what culture ?

"that's not part of the african culture...." said one african. the question is; what is this culture we africans constantly call on every time so as to defend our close mindedness. what does it consist of?

is it our traditional wear?
speaking from a ugandan perspective, the kanzu (tunic) we love so much was an idea we got from the arabs. it is as foreign as it is pointless and uncomfortable.
the gomesi (a garment used to hide women's curves) wasn't around before 1950 and if you tell me the people from western uganda invented the sari, please enroll into the nearest adult literacy institution.
in all fairness, if i am to go by the "african culture", our traditional wear is the birth day suit but if you are shy you can wear a mini skirt.

is it our religion?
our traditional religion has been outlawed and called evil and replaced with the western and middle eastern version of religion. do you ever wonder what we would be worshipping had we been colonised by the Chinese and not the British? or had we done trade with the indians and not the arabs?

is it in the way we dance?
our dances may be one of the few things still in existance that are originally african and haven't changed but with the way things are going, we might replace the traditional dances with the "bendover" dance routine. :)

is it the so called good manners?
good manners vary from one person to another, even with that said the african version of good manners like kneeling, prostrating before fellow humans are barbaric and designed to make women second class citizens of society.

all i can say is, for culture to stay relevant, it has to evolve with the times and open up to different social factors influencing people's lives.