Cajun Bashing...or Not
kikers
I am a 31 year old Texan living in Houston. My mother is Cajun and I grew up exposed to
Cajun culture that existed in the small rice-farming communities of Jefferson and
Chambers County, Texas where my grandparents lived. In addition, I try to read as much
as I can about Cajun history and culture. I make a good attempt to "know where I come
from."
There is one area where I am unsure of how I'm supposed to feel or what I'm supposed to
do: how to react when somebody derides Cajuns. I work in the oil industry which
involves sending crews to LA and employing LA folks as well. After a trip to New Iberia
or Cameron, I hear some less-than-flattering comments about Cajuns from the work crews.
When one of our Cajun employees turned in some less than satisfactory work, the
operations guy said "he's a coonass, what did you expect." This same guy even made the
sociological observation that "Coonasses are the ultimate rednecks." What a put-down!
Oh, the guy is from Philadelphia, I should mention.
My point is, in this age of PC, there are some groups you are not suppose to speak ill
of. This causes other groups to take an inordinate brunt from the social neanderthals
who inhabit the offices, factories, and jobsites. Folks whisper when using the words
'nigger', 'wetback', or 'faggot' (at least they do in Houston), but will say coonass
without dropping a decibel.
So what should I do? Should I be angry. My grandparents never let stuff like that get
to them. They never went and got a lawyer because someone was creating a 'hostile
environment', so it is not my first thought. Should I let it pass, or should I say
something. Your thoughts please.
Aaron Kiker
Houston
Bob McBride
I have always taken a rather pragmatic view of the use of the term "coonass". When it is
used as you have described I have never let the occasion pass without letting the person
know that it is unacceptable language, in no uncertain terms. They frequently don't like
being told but that encourages them to be more careful in its use. It is pointless to try
and disprove their characterization since this is an impossible task. They ultimately have
to convince themselves that being "cajun" is not different from any other ethnic group and
does not imply any intrinsic negative values. It should not go without saying, however,
that every ethnic group, has cultural values and practices which are not universally
acceptable in society and this certainly also includes cajuns as well as blacks, italians,
irish, etc.
The term is frequently used by someone who is not of "cajun" background in a good natured
way and I almost never take serious exception but frequently point out that the term "cajun"
is acceptable but that they should be very careful about where and with whom they use the
term "coonass". I believe it is a derogatory term invented by Texans during the early
period of the oil industry and is in general no more acceptable than the term "nigger" is in
the black community. It is interesting to note that several prominent blacks were
discussing this issue (I believe one of them may have been Oprah) and noted that there are
instances where two blacks may use the term "nigger" in discussions with one another but
they don't view any circumstance where it is acceptable for the term to be used by a white
person.
Finally, I recall one occasion about 45 years ago when I was working as an instrument man on
a field survey party. The party chief was a "red neck" from N. Louisiana and one of our
chainmen was a farmer from around Kaplan. The guy from Kaplan was a typical "cajun", a
wonderful person with a great sense of humor, etc. One day the party chief said something
to him that was demeaning or derogatory, I don't recall exactly what it was, but the guy
from Kaplan was so mad that I think he could have killed the party chief with no
reservations. It took me a couple of hours talking to him to get him calmed down and things
went OK but far from smoothly after that.
Long winded but I couldn't resist providing my 2 cents worth. By the way, I have lived in
Texas for the past 30+ years and can assure you that there are as many, in not more, things
that Texans and hispanics have to say grace over as there are for the cajuns.
Bob McBride
Darrel Toepfer
Next time tell him, "I resemble that remark, my mother is Cajun so that
makes me Cajun."
--
kikers <aki...@flash.net> wrote in article <3431BE...@flash.net>...
Marc David
You raise an interesting question, Aaron. You should know that while
the folks from your grandparent's generation may have put up with the
derision, someone from the next generation decided not to. In 1980,
Calvin Roach sued Dresser Industries for firing him, claiming that
they did so because he complained about his supervisor continually
referring to him as a 'coonass' (Roach's mother was a Leger). He won,
so there is a legal precedent for defining the use of 'coonass' as
derogatory speech.
