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Dear Asteur,
I was personally very offended by statements made in the article Cajun French is NOT ok; c'est Magnifique! by Chantal K. Saucier which ran in your publication. Saucier insulted me, my family and my heritage by suggesting that statements made in my Times of Acadiana article, "The Travels of Magellan Breaux," were somehow denigrating to Cajuns and/or the beautiful language that is Cajun French. The one sentence she did pick to focus on was pulled totally out of context from an article that was actually a celebration of the beauty and worldwide appeal of Cajun music.
I was also dumbfounded to be characterized as a some sort of emissary of the "Anglo" media. How dare she! While I may not have been whipped into simpering submission for speaking French, both of my grandparents spoke French often as I was growing up. While my last name may indeed be Caffery, I have an equal amount of Martin and Angers blood from my mother's family. I also count some of the staunchest supporters of the preservation of Cajun French, such as Warren Perrin of CODOFIL, the writer Herman Fuselier (who praised me for the very article Saucier condemns), Christine Balfa of Louisiana Folk Roots and Balfa Toujours and Mark and Ann Savoy, among my personal friends.
While I don't go about posturing as some sort of intercontinental Acadian sage and cultural watchdog, as Miss Saucier makes herself out to be in this article, I am proud of my Cajun heritage. I am moved by Cajun music in a way no other music has ever moved me. These songs talk about bayous I have fished in, food I love and women I wish I could have met and they affect me in a way I doubt Miss Saucier can fathom.
Saucier's comments are a perfect example of the very kind of irresponsible denigrations she so narrowly addresses in this article. She shows herself to be yet another example of someone coming to Southern Louisiana, having no clue what (or in this case who) she is talking about, and subsequently, getting it all wrong.
Her manipulation of the content of my article, not to mention her shabby prose and her characterization of Cajuns as meek individuals ashamed of their language, is an insult not only to me, my family and my heritage, but to the written word in general.
Her work sheds an ill light on what is usually a noble and worthy publication.
Josh Caffery
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