Eh Braddah, Howzit?! No, that’s not a massive typo; it’s a greeting in Hawaiian Pidgin English. Different from the Native Hawaiian language, Hawaiian Pidgin English developed as a result of Hawai’i becoming a melting pot of immigrant populations; Chinese, Portuguese, and Filipino immigrants created a means of communication with one another, as well as with Native Hawaiian peoples, by creating a Creole language of their own (Roberts 1998). Many immigrants arrived in order to work in plantations, which demanded a great deal of laborers after becoming monetized by American missionaries. Because of the imbalanced power dynamic that then erupted, and because of the rich history of immigration behind the creation of this language, I believe that it is important to remain conscious of our attitudes and behaviors towards speakers of Hawaiian Pidgin English. Furthermore, I believe it is essential to be conscious of societal and personal attitudes towards speakers of any dialect that has origins in cultures of outrightly imbalanced social power, forced labor, immigration, and/or colonization.
Throughout history, discriminatory language practices have found their place in the workplace, in educational institutions, in social interactions, and in society at large. Language discrimination, however, is often viewed as an excusable practice, separate from outright prejudice or racism. Of course, this is a false belief that allows harmful behaviors to be perpetuated in the name of speech ‘correctness’ and clear communication. Oftentimes, these behaviors are actually perpetuating dangerous race relations. Take for example AAVE (African American Vernacular English) and how it has historically been degraded and rejected by speakers of SAE (Standard American English). Not only does this rejection deem a specific dialect as inferior, but it necessarily demeans the speakers of the dialect, as well. A similar practice can be observed in the colonization of the Hawaiian islands, during which the Native Hawaiian language was outlawed and prohibited from being taught in schools (Nordstrom 2015). This practice reflects the colonization and oppression of Native Hawaiian peoples, and though it happened in the past, the modern dialect of Hawaiian Pidgin English is often treated in a manner similar to that of AAVE and Native Hawaiian: it is perceived as inferior in intelligence and in clarity to SAE (Reinecke). Furthermore, similar to the historical discussion of whether to integrate or to ban Ebonics in the American education system, there is a current debate about the place of Hawaiian Pidgin English in the classroom and in the workplace (Young 2002). Therefore, I want to examine attitudes in the continental U.S. and throughout the Hawaiian islands surrounding the presumed intelligence and work ethic–among myriad other qualities– of a speaker of the Hawaiian Pidgin dialect.
In my own study, I am aiming to reveal general social attitudes towards speakers of this particular dialect so as to observe and exhibit the various ideas that folks hold about speakers of this language, thereby potentially exposing a perpetuation of historical colonialism. I want to study the attitudes among younger people, specifically ages 11-13, evaluating their stigmas surrounding Hawaiian Pidgin English-speakers. For many people in the continental U.S., exposure to this dialect is available primarily in movie-watching–and usually in the form of a character who isn’t the smartest or most motivated (ie, “50 First Dates”). Therefore, I am going to conduct a study that evaluates attitudes of kids who were born and raised in the continental U.S. (likely midwest states) and compare these attitudes to those of kids who were born and raised in Hawai’i. The latter group is more likely to know or associate with real-life speakers of the language, which means they’re likely to judge speakers off of more than what they’ve seen in movies or media. These different levels of exposure inevitably contribute to the ideas that kids form surrounding the language and its speakers.
The superiority complex of the speaker of a widely-accepted dialect such as SAE upholds a dangerous dynamic of belonging versus foreign, intelligent versus uneducated, normal versus stigmatized, and other such ostracizing and demoralizing polarities. In 2015, Hawaiian Pidgin English was officially declared a language by the U.S. Census Bureau, which was a big step in paying back the culture a piece of its historically muddled identity. However, folks today are still refused jobs for speaking this language, and/or for having Hawaiian accents. There are still widely accepted ideals about such an accent or dialect as being inferior to SAE. In fact, in 1999, the then-Chairman of the Board of Education in Hawai’i blamed Hawaiian Creole for “poor scores on national standardized writing test scores among public school students” (Yokota 2008). This claim supports and perpetuates ideas that Hawaiian Pidgin English and its speakers are of inferior intelligence, and it ultimately rejects Hawaiian Pidgin/Creole as a legitimate language. I believe that it is important to survey modern attitudes towards this language so that we might call attention to the practice of linguistic discrimination, and hopefully influence and improve some social attitudes. While linguistic discrimination may seem based in comprehension or correctness, it is oftentimes (even if subconsciously) based in the discrimination of marginalized groups, which is why it is essential that we confront the issue.
Works cited:
Nordstrom, Georganne. “Pidgin as Rhetorical Sovereignty: Articulating Indigenous and Minority Rhetorical Practices with the Language Politics of Place.” Vol. 77, no. 4, 2015, pp. 317–337., www.jstor.org/stable/24240051. Accessed 11 May 2019.
Reinecke, John E. “Pidgin English in Hawaii: A Local Study in the Sociology of Language.” Vol. 43, no. 5, 1938, pp. 778-789., www.jstor.org/stable/2768923. Accessed 11 May 2019.
Roberts, Sarah Julianne. “The Role of Diffusion in the Genesis of Hawaiian Creole.” Vol. 74, no. 1, 1998, pp. 1–39. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/417563. Accessed 11 May 2019.
Young, Morris. “Standard English and Student Bodies: Institutionalizing Race and Literacy in Hawai’i.” Vol. 64, no. 4, 2002, pp. 405–431. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3250745. Accessed 11 May 2019.
Yokota, Thomas. “The ‘Pidgin Problem’: Attitudes about Hawai’i Creole.” Vol. 40, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 22-29. ERIC.ed.gov, EJ877774. Accessed 11 May 2019