Racism in France
Some black people have held decisive positions, such as military officer Camille Mortenol who commanded the antiaircraft defence of Paris against Germany in 1914–1918.
In December 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (Cerd) said it was "concerned" by "the persistence and extent of racist and discriminatory discourse in France, particularly in the media and on the Internet".
[9] It is said that the notion of ethnicity (ethnicité), when it is used in France, ignores reference to race, in contrast to perceived usage the term in North America and the United Kingdom, to focus on cultural aspects.
The descriptors are: européen (nordique, caucasien, méditerranéen); africain/antillais; métis; maghrébin; moyen-oriental; asiatique; indo-pakistanais; latino-américain; polynésien; mélanésien-canaque.
[3] In March 2024, the statistical service of the French Ministry of the Interior reports that crimes or offenses of a racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic or anti-religious nature increased by 32% in 2023 compared to 2022 in France.
In 1894, a Jewish artillery officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of giving secret French documents to the German army and tried and convicted of treason.
Marshal Pétain became Council President after Paul Reynaud stepped down and left office due to the harsh climate that the French government was experiencing.
With the support of Pierre Laval, he obtained full powers from the National Assembly and used them to create a new constitution for the French state, putting an end to the 3rd Republic.
On 16 July 1995, in a site near the Vel d'Hiv, French president Jacques Chirac, made an important speech in which he pronounced his recognition of France's responsibility for the persecution of Jews during the Second World War, an action that had been long-awaited by the French-Jewish community.
[23] In 1788, Société des Amis Noirs ("Society of the Friends of the Blacks") was founded to abolish the slave trade using the argument that slavery was not economically profitable.
In 1802, Napoleon, encouraged by wife Josephine who originated from and owned many assets in Martinique, reestablished slavery, the slave trade, and the Black Code.
The black freedom fighters of Saint-Domingue ended up being victorious over Napoleon's troops and proclaimed their independence after what is commonly known as the Haitian Revolution.
[25] Principally Kabyles (a Berber sub-ethnic group), young men provided labor in the development of French cities and of agricultural exploitations in the Mediterranean littorals of the metropolis (mainly Marseille).
"[41] About 44% of French people have unfavorable views on Roma[42] Claims of racism against whites have been brought forward by various far-right parties,[43] and other groups beginning in the 1980s,[44] including from the right.
[45][46][47][48] The former minister of interior, Claude Guéant, went on record stating that this kind of racism is a reality in France and that there is nothing worse than the political elite hiding from the truth.
[49] Before the domestic Euro 2016 edition, racist claims, emanating from several French public figures about the lack of players of North African origins, made their way to the front pages.
Even though the National Teams are supposed to be selected based on skill rather than race, Eric Cantona accused the French manager Didier Deschamps of racism.
All started after Manuel Valls, the French Prime Minister who was filmed in the past claiming there were too many blacks[51] and Roma[52] people in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, politicized the affair.
In 1964, the Occident movement was founded by former members of the FEN syndicate (Fédération des Etudiants Nationalistes) which had stood against the abandonment of French Algeria.
Initially directed by Pierre Sidos, Occident positioned itself as a movement perpetuating popular French extreme-right traditions of the 1920s and 1930s, which included racist themes, maurrassism and fascism.
[45][46][47][48] Former Interior Minister Claude Guéant went on record stating that this kind of racism is a "reality" in France and that there is nothing worse than the political elite hiding from the truth.
[45] Marine Le Pen criticized the UMP itself as she stated it had denied the existence of such racism during its five-year reign in power (2007–2012) and suspected a tactical move to win over voters and support from the National Front.
[55] In recent years, many newspapers, such as Libération and The Washington Post, have done segments on the increase of racist comments made by political leaders against minority groups.
[56] In 2009, Secretary of State Nadine Morano explained that what she expected from the young French Muslim was that "he love his country, that he find a job, that he not speak "verlan" or slang, that he not wear his baseball cap backward".
In February 2012, the Minister of the Interior at the time, Guéant, continued the targeting of Islamic populations by stating that leftist ideologies were wrong and that in fact, all civilizations did not equate each other.
[56] Most recently in October 2013, a National Front municipal candidate, Anne-Sophie Leclere, compared the Minister of Justice, Christiane Taubira, a black woman, to a monkey.
[32] In October 2013, UMP Leader Jean-Francois Copé sought to reform immigration laws by changing the acquisition of French citizenship by birth.
Relying on the Civil Code which states that one can also become French through heritage, Copé claimed that the right of blood trumped all in the acquisition of citizenship.
The "hijab ban" law, presented as the secularisation of schools and supported by all major parties in the French Parliament, as well as many feminists,[60] was interpreted by its critics as an "indirect legitimization of anti-Muslim stereotypes, fostering rather than preventing racism".
In its report, the government recommended emphasizing the "Arab-Oriental" side of French culture by "barring the media from mentioning a person's ethnicity and promoting the teaching of Arabic and African languages in schools".
