John McWhorter in the New York Times:
In 2021, Mark McGowan, who was then the premier of Western Australia, made a video informing Aboriginal people about safety precautions during the Covid-19 pandemic. He stood next to an Aboriginal interpreter, who translated his statements into Kriol, the language many Aboriginal people in Australia speak. So, for instance, when McGowan said, “This is an important message to keep Aboriginal people safe,” it was followed by the interpreter saying, “Dijan message i proper important-one to keep-im everybody safe-one.”
Commentary in and out of Australia was mean, calling it racist and condescending for McGowan to have statements directed at Aboriginal people translated into mere baby talk. Typical was “This isn’t a mix of languages, this is just ignorant usage of English. Apparently saying this is ‘bad English’ is racist, but I guess I’m a racist because this is just bad English.”
The dust-up revealed that even in Australia, many people are unaware that Aboriginal people have transformed English into a new language entirely. To many people, the idea that Kriol is a legitimate form of speech is unfamiliar, and even absurd.
More here.
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