Each time I have spoken with a francophone journalist, researcher, film maker, etc. I have always begun by saying, “What I am going to tell you is NOT what you think you know because everything you have consumed about Louisiana has been produced in English, from an American point of view, translated into French and you will want to retro-project these myths and idées reçues into your work.”

Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked hard to concisely articulate these very complex concepts. I constantly think about how best to convey these ideas so that they are easily understood by people who not only may have never heard them, but also for whom they will be contradictory to what they’ve learned.

I have said over and over again that not a single Acadian was “deported to Louisiana,” that they arrived here of their own volition by their own means nearly ten years after the deportation began.

I have said point blank, “In the late 18th century, there were TEN TIMES more people of African descent speaking French or Creole in Louisiana than the total number of Acadians who arrived over a 20-year period and the only reason you know about the Acadians is because they are white.”

I consistently say, “Ratio to ethnic population, Native Americans speak more French in Louisiana than people who identify as Cajun or Creole.”

I consistently say, “The identity labels Cajun and Creole do not necessarily mean francophone or créolophone, nor are they synonymous with language spoken.”

I have spent countless interview hours and written innumerable responses to emails over the years. I have given them printed text about how to best formulate the sentences and the exact words to use to accurately and appropriately represent French and Creole-speaking Louisianians.

Adding to the confusion, our own people here in Louisiana don’t know what they don’t know about the complexities of this history. Yes, they have lived experiences that they can relate, but they have been programmed in English to understand it only through an American worldview. They don’t understand the underlying political and economic motivations behind the forced assimilation.

As if on cue, they repeat things like, “Je ne parle pas le bon français,” “Le français était illégal,” “J’ai été puni à l’école,” and there is no journalistic contextualisation of those ubiquitous squares on the bingo card.

Our state and local institutions repeat these things in English, further devaluing our heritage languages and linguistic identities. There’s a “How to speak Cajun” page on the official website of the Louisiana Office of Tourism. Similar “dictionaries” that misrepresent the language(s) can be found all over the internet. The majority of assimilated Cajun-identified people are proud of it. They share it to all of their social media channels and shout to the world how wonderful it is to be Cajun, completely oblivious to how utterly folklorizing it is.

In 2018, I tweeted, “En Franco-Créolophonie louisianaise, c’est la guerre constante sur tous les fronts, non seulement contre les idées reçues projetées par les internationaux, mais aussi contre les mythes perpétués en anglais par les Louisianais assimilés.” (In French and Creole-speaking Louisiana, it’s a constant war on all fronts, not only against common misconceptions projected from abroad, but also against the myths perpetuated in English by assimilated Louisianians).

The challenge really is two-sided : In Louisiana, not only is there little general knowledge of, or concern about these problematics, there is no structure, institution or agency that has the weight or authority to address or respond to them and effect change locally and abroad. Internationally, we are more visible and audible as francophones and créolophones than we are here at home. My then-16 year-old daughter once observed, “Il me semble que les internationaux sont plus intéressés par le fait français en Louisiane que les Louisianais.” (“It seems that people from abroad are more interested in what’s happening with French in Louisiana than our own people are.”)

Thankfully, I’m not alone in recognising the issues and daily attempting to address them. I can’t tag everybody who’s doing this work because it really is quite a number of remarkable people. We don’t always agree on every little thing, but I’m lucky to call them my friends and colleagues.

#lâchepas#francolou