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English, Economic Diversity and National Identity in Panama

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English, Economic Diversity and National Identity in Panama Linking Oceans: English, Economic Diversity and National Identity in Panama GEORGE PAKOZDI University of Toronto [email protected] 1.1 Introduction PANAMA’S UNIQUE HISTORY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES GIVES IT A UNIQUE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SITUATION—since at least the late 19th century English has been a prestige language, the language of business and international trade and yet for much of this time, Panamanian national identity was largely based around a deliberate rejection of the use of English in public life. The struggle for a unique Panamanian identity had the unfortunate side effect of ignoring the country’s multicultural reality and discriminating against ethnic, racial and linguistic minorities. Though progress has been made, these problems have unfortunately not been sufficiently amended. In the past two decades, American influence in Panama has largely receded. Since the American invasion and removal in 1989 of caudillo (strongman) Manuel Noriega, whom had initially been supported by but later ran afoul of the American administration, Panama has enjoyed free, internationally monitored elections. No longer are its leaders viewed as mere American puppets. As a consequence of this diminished influence, English has been freed of much of its earlier stigma; it is more widely taught and spoken than ever, and critical to the country’s finance-, trade- and tourism-based economy. A report published by the British Council in 2000 identifies Panama as a country in transition from EFL to L2 status (Graddol 2000, 11). Most post-secondary education in Panama is conducted in English. As Steven Humphries has found, Panamanian university and English-language instruction students expect studying in English to help them access wealth, prestige and power (Humphries 2005, 79). This paper provides a brief overview of the history of English in Panama, which is inextricably connected to the history of the Panama Canal and American commercial and military interests. It then examines the evolution of Panamanian national identity and nationalism, scrutinizing their relationship to and effect on English and English- speaking Panamanians. Two long-standing English-speaking groups are examined in detail: Afro-Panamanians in the province of Bocas del Toro, and Zonians, American expatriate canal workers. This paper also looks at the recent rise of tourism and English in Panama GEORGE PAKOZDI 2 residential tourism in Panama, probing the connection of these economic activities with English. It finds that, while English is no longer rejected as un-Panamanian, Panama has yet to adequately replace old models that define national identity as monolingual. English is used widely and effectively as a tool for assisting economic activity, including tourism. However, this wider embrace of English has not resulted in the removal of barriers between linguistically separated groups. Panama continues to be a country in which distinct and parallel communities coexist without fully embracing one another— English economic transactions have yet to resolve this essential separation. 1.2 Language Demographics Spanish is Panama’s sole official language. 90% of the country’s population is estimated to speak Spanish; there are also significant populations of speakers of English, Panamanian Creole English (PCE), indigenous languages (most notably Kuna and Ngäbere), Mandarin and Cantonese (DeChiccis). The Panamanian government does not compile accurate data for PCE, but a common estimate is roughly 100,000 speakers (Herzfeld 1982, 149). Speakers of PCE are Afro-Panamanian descendants of West Indian migrants, many of whom came to Panama as labourers on large-scale infrastructure projects like the canal. 2.1 History of English in Panama and American Involvement The history of English in Panama traces back to Scottish attempts to found a colony in the Darien region in the 17th century, which was later abandoned. English-speaking inhabitants arrived on a larger scale at the beginning of the 19th century, as English colonizers settled, with their slaves, in the sparsely populated Caribbean province of Bocas del Toro (Guerrón-Montero 2006 ‘Tourism’, 67-8). Slavery was outlawed in Panama in 1852. American interest began in the mid-19th century following the Mexican-American War (1848), which resulted in the expansion of the U.S. to the south and west, as well as the California Gold Rush (Conniff 2001, 15-16). These two related events greatly increased the incentive for the U.S. to establish an easy connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as cross-continent travel remained slow and hazardous. The Isthmus of Panama, thin and thousands