The elderly and decrepit -- a sign of our culture?

Are there no black people in old-age homes? I’m just checking, because many a response to a blog about culture by a white writer receives a response about how culturally unacceptable putting old people into homes is. This idea has appeared as a response to many of the blogs I’ve written in critique of Zulu culture, and recently has appeared in one of the comments in response to this blog by Michael Baillie. In response to the blog the vitriolic Tumi M says:

“You say lets not use culture to justify anything, but even you use culture to justify your actions – In your culture you send the old people to old-age home to die there,becuz u cant b bothered 2look afta them (not u specificly – ur culture..) Inconceivable in my culture”

In response to an old blog of mine critiquing Zulu culture, Victor labels this behaviour as evil:

“i could not agree with you more sipho. I also feel that the white people who send their old parents to old age homes should be brought to book, its unhumane, cruel and just plain evil. But who am i to point fingures @ other cultures.”

and Noholoza says:

“Did you know that in African indigenous cultures it is taboo to take your parents to a nursing home?? “

Is it a white cultural thing to have elderly people in old-age homes? I don’t know. But what I do know is that the path of logic followed by the people making this criticism is flawed.

There seems to be a misguided belief out there that because some old white folks are in homes, white people have no sense of culture and thus are unable to critique the culture of others. This is not the case. In the same way that any Zulu person is welcome to write a blog about their belief that old-age homes are inhumane and evil, a white English speaking South African is totally entitled to critiquing another culture whether it is Zulu, Afrikaans or French.

Cultural difference doesn’t prevent cultural critique, in fact, it should inspire it. It should be a way that we work together to learn more about another culture and are confronted by our own preconceptions and misconceptions.

In simple English — just because something is wrong with my culture, doesn’t mean that what’s wrong with yours is outside of critique. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Right?