority groups from prejudice. However, it is common for the practice to continue unnoticed by authorities since it may happen between two people, family or in small groupings within the society. It is possible for members of a minority group to encounter problems such as failure to get a marriage partner, inclusion in leadership, education and lack of employment opportunities among other important factors. This essay presents the voice of the elderly people who are marginalized in the society because of their incapacity to cope with the post-modern society. It is a critique of an elderly female villager that highlights what it is to be like this woman who is a member of the marginalized elderly group in the society. The essay relates the woman’s comments and experience to research regarding minority groups from a critical and cultural perspective. The Aged Minority Group In an interview with a village woman aged 78 years, the voice of the aged in the society came out clearly indicating their feeling in regard to the manner in which the society treats this group. There is a wide generation gap that exists between the aged and the youthful members of the society who are keen on adopting new technologies to make work and communication easier. During her youthful time, the elderly female villager in this case was not able to attend school. They were only a few, and her family could not afford to educate her. She therefore can not read, write or communicate in English, which is the official language in the country. This is one aspect of the society that makes her and her age mates to be marginalized in the society. The educated people like using English language in many social gatherings and there is usually no one to translate it in to the elderly who can not understand. She said, “I no longer attend the local church service because the preachers are using English only”. This means that the aged are deprived of spiritual nourishment because of language barrier. Morgan & Kunkel (2006) observe that many societies have changed as a result of the combination of many different cultures due to globalization. People adopt a common language of communication that enables them to communicate with others from different cultures. Language change has brought about the change in the belief system of the society in regard to matters concerning knowledge. The people who can speak in English are regarded as knowledgeable in the society and the opinions of the aged are overlooked. In most cases, they are not requested to give opinions for important matters affecting them. The aged woman observed that she was not informed regarding the change of laws regarding inheritance of property in the country whereby everybody voted for or against the changes. The proposed changes were printed in English for every one to read and give an opinion. Ignoring the views of the aged makes them a marginalized group. In this situation, language has been separated from culture since people have abandoned the local language and adopted English which is foreign to the local culture. Ethnic loyalty is one of the aspects of society that generates differences among many communities. It is the tendency to be conservative in regard to ethnic principles (Richard 2006). The aged have a high level of ethnic loyalty while the youth disregard ethnic principles and interact freely with people from other ethnic backgrounds. Abandoning certain practices that the community adored before makes the aged to feel misplaced as they can no longer derive the happiness and ethnic identity that they enjoyed in their youth. The heritage language continues to be abandoned and the aged fear that the only language that they can speak will eventually be forgotten. It is necessary to maintain the heritage language in a minority group since it serves as a characteristic of ethnic identity, which is important in the history of any community (Scott 2007). From the interview, it can be inferred that there is a social disconnect between the aged and their children. They have lost the meaning of family, whereby descendants were originally expected to progress and pass the behaviors and principles of the ethnic group to the next generation. Generations to come may not have a chance of speaking the language of their parentage. The woman was concerned that the youth are not interested in maintaining their heritage language. She said “when my grand children come to visit me, we can only communicate through their parents. They can only speak in English”. She and her age mates wonder why their children are unable to let the children learn from them. It is often considered that children do not need the advice of parents anymore. The aged woman feels that she has substantial knowledge and wisdom that she would like to pass to the grand children. However, the language barrier is a major issue. If the concerns of the aged are of any importance to the post-modern lifestyle, no one seems to pay attention. Instead of the old holding their position as senior members of the society because of their age, they suffer from marginalization, which makes them feel inferior to their children. Community leaders need to uphold the heritage language through encouraging parents to allow their children to learn and be capable of using it in communication before learning the foreign language that is believed to be superior (Gupta & Harding 2007). The local language can be used in local community gatherings and other social places such as the church. The society accepts the existence of the aged, but does not make the desired considerations for them to feel loved and their contribution to the society appreciated. Instead, it is often assumed that the old can only be fed and their health taken care of by youth, but they have no role to play in community affairs. According to Macnicol (2006), a community can not accomplish the desirable completeness without the full participation of all members regardless of age. Marginalization of one component of the community lowers social morals within a community. On the other hand, the woman argued that she too was young, but she learnt the ways of the society and respected the seniors, especially the old who were regarded as having significant wisdom to keep the community on the right track, unlike in the post-modern period where only the educated are considered being wise. Loneliness is one of the major problems that affect the old in the community where the woman belongs. Everybody is usually busy in the day to day operations while the children go to school at an early age to learn the English language that is believed to be the key to success in future. The woman said that she spends most of the time alone and at times longs for the time to depart this world to join her ancestors. This is an indication of how grave the societal transformations have affected the minority group of the aged. They no longer find meaning in life. From her tone in expressing the lack of enthusiasm in living, any body can understand that if all the old people feel this way, all members of the society who will be lucky to live to that age might at one time suffer from a similar experience. If people from other age groups in the society would be bold enough to imagine how they would like to be treated if they were old, they would realize that being in the minority group is really objectionable. People can begin to treat the aged in a better way, having in mind that there is a possibility of being treated the same way during their old age. Granleese & Sayer (2006) argue that