Mon 15 June 2020:
French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Sunday to stand firm against racism but also praised police and insisted that France wouldn’t take down statues of controversial, colonial-era figures.
It was the first time Macron has spoken on the issues since George Floyd’s death in the U.S. unleashed protests around the world, including several in France, where demonstrators have expressed anger at racial injustice and police brutality, particularly toward minorities from France’s former colonies in Africa.
In an address to the nation, Macron said France would be “uncompromising” in its fight against racism after days of demonstrations over alleged prejudice among police forces.
Angry crowds have toppled statues of colonial figures in Britain and the United States, and there has been an intensified scrutiny of the records of key leaders of the colonial era in Europe.
But Macron said the country would not obscure elements of its history or dismantle statues of public figures who may have advocated racist views or policies.
“The Republic will not wipe away any trace or any name from its history. It will not forget any of its works. It will not take down any of its statues but lucidly look at our history and our memory together,” he said.
He said this was especially important in Africa, where French colonial rule in several countries left a legacy that remains a subject of anger for many to this day.
Together, France and Africa need to find a “present and a future that is possible on both sides of the Mediterranean”, he said.
Macron acknowledged that France had to fight against the fact that “the name, the address, the colour of the skin” can affect a person’s chances in their lives.
“We will be uncompromising against racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination. New decisions for equality will be taken,” he said.
“It is necessary to unite around Republican patriotism. We are a nation where everyone — whatever their origin and religion — can find their place.”
“Is this true everywhere and for everyone? No,” he admitted.
Human Rights Watch said Sunday that France should halt identity checks by the police that are “abusive and discriminatory” towards black and Arab males.
But Macron defended France’s under-fire police force, saying they “deserve public support and the recognition of the nation for their work”.
“Without Republican order, there cannot be security or freedom,” he said.
France’s colonial legacy
Calls are also mounting to reassess France’s colonial legacy, causing division within Macron’s own camp.
Over the past two days, the culture minister denounced the decision to cancel a Paris showing of “Gone With the Wind” — a film long criticized as romanticizing slavery — as contrary to freedom of expression. And he firmly condemned activists who tried to take a piece of African art from a Paris museum dedicated to artwork from former colonies.
But government minister Sibeth Ndiaye — a close Macron ally and the most prominent black figure in current French politics — wrote an unusually personal essay Saturday in Le Monde calling for France to rethink its colorblind doctrine, which aims at encouraging equality by ignoring race altogether.
“We must not hesitate to name things, to say that a skin color is not neutral,” she wrote. She called on the French to “confront our memories” about their history and find a “shared narrative” with former colonies.
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