Race/racism and the late Prof. Frederic G. Cassidy

[Beverly Flanigan]

I forgot to mention what is perhaps obvious: Fred's father's Canadian
English would not have been British either, and it probably sounded less
"British" than his mother's Jamaican English (I'm not referring to Creole,
of course).  Incidentally, I was always under the impression Fred was
"mixed," since I first met him in 1978 or so.  (I actually got a letter
from him in 1960, telling me he had no more financial aid for me at
Wisconsin--so I went to St. Louis U instead; but I still have his lovely
letter!)   As someone else pointed out, the "Black" majority in Jamaica
comes in all shades.

One more incidentally: If you see "The Harder They Come," you'll note that
the film starts out with English subtitles for the Creole dialogue and then
drops them about halfway through on the assumption that the audience will
have caught on to the "Patois" by then--not always a safe assumption!

-----------------
It's common for many Jamaicans to speak both Standard Jamaican English
(SJE)--which is not really "British" English but sounds closer to it than
to American English--and Jamaican Creole (JC).  The schools teach SJE, but
the vernacular of most people is JC, especially young people in their peer
groups; a varied continuum exists between the two.  I suspect this is what
is meant in the passage below.

At 09:03 PM 11/1/2006, you wrote:
>On the web I find a memorial resolution of the University of Wisconsin
>faculty containing the following information:
>
>"Cassidy's interest in Creole English came naturally enough -- he was born
>in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1907, to a Canadian father and a Jamaican mother.
>He grew up hearing their two varieties of standard British English and the
>Creole variety of the Black majority as well."
>
>I'm not certain how to interpret this, but it sounds like his mother was
>Jamaican but not a member of the Black majority.
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>
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