Presque Isle is located in Central Aroostook County, in northern Maine. (Note: The real northern Maine, not Bangor!) It is not as heavily Franco-American as are the towns further north, but there are still quite a few residents with Acadian roots who speak French as a first language. They are nice people, but I am often frustrated with them because they cannot seem to grasp the concept that a relatively young person thinks French is worth keeping alive!
Most of these people are in their sixties, seventies, or eighties, and virtually all of them have white hair or a full head of gray. They speak French among themselves much of the time. They will not speak French to me, however, unless I PUSH THE ISSUE. I will be fifty in three years. But to these longtime senior citizens, I will always be a little kid because most of my hair is still dark brown and my voice still sounds young. Apparently, they think they are "saving a young kid" from a painful existence by speaking to me only in English.
The result is that they address me in English that's often broken, and God forgive me, but I find this both degrading and irritating. Broken English with a heavy French accent is an overexploited stereotype around here, and their insistence on addressing me this way does nothing to help the situation. I grew up with French at home too, and I think it makes far more sense for us to speak to one another in the language we all heard at home growing up, instead of promoting an old and insulting stereotype by making use of a brand of English that doesn't even sound truly Anglophone. Which is better? Speaking two languages well, or speaking only one language and speaking it poorly? Tourism is one of Maine's biggest industries, and many of our visitors come from Canada or Europe. Picture advertisements that read like this: Our young people can't speak French anymore, but come listen to their delightful imitation of the accent! It's awesome! Do you think that would go over well?
I realize that Franco-Americans in Maine have had it rough in this area since at least the eighteenth century. There is a long history of discrimination against Franco-Americans here, both in school and at work, and the Ku Klux Klan pushed for laws and policies that were both heavy-handed and cruel. Those laws and policies have harmed Franco-Americans on many different levels, and it would be both dishonest and insensitive to deny this. Still, those laws and policies have now been lifted, and I don't think it's a good idea for the French in this area to throw in the towel and allow hate groups like the KKK to win the war. That is exactly what will happen if the young do not learn to speak French. The Klan will win.
That is why I refuse to speak English to these elderly people who think they are "saving a young child." I don't want to be saved. I think the language should be saved instead. We live near the Canadian border. The French language and French-Canadian culture are not far away from here. It's not a good idea to raise the young unilingually in an area close to an international border. It doesn't make sense, culturally or economically. Donc, j'ai encore des cheveux bruns, mais je ne suis pas unilingue! Je vous encourage d'y penser, car si on n'y pense pas, on va finir, tôt ou tard, par le regretter..
