Music and social harmony: A reflection on inter-racial harmony in South Africa and its implication for inter-ethnic harmony in Nigeria

Abstract

Social harmony is a global challenge at the moment. This is phenomenally critical in many locations with inter-racial and inter-ethnic mix. There are observable tensions, miss-representations, biases and distrust which, to our minds, affect inter-racial social harmony in many of such locations. It is quite critical to search for avenues of achieving the goal of inter-racial/ethnic harmony in the countries. Thus, it was significant to seek for and spot-light any avenue through which inter-racial/social harmony could be attained. This paper looks at the possible contributions of music to social harmony that could reflect on inter-racial harmony in South Africa. The paper also attempts an interpretation of the findings as possible solution to inter-ethnic conflicts in Nigeria. The paper discusses sample musical sites for inter-racial harmony in the country. Music being itself an embodiment of harmony is considered a paradigm on which the study is hinged. The paper utilized qualitative research method (interviews and discussions with stakeholders) and secondary sources for data gathering. Reflections of randomly selected people in South Africa on music as a possible mechanism for engineering inter-racial/social harmony in the country are presented. The paper validates music as potent platform for negotiations of social harmony across inter-racial/ethnic lines relying on its intrinsic humanizing and affective values.