if people could assume the position of a minority group in the society, and continue being treated in the same way, that the group is treated, no one would like to spend moments in that condition. Lack of concern can therefore be attributed to the fact that people do not understand the feelings of those in the minority group. Effective leadership is important for a society to develop. It requires emotional intelligence and wisdom (Bruce 2006). Education is an important source of leadership skills and therefore supplements the emotional intelligence and wisdom for leaders to be effective. Excluding the aged in community leadership in favor of the young and educated does not allow exploitation of the full potential of the minority group in the society. Their opinion matters a lot in offering guidance to the community leaders (Bond et al. 2007). The woman argued that there are situations where young leaders in the community made serious mistakes that lead to regret in future. She believed that there are better ways that issues affecting the community could be solved other than the manner in which the young leaders approach them. However, her opinion or the views of other wise but uneducated members of the minority group can not be raised since they are not given the chance to do so. It would be necessary for them to be consulted in particular issues but that does not happen. The old are discouraged from making comments in regard to issues that are regarded to be professional. For example in a case whereby she tried to object to the building of an industry in a nearby farm, her opinion was suppressed and was considered obsolete in the post-modern period. However, those who advocated for the industry to be built did not consider the environmental impact that it could have on the neighboring community. The woman objected due to her experience when she was young. Many people suffered skin diseases in the area where she was brought up because of what was believed to be toxic substances from an industry that released its effluent in to the river that supplied the community with water for domestic use. Using the water for bathing and drinking without boiling caused skin disease. Experts later established that the chemicals were toxic enough to cause death if they could be consumed in large quantities. Instead of listening to the woman and considering conducting an environmental impact assessment, the leaders simply argued that the post-modern world requires building as many industries as possible to create jobs and help in economic development. Later on, the industry’s operating license was revoked by the government after it was found out that the area was an important water tower that needed to stay devoid of human interference. This is an indication of the significance of involving the minority groups in the community decision making process. The aged have undergone many experiences in life and have ideas that may complement the decisions of the educated leaders to develop workable plans. The aged are icons of where the society is destined to be in future. Their existence in the society presents a reflection of whether the society has been able to accomplish the desired quality of life. The woman observed that even if she and her age mates are marginalized in the community, she is obligated to commend the society in which she grew. However, she wondered whether the changes that have occurred will allow the youth to attain her age. She predicted a decline in the number of people who are likely to live to more than 70 years of age. More over, she also predicted a future decline in the minority group of the aged due to the stress and anxiety that they are exposed to, especially the feeling of neglect and loneliness. She felt that if marginalization of the aged persisted, life expectation would continue dropping at an alarming rate. In regard to the meals that the aged are offered in the community, the woman observed that the traditional types of food are long forgotten and no one considers the fact that the foods consumed by the contemporary society are different from what the aged people would prefer to eat. She said, “Since I began to depend on the community care personnel for my dietary requirements, I have never enjoyed any meal”. She confessed that she initially used to throw away the food until she found out that she was starving. That is when she began eating a little amount to keep her alive. The main reason for this dissatisfaction is because the people employed to take care of nutrition of the elderly in the community offer what they believe is good for them, and they have never requested for their opinion regarding the meals. The elderly woman argues that in the old days when she was energetic, she would fetch wild fruits, herbs and many traditional foods that helped the body to remain strong. The food offered to the elderly comprises of chemically developed ingredients, spices and fat, which make the food undesirable to people who were used to the traditional natural and nutritious foods. The worst thing is that they are never consulted regarding what they wished to eat. The elderly woman would rather fail to take lunch than get the stomach upsets that result from eating the meals offered to her. This is an indication of deprivation of the minority group’s freedom to choose what they would like to eat. Under normal circumstances, everyone would wish to take what pleases him/her, and therefore the elderly in Mary’s community are denied their freedom in regard to diet. Conclusion Minority groups usually develop from within the society. They are usually individuals who are disadvantaged in the community, and they lack capabilities that help other people to be competent. It is important for a community to realize that it can not accomplish the desired completeness without the minority group due to the fact that each person has a role to play in the society. The case of the aged female villager points to the problems affecting the minority groups; in this case the aged. They are faced with the feeling of inferiority in the society, loneliness, lack of opportunities to air their views and leadership opportunities as well as deprivation of the freedom to choose what they would like to eat among other privileges in the society. The woman is a true representative of the minority group of the aged in the society. However, this is wrong, and the society needs to reconsider the treatment offered to the elderly who are marginalized to ensure that they enjoy being part of the community like any other member of the society. References Bond J., Peace Sheila., Freya D. & Westerhof G. (2007). Ageing in society: European Perspectives on Gerontology, Sage Publications Ltd Bruce G. (2006). Taproots for Transformation: Nurturing Intergenerational Discernment and Leadership in an irrational World, Trafford Publishing Granleese J. & Sayer G. (2006). Gendered ageism and “lookism”: a triple jeopardy for female academics. Women in Management Review, Vol. 21(6) pp 500 - 517 Gupta A. & Harding A. (2007). Modeling our Future: Population Ageing, Health and Aged Care, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Macnicol J. (2006). Age Discrimination: An Historical and Contemporary Analysis, Cambridge University Press. Morgan L. A. & Kunkel S. R. (2006). Aging, Society, and the Life Course, Springer Publishing Company. Richard T. S. (2006). Racial and ethnic groups (10th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Scott P. (2007). The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Read More