Koun Breizh publishes an open letter in the press addressed to the President of the Regional Council of Brittany, Loig Chesnais-Girard, demanding the removal of the controversial phrase "Everything is good in Breton..." which creates an association between Breton and pig with regrettable effects. Will he respond?
Mr. Loig Chesnais-Girard
President of the Regional Council of Brittany
Subject: KOUN BREIZH asks Loig Chesnais-Girard to reconsider his communication associating Bretons with pigs.
Mr. President,
For years, Koun Breizh has been striving to combat all forms of contempt associated with Breton identity that are perpetuated by old nursery rhymes and outdated associations.
This ordinary racism that we have endured throughout history can still be found here and there, contributing to a long-internalized negative identity that sometimes persists in the reservations of some when it comes to considering political autonomy or saving our languages.
It is with dismay that we learned that the launch of your communication regarding the participatory call to Bretons was framed under the angle of "everything is good in Breton..."
We Bretons do not understand how the political leader of the Brittany region could associate "Breton" and "pig" in his official communication aimed at Bretons.
Must your communicators be so detached from Breton reality and our history to deliberately associate "everything is good in Breton" with the famous "everything is good in pig!"
The racism we have suffered throughout history is deeply ingrained. It resists and can still be found here and there, merely through the use of words and associations of ideas. Representations are resilient and sometimes resurface consciously or unconsciously.
Unless the association between Breton and pig was the result of a thoughtful and deliberate decision, in the hope of making an impression on public opinion. That would be even more serious in our view.
Should we remind your communicators that the association of "Breton" and "pig" has been the most used to spread contempt for our language and culture? The infamous nursery rhyme "potatoes for pigs and peels for Bretons" that children sang in the schoolyard? "Bretons are like pigs..." sang Charles Pasqua at the end of a referendum.
Not long ago, an auctioneer could put up for sale an engraving showing a Breton farmer and a pig eating from the same trough.
Even in the form of self-deprecation, this deliberate association between Breton and pig does not pass. It no longer amuses anyone, certainly not Bretons.
We want to believe that this is a gross communication error made by people who are unaware of the territory in which they operate.
We welcome the initiative to consult Bretons, with all the usual reservations regarding the final treatment, as we have long denounced the democratic deficit of this country and its legal-political system.
However, we cannot accept a consultation starting from the assumed angle of anti-Breton racism, from the President of the Brittany region.
A people can endure many things throughout history, but it cannot compromise its dignity, especially not within the framework of a democratic consultation.
Otherwise, Mr. President, it would mean that it is no longer even a people, but merely a dull and submissive region where it is permissible for all to spit on its inhabitants, since it is an old custom.
With confidence, we urgently ask you to modify your communication campaign and to remove the mention "everything is good in Breton!"
We must no longer address Bretons from the angle of contempt!
With our deepest respect,
For Koun Breizh
Yvon Ollivier
06 68 56 67 69
