Doctor Carolyn Cooper is right. I hang my head in shame and confess: I'm one of the pitiful Jamaicans who are prejudiced against 'raw-chaw'. Blame it on my parents. They wouldn't allow me and my siblings to bring raw-chaw into the house. They didn't want us to speak it, or act it out, or mix up wid it, in any shape or form. No, sir! Raw-chaw was not for my parents, foolish people that they are. Sadly, I take after them.

You could also put some of the blame on my teachers, for none of them hugged up the raw-chaw language ting. They had no use for it. There were also people in our district who had no use for the raw-chaw thing and they influenced my prejudice too.

So, I know exactly where my prejudice comes from. It started with all those people who did not care enough about me and my siblings to make sure dat we hug up de raw-chaw language and actions, as Dr Cooper would have it. To add insult to injury, my husband and I have passed on our awful prejudice to our children. Woe is us! But all is not lost. Where there is life, there is hope. I now pledge to become a late-starter raw-chaw smaddy!

Raw-chaw direction

Now that Dr Cooper has lifted the veil from our eyes and pointed us in the raw-chaw direction, I pledge that from this day forward, my extended family and I, shall chuck off inna de raw-chaw sinting, an' wallah-wallah ina it, and call up de talk show dem and get dem fe big up raw-chaw!

Then, I'm going to buss a raw-chaw chune and it is going to buss big to raw-chaw. And then I am going to become a large raw-chaw star smaddy, just as if I was a Docta Smaddy, to raw-chaw!

I am, etc.,

VERONA WILSON

Kingston 10