The Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture's article on the
French language in Lousiana, the only American state to
belong to la francophonie, seems quite accurate to me.
During the nineteenth century, most Cajuns spoke only Cajun French, which frequently irritated Anglo-American observers. As one New Yorker noted on a visit to south Louisiana during the 1860s, the Cajuns were "unable to speak the English language, or convey an intelligent idea in the national tongue." Even those non-Cajuns who appreciated standard French frowned on Cajun French as inferior. For example, in 1880 a Chicago Times reporter on assignment in Iberia Parish stated that "The educated people speak the bona fide Parisian, but the ‘Cagin’ [sic] patois is deemed good enough for 'the low-down folks.’ . . ." Census data indicates that about eight-five percent of Cajuns born between 1906 and 1910 spoke French as their primary language. In 1916, however, the state board of education banned the use of French in public classrooms; in 1921 legislators confirmed the ban in a new state constitution. As a result, many educators subjected Cajun students to humiliating punishments for daring to speak their traditional language at school. In addition, twentieth-century Cajuns were increasingly exposed to powerful Americanizing forces (such as compulsory military service, radio and television, the coming of interstate highways and "the jet age," and so on). Because of these factors, the percentage of Cajuns speaking French as a first language dropped considerably, particularly after 1940. Today few young Cajuns speak French: of those born between 1976 and 1980, for instance, slightly less than nine percent speak French as a first language.
The
Louisiana Creoles went through a similar process of Anglicization. French, it seems certain, is not very likely at all to recover--Francophone minorities in western Canada may well be in better shape.
What happened? Louisiana French did seem to have some advantages at the start. Unlike more sparsely populated
Upper Louisiana, the core areas of French settlement in what is now the south of the State of Louisiana had accumulated a large Francophone population, composed of
Cajuns and
Louisiana Creoles, the second group including both whites and blacks. Even after Louisiana's sale to the Untied States, Louisiana retained a dynamic Francophone culture well into the 19th century--Degas spent
no little amount of time in New Orleans, for instance, Kate Chopin was
strongly interested in the stories of Maupassant, and generations before the Harlem Renaissance, free blacks in New Orleans composed a
vibrant literature. Unfortunately, the dynamics of assimilation described in Carl L. Bankston III and Jacques M. Henry's 1998 paper in the
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,
"The Silence of the Gators: Cajun Ethnicity and Intergenerational Transmission of Louisiana French" (PDF format), ended up prevailing.
[I]n a movement which accelerated after the Civil War, wealthy Acadian landowners assimilated to the white Creole or American society, while small farmers, labourers and craftsmen of Acadian extraction retained their French culture, low status and Cajun label (Dormon, 1983). This was the basis for the stereotype of the marginal, poor and uneducated Cajun which endured through most of the 20th century. The industrialisation and urbanisation of Louisiana in the 1930s was accompanied by the rapid assimilation of Cajuns into the American way: in a three-generation span, English became their first language, traditional farming and fishing occupations gave way to jobs in the oil-and-gas industry and manufacturing, and a kinship- and neighbourhood- based way of life was transformed by modern amenities in communication, transportation and leisure.
Shifting demographics also played a role in ensuring the assimilation of Creoles.
With imported furniture, wines, books, and clothes, white Creoles were once immersed in a completely French atmosphere. Part of Creole social life has traditionally centered on the French Opera House; from 1859 to 1919, it was the place for sumptuous gatherings and glittering receptions. The interior, graced by curved balconies and open boxes of architectural beauty, seated 805 people. Creoles loved the music and delighted in attendance as the operas were great social and cultural affairs.
White Creoles clung to their individualistic way of life, frowned upon intermarriage with Anglo-Americans, refused to learn English, and were resentful and contemptuous of Protestants, whom they considered irreligious and wicked. Creoles generally succeeded in remaining separate in the rural sections but they steadily lost ground in New Orleans. In 1803, there were seven Creoles to every Anglo-American in New Orleans, but these figures dwindled to two to one by 1830.
Anglo-Americans reacted by disliking the Creoles with equal enthusiasm. Gradually, New Orleans became not one city, but two. Canal Street split them apart, dividing the old Creole city from the "uptown" section where the other Americans quickly settled. Tcross Canal Street in either direction was to enter another world. These differences are still noticeable today.
Finally, Creoles, unlike the Cajuns who were istanced from the sources of power, were even politically important, but even this involvement in state affairs worked to the disadvantage of French.
When the Constitutional Convention of 1811 met at New Orleans, 26 of its 43 members were Creoles. During the first few years of statehood, native Creoles were not particularly interested in national politics and the newly arrived Americans were far too busy securing an economic basis to seriously care much about political problems. Many Creoles were still suspicious of the American system and were prejudiced against it.
Until the election of 1834, the paramount issue in state elections was whether the candidate was Creole or Anglo-American. Throughout this period, many English-speaking Americans believed that Creoles were opposed to development and progress, while the Creoles considered other Americans radical in their political ideas. Since then, Creoles have actively participated in American politics; they have learned English to ease this process. In fact, Creoles of color have dominated New Orleans politics since the 1977 election of Ernest "Dutch" Morial as mayor. He was followed in office by Sidney Bartholemey and then by his son, Marc Morial.
From 1864 on, the state constitution imposed by the post-Civil War reconstruction regime
explicitly removed prior commitments to French, particularly the requirement of state officials to be bilingual.
Efforts late in the 20th century to
revive French, again seem doomed in the face of the numerous forces eroding French. The picture painted by Allard and Landry's 1996 paper
"French in South Louisiana- Towards Language Loss" in English, and by reinforced by
Jacques Leclerc's survey of Louisiana's linguistic and legal structures on French, confirm that French may not even survive this generation. Louisiana will likely become, past aside, as Francophone as fellow
francophonie member-state Lithuania.
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