I owe, I owe, so off to class I go…

"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going." — Rita Mae Brown

So we’ve all heard – and perhaps weighed in on – the Browne Administration's decision to make Spanish the official second language of Antigua and Barbuda. Personally, I put little stock in the Government’s capacity to implement this national change, given that – five years after Sir Lester Bird's passing – Mount St John’s Medical Centre is still officially named Mount St John’s Medical Centre, on signage and stationery.

But, as the quote above states, language is a culture’s road map. And as I wait to see whether Español will become oficiale before the “Sir Rupert Philo Highway” materializes, my question is: In which direction is our culture headed?

As I’m writing this column, today Tuesday, the latest amnesty legislation is probably being debated in Parliament; and we will soon find out what new measures the Administration will introduce – whether as a quid pro quo election settlement or as a genuine move to fill a legitimate need.

What I do know is that, at this time internationally, amnesty, migration, and cultural assimilation are very sensitive and even dangerous issues.  Therefore, I’m curious to know how, locally, the Administration intends to manage the process.

It is a subject most people tiptoe around or discuss only in private; but many Antiguans are beginning to feel marginalized, as if “Ah yah me born” no longer matters.  And don’t talk about the Barbudans! They’ve discovered that the adjective used by the prime minister some years ago was actually a prediction, as his goal really is to make them a deracinated people.  

So, how will the Administration settle matters related to the expectations of the ancestral children and the native-born?  For instance: Will “citizenship” now supersede “nationality?”  Will job-seekers already fluent in both English and our vernacular be considered less qualified than those who can “make love in Spanish?”  Will landlords be required to issue leases and businesses to print application forms in Spanish?

And the Lebanese – domiciled here since the late 19^th century – and the Syrian communities, both of whom have functioned as the Government’s alternative purse: How do they feel about all this?

What about the thing we identify as “culture?” On local menus, must arroz con pollo sit alongside cook-up rice and mofongo next to fungie?  And while calypso loses a leg and soca limps along, will salsa and merengue be promoted as alternatives by the Festivals Office?  And where would Cultural Ambassador Masicka fit in? 

Having been an immigrant, myself, and a double minority at that, I was expected to conform to the country I then called home. And had I applied for citizenship, I understood that I would have had to prove proficiency in English and in civics (both US history and government). 

But here, apparently, an applicant need not know the difference between Cedar Hill and Cedar Grove, nor their locations.  The genre of benna can remain a mystery; Quarkoo might simply be the sound one makes to clear the throat; and “two woman cussing on Greenbay Hill” would never be recognized as a cultural touchstone.

They do not know the history of these islands: not the poverty of picking cotton nor the tyranny of king sugar; not the birth of the trade unions nor the significance of the Popeshead Street stone; not the uniqueness of Big Church nor even the legend of Brother Connie… .

No need. Gut the legislation, send the money, and don’t even come. We’ll deliver citizenship and passport, never mind your never having heard of V.C. Bird, except as an airport, and not knowing that Andy played Test cricket before Vivi did.

But getting back to language:  A couple nights ago, following a professional wrestling match on the White House lawn, a buffoon verbally insulted former First Lady Michelle Obama in front of US President Donald Trump and his wife – neither of whom said a word of reproof nor of distance.

This was very instructive, because “language” is more than what you say and how you say it. It conveys values, such as respect and esteem, and demonstrates how a leader sees his people; how he regards gender; and what he perceives his own role to be.

And so, when the disrespect of Michelle Obama was tacitly approved, it sent a message to Black women and, by extension, to all women.  And when the prime minister here was the first out the gate to disparage a female senator – not for any crime she has committed – while he, himself, lives in a house of glass, a message was delivered here, too.

Would that, instead of usurping English – the international language of both business and diplomacy – as our official second language, the Cabinet would impart, by example, the lessons of civility, couth, and grace.  Because, as our elders taught those of us who were paying attention: “Manners and respect will carry you through the world.”   

Spanish, meanwhile, may carry you only through an election.