of miles north of Cape Horn, offered the possibility of easy inter-ocean travel. While early cross-isthmus traversals were handled by wagon, an American company completed a railroad in 1855 (McWatters 2009, 59). This railroad attracted American immigration, as well as new diseases and often a sense of lawlessness commonly associated with the American frontier. McPherson argues that this pathological element of American immigration, combined with the prevalence of English in the railroad zone, contributed to an early climate of anti-American sentiment in Panama (McPherson 2003, 79). The idea of building a canal across the isthmus to allow ocean-to-ocean transit English in Panama GEORGE PAKOZDI 3 without the intermediary of a railroad had existed since the early 19th century. In the minds of the Panamanian elite, the canal, and the accompanying commercial prosperity it would bring, was inseparable from the hope for independence from Colombia (Szok 2001, 4). The prospect of an inter-ocean link was attractive to others as well, including the French, whose attempt to build a canal in the 1880s ultimately fell victim to engineering problems and poor management (Conniff 2001, 49). However, it was the Spanish-American War (1898-1902), marking the apex of the American imperial era, that pushed the U.S. inexorably towards the construction of the canal; the Treaty of Paris ending the conflict left the U.S. with new territories in Cuba, Puerto, Guam and the Philippines, cementing the need for easy passage between both American coasts and its Caribbean/Pacific empire (Philipson 2006). Thus, the commercial and imperial interests of the U.S. coincided with the Panamanian desire for independence. The American government offered financial and military support to the bloodless Panamanian revolution of 1903, as well as the promise of recognition for the sovereign state of Panama, which became a U.S. protectorate (Szok 2001, 1). Though this protectorate status was later amended, the Hay-Banau-Varilla treaty, which Panama was in a weak position to negotiate, awarded the U.S. perpetual ownership of the future Canal Zone; the treaty also gave the U.S. the right to host military bases in Panama and intervene militarily in order to protect its interests, a right that was exercised several times (Conniff 2001, 70). 2.2 Construction of the Canal; Gold and Silver Rolls The canal was constructed between 1904 and 1914. The Interoceanic Canal Company (ICC) was established to run the project. The labour force was primarily made up of black laborers hired from the West Indies, though Americans, Europeans, Indians and Chinese were also employed. Conniff estimates that between 150,000 and 200,000 West Indians migrated to Panama during the construction years, though the turnover rate was high and it is difficult to know for certain how many immigrated permanently (Conniff 1985, 29). The gold and silver payrolls—so named for the currency standards to which each were pegged—were an instrument of segregation and discrimination, creating a site of complex social, racial and linguistic tensions. The gold workers, mostly American, were not only paid better but also received more extensive benefits and lived in superior housing. Due to the preponderance of West Indians on the silver payroll, the term was often used synonymously or euphemistically for ‘black’. Though the payrolls were fluid at first, and it was possible for West Indians to move up to the gold payroll, the classifications gradually became more explicitly segregated, eventually resembling American Jim Crow laws, with restaurants and even drinking fountains segregated (Conniff 2001, 78). Complicating the gold/silver dynamics was the inclusion of Spanish- speaking mestizo Panamanians, non-English-speaking Europeans, and Chinese on the silver rolls as well. The first group largely resented being categorized with the West English in Panama GEORGE PAKOZDI 4 Indians; worse, the latter’s use of English often allowed for greater access to more lucrative positions within the Canal Zone. Language was a sticking point for Spanish workers as well, whose lack of English kept them on the silver rolls—Greene points out that the Spanish workers were particularly disaffected. Prone to protest and organization, they were especially put off by the refusal of American supervisors to communicate with them in Spanish (Greene 2004, 81). The racial and linguistic dynamics of the rolls extended to sectors of Panamanian society and economy that were not strictly under their control. Elite Panamanians who wished to succeed in business or politics needed to cultivate a relationship with the Americans, which required, among other things, to be white or light-skinned and to speak English (Conniff 2001, 81). 3.1 Panamanian National Identity, Spanish, and English Panamanian national identity has had to be defined within this
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