Language feud over Creole and French roils the tiny island of Guadeloupe

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A language feud has erupted on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe , fanning deep resentments over colonialism and perceived racism and classism.

The island’s prefect, Thierry Devimeux, who is white and took up the post in September 2025, recently accused a Black fisherman of being disrespectful by talking to him in Creole. The exchange that occurred Monday was caught on camera and sparked outrage on social media this week.

“What right does he have to tell a native — someone who represents the struggle and their fellow countrymen in their own land — not to speak their native language ? It is a language that was long suppressed but is nothing to be ashamed of; telling someone not to speak it is an insult to our country,” one person wrote on Instagram.

French is Guadeloupe’s official language, but Creole is widely spoken on the island of more than 370,000 people, the majority of whom are Black.

It’s a language created by slaves who melded their original tongues with those of European plantation owners. It later incorporated Hindi words used by indentured workers from India who were brought to the eastern Caribbean.

The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures recognized what it called “the difficult coexistence between Creole and French, that is to say, between a stigmatized language and a prestigious language.”

A white French clergyman in the mid-1700s who traveled to the Caribbean described it as a “corrupted language” and referred to it as “gibberish.”

But Creole persisted and pride in it grew. In the 1990s, there was a push to teach regional languages at schools in the eastern Caribbean and offer university degrees in them as officials fought to preserve and promote the centuries-old language and its variations.

But not everyone speaks it.

During Monday’s exchange with a group of Black fishermen in the coastal town of Sainte-Rose, Devimeux told one of them: “If you speak Creole, it is disrespectful to me.”

The unidentified fisherman responded: “It is our Guadeloupean heritage.”

Devimeux then said: “Yes, but I don’t speak Creole, so speak to me in French.”

The prefect has since publicly apologized.

In a video posted on X late Tuesday, Devimeux asked for forgiveness for making what he called an “unfortunate” and “clumsy” remark while meeting with fishermen he said were facing a difficult situation related to their livelihood.

“My intention was to understand the realities and challenges they are facing — and above all, the nuances of the discussion — but I failed to fully grasp them,” Devimeux said. “As you know, since arriving in Guadeloupe, I have frequently gone out into the field to meet the people here — to understand their realities and challenges, and to identify the territory’s strengths — so that I can tailor the state’s public policies to Guadeloupe’s future. I am truly sorry.”

Despite the apology, anger persists.

One social media user posted the following: “Creole is not background noise to be cut off when an authority figure arrives. It is not a ‘kitchen language’ to be left at home. It is not an act of insolence, let alone a provocation.”

Another person questioned how it’s possible for a prefect not to speak the language of the island he’s supposed to represent: “Even if you don’t speak it, at least understand it.”

An estimated 15 million people across the Caribbean speak some form of Creole.

In Haiti , Haitian Creole is recognized as an official language along with French, and in Dominica, Kwéyòl is being taught at school.

One key supporter in the fight to preserve and teach Creole was Jean Bernabé, a linguist and writer from nearby Martinique . He wrote school books on Creole, pushed for the independence of French overseas departments and is known for helping pen a 1989 essay titled “In Praise of Creoleness” along with Martinican writers Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphaël Confiant.

“Creoleness is an annihilation of false universality, of monolingualism, and of purity,” they wrote. “Creoleness is our primitive soup and our continuation, our primeval chaos and our mangrove swamp of virtualities.”

They noted that Creole orality was devoted to survival as they criticized the repression of it.

The essay also gave a nod to a Haitian proverb: “Palé fransé pa vlé di lespri,” or “Speaking French is no proof of intelligence.”

“We made the French language ours,” the Martinican authors wrote. “We extended the meaning of some of its words, deviated others. And changed many. We enriched the French language, its vocabulary as well as its syntax. We preserved many of its words which were no longer used. In short, we inhabited it.”