Volapuk in Manhattan

In 1896 an aide to the mayor of New York City wrote: “In some districts one scarcely hears a word of English spoken; where the mode of living is repugnant to every American idea. The best interests of the city demand that children of such a population be brought under American influences and instruction.”

Eheu fugaces, indeed. “American” influences in Manhattan? Your friendly supermarket checker, an ex-Yugoslav, exchanges the time of day with an exBrazilian stock boy who speaks black English got from the Shirelles. It is not unlike World Cup Tennis, wherein Nastase, a Rumanian, speaks Italian with Vilas, an Argentinian. In upper, as well as lower, Manhattan these days the basic lingua franca is no longer English, or even echt American. This tongue is now effete and contaminated, an agent of colonialism to be despised in high schools (though used, it seems, by Richard Wright, Alex Haley, and James

GW

About the Author

Geoffrey Wagner

In 1896 an aide to the mayor of New York City wrote: “In some districts one scarcely hears a word of English spoken; where the mode of living is repugnant to every American idea. The best interests of the city demand that children of such a population be brought under American influences and instruction.”

Eheu fugaces, indeed. “American” influences in Manhattan? Your friendly supermarket checker, an ex-Yugoslav, exchanges the time of day with an exBrazilian stock boy who speaks black English got from the Shirelles. It is not unlike World Cup Tennis, wherein Nastase, a Rumanian, speaks Italian with Vilas, an Argentinian. In upper, as well as lower, Manhattan these days the basic lingua franca is no longer English, or even echt American. This tongue is now effete and contaminated, an agent of colonialism to be despised in high schools (though used, it seems, by Richard Wright, Alex Haley, and James