France and its communities
Introduction: the inexistence of
minorities in France
• According to the French constitution, article 1:
France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic
and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all
citizens before the law, without distinction of origin,
race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs. (…)
• This is the “French republican model” => no
distinction is made between citizens. Therefore, no
minority is recognized, and no special right is
provided to minorities.
• On the other hand, French citizens of foreign
origins should be treated exactly the same way as
other citizens
• As a matter of consequence, NO OFFICIAL
STATISTIQUE is made in France in order to know
how many French people have foreign origins,
how many are of different color, come from a
particular Ethnic group, are Buddhists or
Muslims…
• This prohibition is supposed to strengthen to unity
of the nation and is aimed at avoiding any
stigmatization
=> Is this model successful? Is French nation
unified, and do the communities live their
peacefully without racism nor discrimination?
=> Obviously, French integration model of
assimilation is not successful. Racism seems to
be more and more present. So the question
whether the republican model need to be changed
is a very burning one.
No minorities = no racism, no
discrimination?
•
•
•
•
According to an official poll from the High
Committee of Audiovisual, in 2005:
88% of French people think that racism is a
widespread phenomenon in France.
63% think that some behaviors may sometimes
justify racist reactions
63% think that immigrants have difficulties to
integrate in French society because of their own
differences and 44% because of the French
society itself.
En 2005, one out of three French people
confesses being a racist!
I) Who is victim of racism in
France?
Main communities in France:
• No official statistics exist, since taking a census of the
ethnic origin of French citizens is forbidden by the law.
• So how many are they? According to most credible
estimations, around 23% of inhabitants (14 millions)
are of foreign origins (at least one parent was born
abroad).
– 6.9 millions come from EU countries, 3 millions from
Maghreb, and 700 000 from sub-Saharan Africa
=> The “Muslim community”, namely persons issued of
countries where Islam is the main religion, is between 3.5
and 6 millions (varying according to the source!).
I) Who is victim of racism in
France?
Here are some results
of the official poll from
the High Committee
of Audiovisual, in
2005.
According to you, who
are the main victims
of racism in France?
Northern
42%
African /
Muslims
Immigrants 25%
in general
Africans /
16%
Black
people
Jews
6%
I) Who is victim of racism in
France?
=> Of course this poll is only representative of
the feeling of French people (who they feel are
victims of racism). As explained previously, no
figures are available to confirm such statements.
=> The most significant example of community
suffering from racism and discrimination in
France is certainly North African / Muslim
community
I) Who is victim of racism in
France?
Northern African / Muslims
A young Muslim girl is manifesting to show that wearing the veil is not
incompatible with being French, and being attached to France
 Racism and discrimination is really high towards
Muslims, and people with northern African
features
• 42% of French people quoted the North African /
Muslims as the main victims of racism; 85% think that
they have more difficulty than other persons to find a job.
• 36% declare not liking Muslims at all, and 65% consider
that they form an isolated community within France
• Muslims are hold responsible for most acts of violence
by 43% of French people.
 The riots in French suburbs in October 2005
contributed to revive the amalgam: north African
feature = delinquent = danger for “pure” French
people
• 2005 riots began on September 27th, in Clichy-sous-Bois, in
the suburbs of Paris
• They began after two teenagers died because they were
pursued by policemen
• Violence spread throughout France, characterized by a rise in
car fires.
• Very soon an amalgam was done between the perpetrators of
those violence and young people issued of Northern-African
immigration.
• The political answer to this was
repression and establishment of
an emergency state, which
arose fears even more!
I) Who is victim of racism in France
- conclusion
• Anti-Muslim/Northern-African racism takes also the form of
discrimination at work, or at the entries of clubs etc…
According to an official poll, in 1998, 19% of active people
had already witnessed acts of discrimination for hiring.
• The current tendency in France seems to lead to a
marginalization of Anti-Semitist acts, though they have not
disappeared, and to an increase of racist attitudes towards
communities issued from the recent waves of immigration,
namely from Northern Africa
• Surprisingly, “black people” are relatively spared from
racism, with 43% of French people thinking about them as an
open community (37% for Jews and 22% for Muslims). Their
integration seems to be more successful than that of “the
Arab” population (the term “Arab” being put between coma,
because mostly used with a pejorative connotation in France)
II) French current policy against
racism
Towards a recognition of minorities?
• Current challenge concerning the integration of
ethnic communities, and the struggle against
racism and discrimination led some political
leader to reconsider French model of neutrality.
In order to fight racism, would it be efficient to
allow statistics on ethnic belongings, and to
recognize the existence of distinct minorities, or
would it bring even more racism, by
emphasizing the differences?
Towards positive action?
Nicolas Sarkozy, current home secretary, is one of
the main partisan of an implementation of policies
of positive action, which would take the ethnic
belongings into consideration, in order to give better
opportunities to the most disfavored minorities.
• As a symbolic measure, he nominated in 2003 a Muslim
prefect, putting the stress on his religious belongings.
However, this measure was followed by three attacks against
the prefect or his relatives.
• The idea of implementing quotas and publishing statistics
taking the ethnic origin into accounts is far from being
approved by all political and scientific people.
• N. Sarkozy has been accused of wanting to “ethnicize”
statistics, since he supported the idea of censing the ethnic
origin in statistics. Indeed, publishing a survey showing that
67% of leaders of “gangs” in French suburbs have NorthernAfrican origins does not seem to be the best way to fight
against racism and promote integration!
Towards positive action?
• Positive action consists in implementing unequal
measures in order to restore equality. Through
according preferential treatment to some people, it
aims at restore equality of chance, which has been
annihilated by racist practices and socio-economic
inequalities.
=> Positive action may enable brilliant persons from
disfavoured communities to benefit from standard
level of education and the same chances for
employment as equally brilliant people for the
majority.
=> However, it could also lead to more ethnicisation of
the communities, and to the resentment of the
majority, which will be discriminated against. This
may lead to an increase of racism.
Do you favour or disfavour the authorisation by
the state of practices of positive action?
In %
Total
18-24
years
old
25-34
years
old
35-49
years old
More than
50
In favour, because
it will help to fight
discriminations
48
59
52
50
44
Opposed, because
it contradicts the
republican
principles
41
37
41
40
41
Doesn’t answer
11
4
7
10
15
Conclusion
• French republican model of unity of the nation has its
roots in the history of revolution. Taking a census of
ethnic belongings has become a taboo, which has
been reinforced by the sad experience of deportation
of Jews during the 2nd World War.
• However, this model is not successful since it failed to
integrate new waves of migrants and to eradicate
racism and discrimination.
• Nowadays, the Muslim community is the main victim
of growing racism in France
• New policies are being currently experimented in
order to reactivate a process of integration
• Positive action is one of those policies. It deeply
questions the classical French model, but its efficiency
has still not been proved.