A duty to preserve African culture?

Identity politics in the US is one thing. Forced identity politics in Africa? That's something else altogether. This article discusses the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

The introduction of a duty to preserve a culture, particularly in Africa, is understandable given the experience of colonialism, but “understandable” doesn’t mean “OK”. People have a right to an identity, cultural or otherwise, and human rights do a great job protecting identity (there’s religious freedom, freedom of association, freedom of thought and speech, freedom of residence etc.). But there cannot be a duty to have and preserve an identity. It seems here that the language of human rights – this is after all a human rights declaration – is used to smuggle in the opinion that it is somehow OK that a cultural identity is forced on people, and that individual identities disappear into the collective. More...