Consider the following two scenarios:
A client enters the offices of a certain law firm and encounters a black woman behind the reception desk. She asks to see some named person at the firm. She asks politely and in english much to the dismay and disappointment of the receptionist lady. You see, the client is black and should not in the black lady-behind-the-reception-desk's view, be addressing her in english. I mean they are both black and so on and so forth. Not being able to hold herself back or to consider such other mundane issues such as to do her job and call whomever the client is here to see, she says: "thet'isxhosa bo!" (speak isiXhosa) with a contemptuous exclamation appended. This she says with such contempt in her voice and face so that it is clear to the detribalised black client that her behaviour is no less than despecable.
The client responds by saying that she will speak whatever language she damn well pleases and if the receptionist would like, she is quite happy to speak isiShona (the client's language of choice). The client was visibly upset when the person she had come to see walked into the reception area. "What on earth does this receptionist woman think?" She was wondering whether it is on some level un-Black to speak english.
The second scenario plays out at a filling station. A young black man pulls up at the pump but not to fill the car up but to check the tyre pressure. In fact one of the tyres is just about completely flat. He gets assisted by one young black man. They talk about the tyres, the young man forecourt attendant duly pumps up the flat tyre and the young man driver asks whether the tyre is really pumped up, afterall it was really flat. It is at this point that the forecourt attendant asks "why you speak english but you are black?" The english speaking young man tells the attendant that he actually speaks seven other languages one of them being Sesotho so which of these would the attendant like to speak. The attendant says he would like to speak isiXhosa; he also confesses that he cannot speak Sesotho but is going to learn.
Here is the thing, there is a generally held dim view of black people who speak english to other black people. What informs this dislike and contempt? In my enquiries I have been told that it is because the black people who speak english are uppity and think they are better because they can speak english. I have previously covered this ground in another post dealing with school-going children who speak english to each other as they play in the dusty streets of their townships. I will therefore not re-hash the issues. What I would like to know is when will it be that black people can be treated as individuals who are diverse in languages, interests and so on and so forth.
Should black people continue to conform to the demarcation of Apartheid and all other theories of who they are and how they, as a monolithic band of savages, all behave? Maybe this is taking it too far. The point is this though, an ability to communicate with as diverse a number of people as possible, in their respective languages of choice, is and will always be an advantage. Here is the thing though, people are not what they speak; and in any event, people speak the language they live in.
I am one of those blacks who live in english and I am done feeling guilty about it. I also make every effort to address people in their language of choice or their home language as it is generally known in this beautiful SA. I am not better or worse, as a person for it; it is just the way my life works - in english. It also works in at least 5 other languages. There is no obligation to speak any of the languages I speak (read and write); it is just good common sense. I can therefore sympathise with the two individuals at the beginning of this post. As a by the way consideration, what other things I should or should not be doing, because I am black? Not listen to and/or enjoy Marc Cohn, Led Zepplin, Beethoven?
Well maybe the thing is that people speak the language they live in the most. Maybe these blacks are just detribalised, counter-revolutionary, middle-class self-loathers.
A client enters the offices of a certain law firm and encounters a black woman behind the reception desk. She asks to see some named person at the firm. She asks politely and in english much to the dismay and disappointment of the receptionist lady. You see, the client is black and should not in the black lady-behind-the-reception-desk's view, be addressing her in english. I mean they are both black and so on and so forth. Not being able to hold herself back or to consider such other mundane issues such as to do her job and call whomever the client is here to see, she says: "thet'isxhosa bo!" (speak isiXhosa) with a contemptuous exclamation appended. This she says with such contempt in her voice and face so that it is clear to the detribalised black client that her behaviour is no less than despecable.
The client responds by saying that she will speak whatever language she damn well pleases and if the receptionist would like, she is quite happy to speak isiShona (the client's language of choice). The client was visibly upset when the person she had come to see walked into the reception area. "What on earth does this receptionist woman think?" She was wondering whether it is on some level un-Black to speak english.
The second scenario plays out at a filling station. A young black man pulls up at the pump but not to fill the car up but to check the tyre pressure. In fact one of the tyres is just about completely flat. He gets assisted by one young black man. They talk about the tyres, the young man forecourt attendant duly pumps up the flat tyre and the young man driver asks whether the tyre is really pumped up, afterall it was really flat. It is at this point that the forecourt attendant asks "why you speak english but you are black?" The english speaking young man tells the attendant that he actually speaks seven other languages one of them being Sesotho so which of these would the attendant like to speak. The attendant says he would like to speak isiXhosa; he also confesses that he cannot speak Sesotho but is going to learn.
