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#374: Haitian Prejudices: Responding to Nancy and Gina : Vedrine comments
From: Emmanuel W. Vedrine <evedrine@hotmail.com>
[..."Regarding speaking French or even English - I have met many Haitians
who address me in English simply to demonstrate a 'social superiority'. I
have been to numerous conferences held in the United States where
presenters address a Haitian audience in English or French as if speaking in
Creole would have undermined their competence in the subject. The message
they really want to send is ' I am a fluent English or French speaker.'
...One example that remains vivid in my mind occured in l992 at City
College of New York. It was a conference for Haitian Bilingual educators
regarding teaching Creole in Bilingual programs. The entire plenary and the
keynote address were in English. When I stood up and read a poem that one of
my students wrote in Creole, of course, the entire room was cold and silent.
People were shocked. I don't think they expected to hear Creole in a Creole
education conference. What made matters worse was the content of that eight
year old's poem was about Haiti's political situation at that time..."
(Nekita Lamour)]
- Hm! A nice bridge connecting Diglossia and Sociolinguistics in the case of
Ayiti Cheri's transplanted sons and daughters.
"De je kontre, manti kaba",
E.W.Vedrine
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