The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently distributed a brochure, intended for tenants in subsidized housing, entitled “Resident Rights and Responsibilities.” It appeared in various translations, including Spanish, French, Korean, and Portuguese. But it was the “Creole” translation — supposedly for Haitian speakers of the French-derived patois — that caused an uproar. In fact, as was first reported in Cecil Adams’s syndicated feature “Straight Dope,” the translation read like a tasteless parody. HUD has variously described the brochure as the fault of a contractor, the Government Printing Office, and some as yet unknown prankster. HUD officials have promised to investigate further. Meantime, all remaining copies of the Creole brochure have been destroyed. Well, not quite all. Below is an excerpt from the brochure in “HUD Creole”: the message to residents from the HUD secretary.
“Wi ave a pawtnaship wid everi rezedent of HUD-assisted owzing developments: HUD prowtekss di rights ahf di tenants, ahn tenants gauwd dem own right tru rispansible be’aviah. Owah goal is fi guh beyan dat pawtnaship ahn create a sense ahf community by encouraging di rezedents fi bekum more aktiv ahn invalve demselves inna de decishans dat ahfek di development ahf deir own owzing developments.
Sekretary Andrew M. Cuomo fella”
