Let Us Talk

The Bahamas, formerly a member of the British Commonwealth, gained full independence in 1973. But as Dwarka Ramphal, Ed.D., points out in Let Us Talk, the public educational system of the Bahamas still regularly "imports" teachers from Great Britain to teach in its public Schools. The age of colonialism may have ended, but the tyranny of language still exists.

Like the Cockneys, who are strictly of the working class, Bahamians who speak English with a distinct Bahamian accent belong to the lower rungs of society. In Let Us Talk, Ramphal asks, Is there such a thing as standard as English? Should one's grammatical literacy rates become the measure of success of individuals and social groups?

The author thinks not. In his words, "Nature makes no linguistic distinction between the rich and the poor or between geographical locations. It is we, with our concepts of development, our inherent discrimination and prejudice and selfish desires to manipulate the lives of other people, that assign linguistic abilities into prejudicial categories."

Let Us Talk succeeds in taking us one step closer to a society where "verbal class distinctions" do not exist.