Thuy McRae

Cultural immersion #1
Nigerian American

My first cultural immersion was on a young Nigerian American female name Olunwatobi
(Fumi). She is from West Africa, Yoruba is the tribe she belong to as well as the language she
speaks in addition to English.
Although Ms. Fumi was born in Atlanta, Georgia her parents raised her with strict
Nigerian culture and her family usually socialize within their ethnic group. While there are many
traits they value, family and respect are often the upmost importance. This can be seen in some
of their practices for instance, one would probably be frowned upon if they dont marry from
within their culture. Decision making would involve the family or an elder of some sort as
opinion matters and is a great value. Wedding are a family affair because you dont just marry
the person, you marry the entire family. Having the family approval of a relationship is a big
deal. For those living in the U.S the ceremony is usually a mix of both traditional and western
style. Also when an elder can no longer care for self they typically dont send them to an
institution for older adults. Family would make arrangement for the elder adults to move in and
everyone would lend a hand to help care for them.
One of several questions to her was how does she perceive herself as an African
American. She said while she is Americanized, by Nigerian standards, she doesnt practice
traditional African American culture. Although she has different values as her black peers she
doesnt treat others as so. She said moving to Grayson, Georgia a predominant white area was a
culture shock for her. She said the first day of school she discovered how racist people still are
today. She said when she entered into her AP physic class the teacher asked if she was in the
right class, thinking that perhaps shed walked in by mistake. She replied No Im in the right
class as she began to introduce herself. She said she was in advanced placement and honor
classes throughout her school age years, whereas most blacks were in college prep classes.
She really enjoy the music and food of Nigerian culture. Some of the music she enjoys is
fuji, juju and dance hall. The food can be independent to certain parts of the country. She enjoys
eating fufu, egba, spinach, stews, chicken, lamb and beef. She enjoys dressing in colorful African
ensembles. They are tailored to fit, so its very rare to see someone wear Nigerian clothes that
dont nicely fit them. The language can sometimes be a barrier. She is more comfortable
expressing herself in English, although she speaks Yoruba in her home and she finds that
sometimes things can be expressed better in Yoruba, but not so easy in English.

Her parents were strict growing up. She wasnt allowed to sleep over her friends house,
or celebrate Halloween. They didnt indulge in special events such as sweet sixteen parties.
Although you age as an adult, youre still considered a child until you marry. She said Nigerian
parents are really strict on education. They usually push their children in areas such as sciences
and math. They are usually encouraged to be nurses, doctors, lawyers, and engineers because job
stability is the primary outlook. The child may not choose what they want to be. She said she
would change the way the elders see the faith of their career. For instance she has a sister that
majored in occupational therapy. Whereas she was talented in drama and theater as a child and
was interested in pursuing a career in that. Fumi herself has desires to become a doctor. She is
currently waiting to take the MCAT to see if she will be accepted into a program. She has hopes
to open her own practice as a pediatric surgeon. Her fears are not being able to do what she
hopes to do or not being supported by her family such as marry outside the Nigerian culture. Her
family attends a nondenominational church where their all are involved in some type of ministry.
My insight on Fumi and her culture lift the stereotype of Nigerians. Ones awareness are
differences of the culture. My thought was that all Africans were from the same place. My
feelings are to learn and get more knowledge of her culture such as experience a wedding
ceremony and eatery. Im really appreciative of the culture immersions which gave me more
insight on people whom wasnt around in my years as a youth.