Do people need to own furniture that represent their cultural background?  

Historical tradition should not necessarily be maintained for its own sake; people should be free to make their own cultural choices while respecting the earth and its inhabitants.  
(How does free will or the lack thereof affect cultural "choices"?)
 
 history is bunk

If you can and are moved by such furniture than of course, if no one else is interested than probably but if must people prefer these historical pieces than definitely not.
My 2¢

I can't really think of any piece of furniture that would represent ones cultural background. Furniture is foremost functional. 
Why try to say something about your background through objects?
 
 

Huh?  Lots of furniture has its roots in the culture of a specific people. 
That said, of course it's not necessary to stick with your own culture's designs when furnishing your living space.  

Why try to say something about your background through objects? Any objects you might own or use are selected or made available through your cultural experiences. re saying something whether you re trying to or not. 

 
I have noticed that sometimes after making a comment, I am locked out of the thread for the duration of the editing period.  After this has happened, on at least two occasions now, I have seen my comments modified slightly, the spacing altered, a character omitted, etc.
For example, the comment directly above this one has been changed from my submission, and HAS NOT BEEN NOTED AS BEING EDITED BY DESIGN ADDICT.  Quotation marks have been removed, spacing has been changed, spelling mistakes have been introduced, and apostrophes have been deleted.  
If Design Addict is going to fuck up my comments, I will not participate in this forum.
Explain this bullshit, please.
 

Dear Objectworship,
We do not do it on purpose. You probably write your message in a software and then do a copy / paste in the forum, which causes bugs. We regularly need to clean your posts to remove excess code so that they can be displayed in the forum. This probably causes the changes you notice. Please write directly in the forum form to avoid these problems.
So that you better understand the source of the trouble, here's a copy of what you posted in your previous message (before we cleaned it).

Dear DesignAddict,
Ah ha.  I do tend to write on a shared computer at "work", and when interrupted, I copy the text in order to save it to continue writing later.  I will refrain from doing this now that I know it makes the bugs get all crawly.
Thank you for your courteous explanation.  This is my first time encountering such a thing.  
I am glad there is no nefarious conspiracy to remove my apostrophes!  (wipes brow)
 
Love,
objectworship

You don't necessarily need to put furnitures that show off your cultural background, however what you can do is to put little ornaments or objects that are rather native to your country, to give people a glimpse of where you came from. 😉
 
//brett

If my so called "eco friendly" California neighbors can "express themselves" by driving around in ugly-ass leviathon Cadilac SUV's, then I can certainly express myself with a nearly invisible and supremely modest Eames LTR. (or six of 'em...)
It sounds like the original poster is asking permission (or asking if it's a requirement?) to own things that actually reflect on one's culture or personal history? 
WTF?
Is there any choice we make in life that is not in some way a reflection of - or a reaction to - one's short or long term history, micro or macro?
Oh, and if anyone happens to own a caddy SUV, no offense. I was just expressing my cultural background.