Here is the thing, there is a generally held dim view of black people who speak english to other black people. What informs this dislike and contempt? In my enquiries I have been told that it is because the black people who speak english are uppity and think they are better because they can speak english. I have previously covered this ground in another post dealing with school-going children who speak english to each other as they play in the dusty streets of their townships. I will therefore not re-hash the issues. What I would like to know is when will it be that black people can be treated as individuals who are diverse in languages, interests and so on and so forth.
Should black people continue to conform to the demarcation of Apartheid and all other theories of who they are and how they, as a monolithic band of savages, all behave? Maybe this is taking it too far. The point is this though, an ability to communicate with as diverse a number of people as possible, in their respective languages of choice, is and will always be an advantage. Here is the thing though, people are not what they speak; and in any event, people speak the language they live in.
I am one of those blacks who live in english and I am done feeling guilty about it. I also make every effort to address people in their language of choice or their home language as it is generally known in this beautiful SA. I am not better or worse, as a person for it; it is just the way my life works - in english. It also works in at least 5 other languages. There is no obligation to speak any of the languages I speak (read and write); it is just good common sense. I can therefore sympathise with the two individuals at the beginning of this post. As a by the way consideration, what other things I should or should not be doing, because I am black? Not listen to and/or enjoy Marc Cohn, Led Zepplin, Beethoven?
Well maybe the thing is that people speak the language they live in the most. Maybe these blacks are just detribalised, counter-revolutionary, middle-class self-loathers.
. . . and what if they are? What if that is the thing with these english-speaking blacks?
Posts
I think the issue you raise goes to the core of what we Africans are about. We do not love and honour our heritage and cultures. We instead find it easy and comfortable to converse in someone else's language.
ReplyDeleteIn Botswana English is the only official language and Setswana has taken the back seat even though the overwhelming majority of Batswana speak Setswana and English is a distant second. In Zimbabwe the major languages are Shona, Ndebele and English in that order but the two African langauges are not official. In South Africa we have 11 official langauges but only English and Afrikaans have that official status. Lip service is being paid to all the other languages.
In my humble opinion, though I agree with your sentiments, you are looking at this matter from a superficial angle. This issue needs to be looked at with a whole new consciousness and our governments should be playing a critical role in this regard. That we cannot converse in our own langauges is an indictment on our African governments and on us as society.
This issue goes to the core of us as a people and if our other languages were receiving the same status English and Afrikaans are recieving that one chooses to speak english over another langauge would not be an issue.
Moremogolo, masego, katlego le tsotlhe tse dintle mo ngwageng o moswa.
ReplyDeleteAs always you raise thought-provoking issues. I am in agreement that our languages do not get even half the attention and nurturing they deserve. That in my view is the primary responsibility of the speakers of that language. We have of course abdicated that responsibility.
The issue that the post sought to address is a different matter as I hope you would agree.
My hubby and I converse and live our lives in English, no shame but as a proud African I do sometimes wish we knew enough of each other's languages to converse in them.
ReplyDeleteThe receptionist and attendant? For some reason feel entitled to judge on this basis...but why is this so? Is this in itself not discrimination or intolerance?
Le wena amogela masego ke ao tlhe Rra.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with what you are saying. People should be allowed to converse in the langauge they are comfortable in and although we are allowed to judge them we should hold our views to ourselves.
It is a catch 22 situation, you can never satisfy anybody when it comes to this issue. If you attempt to speak broken Xhosa for e.g you will be accused of denigrating the language, if you speak in your own langauge you are accused of being insensitive or arrogant and if you speak in english it is like you describe it. Our government should do more to promote our languages
I live in the Eastern Cape and my Shona and Ndebele friends here are often treated really badly when Xhosa people realise they can't speak Xhosa...
ReplyDeleteOn another note though:
I noticed a few weeks back, paging though the Sunday Times TV-guide, that we actually have *a lot* more non-English/Afrikaans programmes then we did several few years ago. Which is brilliant. And I know it might seem a bit trivial - but programmes like Isidingo being multilingual and having subtitles, I think that is great. Because hopefully small things like that reflect bigger societal things, that people are thinking African languages are more important.