Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BERBER PRIDE & PREJUDICE
Despite a rich tradition of poetry, petroglyphs, music and art dating as far back as 5000 BC, the
Amazigh were often misconstrued as uneducated by outsiders, because no standard written system had
been consistently applied to their many distinct languages. The Romans tried for 250 years to take
over Amazigh territory and institute Roman customs - and when that failed they bad-mouthed their
adversaries, calling them 'Berbers', or Barbarians. The name stuck, and so did anti-Amazigh preju-
dice.
The protectorate established French as the official language of Morocco to make it easier to conduct
(and hence control) business transactions and affairs of state. Complex Amazigh artistic symbolism
and traditional medicine were dismissed as charming but irrelevant superstition by those not privy to
the oral traditions accompanying them, and the educated classes were encouraged to distance them-
selves from their Berber roots. But Amazigh languages and traditions have persisted in Morocco, and
the Berber Pride movement has recently reclaimed 'Berber' as a unifying term.
After independence (1955-56), Arabic was adopted as the official language, though French contin-
ues to be widely spoken among the elite, and Darija is the commonly understood Moroccan Arabic
dialect. As recently as the 1980s, the use of Berber script was subject to censure in Morocco. But with
the backing of King Mohammed VI - who is part Berber himself - the ancient written Tifinagh alpha-
bet that first emerged around the time of Egyptian hieroglyphics was revived in 2003, and a modern-
ised version is now being taught in some schools as a standardised written Berber.
More than 60% of Moroccans now call themselves Amazigh or Berber, and Berber languages are
currently spoken by some 8.5 to 10 million Moroccans. Berber Pride is now mainstream in Morocco,
with the introduction of the official Moroccan broadcaster Chaîne Amazigh, offering TV and radio
broadcasts in three Amazigh languages. Yet Human Rights Watch reported that in 2010, parents who
gave their children Amazigh names were told the names were rejected by state bureaucrats as 'not re-
cognizably Moroccan'. After a public outcry, the policy was reversed, so babies too can show Berber
Pride in Morocco.
