I've just noticed this story in Friday's South Wales Echo:
Assembly criticises parents in school row
Leaving to one side the fact that the SWE still wants to perpetuate confusion about the difference between the Welsh Government and the Assembly, the essence of the story is that a spokesman for the First Minister was trying to warn parents off supporting Cardiff Council in their intention to seek a judicial review over his refusal to allow their plans for schools reorganization in Canton.
Well, those parents did give their support for a judicial review, and fair play to them for not being warned off. I think there are good grounds for it, as I detailed in this post.
But I thought this quote was so specious that it deserved to be highlighted:
A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson said: "It is worth reminding this campaign that the First Minister sends his own children to a Welsh-medium school."
Crachach is a term that everybody in Wales instinctively understands, but is hard to define. My definition is that they are those who speak Welsh, make sure their own children are educated in Welsh ... but want to make it difficult for others to join their exclusive circle.
7 comments:
You are accusing Carwyn Jones of an intent to prevent others from accessing Welsh medium education.
That is almost certainly a libellous accusation. If you think it's true, put your real name to it instead of hiding behing a set of initials.
People have a right to face their accusers. They can't do that if their accusers are too cowardly to reveal themselves.
Crachach for me still refers to the would be 'petty gentry', who turned their backs on the Welsh language, and tried to affect the speech and manners of their 'Betters' from the English upper classes.
Unfortunately, the phenomenon persists today, and sometimes the members of this 'class' includes some Welsh speakers who think that they are superior in some way to lesser mortals, and act with great affectation. I would not put Carwyn in this category.
"Crachach" is best described as "hate speech" against those from a minority (i.e. Welsh-speaking) background who have the impunity not to be poor, and not to be bullied into giving up their own culture. We know it is hate speech because while it is used as a term of abuse to describe Welsh speakers living in £500K houses in, say, Pontcanna, there is no corresponding term for English speakers living in £500K houses in, eh, Pontcanna.
It is another example of Labour's continuing xenophobia on the WM education issue in west Cardiff.
You seem fairly confident about the veracity of your allegation.
So why won't you put your real name to it?
It's interesting to note, from Ian Titherington's blog that Lorraine Barrett has now weighed-in, berating parents who object to her party leader's decision.
A few weeks ago, the argument was being played out in the realm of party politics. Labour were saying it was Cardiff Council's fault ... all down to the LibDems and Plaid. That's par-for-the-course; the sort of party politics that we would expect. But what is sinister is that Labour are now turning to strong-arm tactics against parents who are protesting against the decision.
They seem now to be trying to make this into a "us and them" issue. They can't get it into their heads that ordinary, working class parents want their kids to be able to get into a WM school that has room for them and that doesn't involve a journey that's five times longer than the one their next door neighbours' children have to face.
If I cared about the Labour Party, I'd advise them to stop digging.
Crachach in term means Snobby Purist welsh speakers who look down at people who are not in their inner circle, people who would rather do things their own way. It has nothing to do with schooling or even where you live. There is more Crachach within the BBC, Welsh Assembly, Amgueddfa Cymru and certain Teachers in Welsh Schools. I am a fluent Welsh speaker, before I even spoke English, and I find the Crachach of this world arrogant as well as ignorant. They believe wholeheartedly that if you live in Wales and do not speak the language, then you have no place in certain circles. Most of these people in fairness are from Cardiff and the surrounding areas. It is rare that Crachach live in North Wales where people are a lot more down to earth.
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