Marie Marcelle Buteau Racine was a professor of linguistics.

Biography

Marie Marcelle Buteau Racine was born on May 31, 1934, in Les Cayes, Haiti. She was a Haitian professor of linguistics and a founding member of the Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen/Haitian Creole Academy. She emigrated to the United States in 1963 with her husband and later earned a M.A. in French from Howard University and a PhD in French and Theoretical Linguistics from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. She would later teach at the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

while being involved in social issues related to education, women's rights, and justice in Haiti, Latin America, and the United States. She died July 23, 2020, at the age of 86.

Career

Racine was hired by

Federal City College The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public university, public historically black university, historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. ...

(later University of the District of Columbia) in 1969. She served as chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and later served as Associate Dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts from 1978 to 1987 and was acting dean from 1987 to 1988. She served as university assessment coordinator from 2003 to 2009, retiring in 2013. She was a Fulbright-Hays Fellow in 2002. Racine was a founding member of the Haitian Creole Academy (AKA) in 2014, an organization formed to preserve and foster the study of

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

. In addition to her work fostering the study of Haitian Creole, Racine also published on critical education issues in the American context.

Personal life

Buteau married Étzer Racine and had two children, daughter Mikaele, and son Karl Anthony Racine, a prominent lawyer and politician and current attorney general of the District of Columbia.

Selected works

* Racine, M. M. B. (1970). ''French and Creole lexico-semantic conflicts: A contribution to the study of languages in contact in the Haitian diglossic situation''. * Racine, M. M. B. (1976). ''A linguistic study of southern Haitian Creole: Phonology.'' Howard University. * Racine, M. M. B. (1981). ''Adaptation of Haitian students to American schools''. * Racine, M. M. B. (1982). ''Influences on curriculum development in the public schools of Washington, D.C., 1804–1982.'' Dept. of Urban Studies, University of the District of Columbia. * Racine, M. M. B., & Morisseau-Leroy, F. (1975). French Creole In The Caribbean. ''

CLA Journal The College Language Association (CLA) is a professional association of Black scholars and educators who teach English and foreign languages. Founded in 1937 by a group of African-American language and literature scholars, the organization "serves ...

'', ''18''(4), 491–500. * Racine, M. M. B., Ogle, K., & Ecumenical Program on Central America and the Caribbean. (1999). ''Like the dew that waters the grass: Words from Haitian women''. * Racine, M. M. B., & Rode, M. E. (1989). ''Critical junctures: The process of change in public higher education in Washington, D.C., 1977–1987''. Center for Applied Research and Urban Policy, University of the District of Columbia. * Tatàn, & Racine, M. M. B. (1998). From “Like the Dew That Waters the Grass: Words from Haitian Women.” '' Women's Studies Quarterly'', ''26''(3/4), 40–47.

References

External links

Remembering Distinguished Professor Emerita Dr. Marie M.B. Racine 1934–2020 (University of the District of Columbia)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Racine, Marie Marcelle Buteau 1934 births 2020 deaths Haitian women academics Linguists from Haiti Haitian emigrants to the United States People from Les Cayes Linguists of Haitian Creole