Dear Editor,

It is beyond tiring to hear our leaders speak of the Jamaican language situation as a zero-sum game between standard Jamaican English and the Jamaican patois.

That the newest cause célèbre behind the refusal of our leaders to give official status to the Jamaican language — the need for economic development — is both flaccid and laughable. I’d be much more interested in a frontal acceptance of the colonially ingrained and long-held biases towards Jamaican patois among those who use it to secure their ticket to Parliament only to scoff at its value once they feel their space is secure. At least I’d be dealing with less intellectual dishonesty on this matter.

The fact of the matter is that research from as far back as 2005 shows that the majority of Jamaicans speak either patois or standard English and a majority of them are interested in seeing the Jamaican language being given official status.

Our concerns about the perfection of the English language by our people are not thwarted by the advocacy for patois’s full recognition but, instead, is helped by it. Have our leaders ever considered that the reason people do not perfect standard Jamaican English is because there are no State sanctioned and institutionalised set of rules about where standard Jamaican English starts and patois ends, leading to several people ineffectually and unconsciously mixing the two?

The suggestions to teach standard Jamaican English as a second language has fallen on deaf ears, only to have, year after year, the national pass rate for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) English language show that the commitment to the current status quo leaves us wanting.

Much and more can be said about the impact that the current biases against the Jamaican language has in several areas of life, including access to justice for certain Jamaicans. But raising these concerns — regardless of the language in which it is raised — would fall on deaf ears because of this curious positioning of economic development as distinct from social development.

Our culture — including our language — has obvious economic potential, but that is sidelined for the idea that the main (read only) way we can grow economically as a society is by prepping our populace to say, “How may I assist you?” to North Americans.

Glenroy Murray

Executive director (Interim)

Equality for All Foundation Jamaica Ltd

glenroy@equalityjamaica.org