One of the interesting things about the term 'coonass' in my opinion
is the way in which many people of French origin in south Louisiana
use it to refer to themselves, often to the point that the word
'Cajun' is not even in their vocabularies. This is a purely
subjective observation, based on my experience over the years with
friends and family (and one that I'd be interested to hear what others
think of). Obviously, the situation in a place like Gueydan or
Lafayette or Eunice is somewhat different from East Texas in general
or Houston in particular. In the former, Cajuns are something of a
demographic majority, and some of the sting that the word used to hold
has diminished. In part, I think, this is because plenty of Cajuns
have moved into the middle class, become teachers, nurses, managers,
lawyers, elected officials, etc, etc, and their increased presence in
the public sphere makes it less possible for non-Cajuns to throw the
word around loosely. This opens a space for Cajuns to re-appropriate
the word as a term of endearment for use among themselves; perhaps
there are parallels here with 'nigger' among African-americans, 'dego'
among Italian-americans, etc.
What I wonder about is if their are other reasons why 'coonass'
remains a popular word among (certain) Cajuns. Many of the projects
and activities that seek to increase the consciousness of a Cajun or
Acadian ethnic identity (I'm thinking here about festivals, fairs, and
organizations both public and non-profit) have made a strong effort to
"clean up" some of the rough edges of popular cultural practices.
That is, in an attempt to make, for example, the music or the Mardi
Gras more palatable to mainstream tastes, styles and practices are
codified and purified (e.g., Riley and the Mamou Playboys play Cajun
music, but Wayne Toups doesn't).
Another good example that speaks directly to this question of using
'coonass' was the law passed by the LA legislature in the early 1980s
to outlaw the sale of products that employed the 'C' word (you may be
too young to remember the 'Registered Coonass Association' bumper
stickers and t-shirts at which this was partly aimed). My point is
that as a result, 'Cajun' culture and identity ends up being defined
as a set of practices and attitudes that corresponds to particular
middle-class notions of respectability, upward mobility and 'family
values.' The (from the middle-class point of view) less polished,
slightly vulgar practices are leftover as 'coonass' culture.
The question I want to ask then is, "Do some people prefer 'coonass'
over 'Cajun' because they can't find anything in these sanitized
versions of Cajun identity with which to identify?" If the answer is
yes, then the fact that 'coonass' remains in circulation as a term
used to classify people is not just because some outsiders still
invoke it as an epithet. It may also be a matter of setting off
different styles and practices among Cajuns themselves.
In which case, Aaron, if you wanted to have 'coonass' disappear as
part of the ethnic vocabulary, it's not only the 'maudits cous-rouge'
that you would have to address.
I'd love to hear more about your experience in East Texas.
Soigne-toi. Marc David
Marc David
Marc David
kikers
My grandparents moved to East Texas before WWII. The rice farming communities of
Hamshire, Fannett, Winnie, and LaBelle are only a few of the small towns in SE TX in
which the Heberts outnumber the Smiths. I never heard my grandparents use either the
term coonass or Cajun. People like them were simply referred to as 'French' or 'French
people'.
Both of my grandfathers were rice farmers. My father's family is not Cajun, though and
I learned early-on that there was a difference in the two families. My father's family
was more formal with youngsters addressing everyone properly, while my mother's family
(Royer) seemed to be more laid back with a lot more laughing, jokes, drinking, etc.
Sadly, I also detected a certain condescending attitude by my father when speaking of my
mother's family.
My father was in agribusiness and we were transferred often. Sometimes we would live
far away from Southeast Texas. When my grandmother would come and visit, I would have
to explain that no, she was not from a foreign country or what she had cooking in the
pot. I began to feel fortunate when the other kids said thet their grandmas didn't cook
okra gumbo or pa-pa dieux (a French toast), etc.
My natural interest in reading led me to read books about the Acadians. Of course I
read about Longfellow's poem and how popular it was. It was quite a feeling to find out
that Cajuns had very little to be ashamed and very much to be proud of. My
grandparents, Clovis and Ola Royer, didn't have much. They were illiterate, but they
had more class than many people I know. They loved life, and as far as I know, tried to
love everyone they came in contact with. We should think about that as we're speeding
through life with our pagers, cell phones, and 200-channel satellite dishes.
So, rather than anger, I simply feel a bit of pity for people like that guy at work, or
my childhood friends who insisted that my grandma wasn't an American because "Americans
don't talk like that". I simply say to myself "You'll never understand...and that's too
bad for you."
Regards,
A.P. Kiker
Nunzio Bidness
interesting thread. i hold in my hand the doug kershaw lp "the cajun
way" which has an intro written by johnny cash on the back. he ends by
saying "get ready for him this time world, my Coon-ass friend has
arrived. used to know a guy who used that term about himself and his
ppl all da time and it never seemed derogatory. did'nt know it was
such a touchy woid.