British West Africa - Social and Cultural Development

Social and Cultural Development

The case for contamination can be credited to the British colonization of West Africa. The social and cultural development have been extremely dynamic under these circumstances. British West Africa's makeup includes Gold Coast (Ghana), Sierra Leone, Gambia (Colony) and Nigeria. Each of these countries are in the post-colonial period or what Kwame Appiah(Ghanaian writer) would call neo-colonialism. British West Africa's development is solely based on modernization. Autonomous educational systems were the first step to modernizing indigenous culture. The cultures and interest of those indigenous tribes were let out. New social order as well as European influences within schools and local traditions helped mold British West Africa's globalized culture. Mostly provided by the British West African colonial school curriculum; they developed local elites whose new values and philosophies changed their overall cultural development.

In terms of social issues with British West Africa; sex and race usually conflicted each other. (Carina E. Ray actually dubbed it the White Wife Problem) Basically throughout British West Africa's history, interracial relations were frowned upon and couples were highly discriminated against. Black men were often accused of taking white British men jobs as well as stealing their wives.( Mostly Port workers) White women were seen as immoral traitors who put their own selfish sexual desires over the good of their nation. There were even certain policies that deported the wives of these relationships back to Britain and denied them access to any of these colonies.