A legacy of colonial racism?

The rioting in France seems to have eased off, but what will remain is anger. The issue of racism that is linked to the country's colonial past is more often than not brushed aside. Marina Strauss reports from Brussels

By Marina Strauss

Broken windows, burning cars, an assault on the home of a French mayor: these have been just some of the scenes across France over the last few days. All over the country, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets, sometimes violently, expressing their anger over the killing of 17-year old Nahel, a teenager of Algerian descent, who was shot dead by a police officer at a traffic stop a week ago.

The clashes between the mostly young protesters and the police have raised questions about the sheer amount of violence and random destruction. But another topic has also emerged, the question how the killing of Nahel and the subsequent anger spilling on the streets is linked to systematic racism within French society and the country's long colonial past.

President Emmanuel Macron called the killing of Nahel "inexcusable" and "inexplicable". A description Crystal Fleming, a professor of sociology at Stony Brook University in New York, disagrees with: "It is not inexplicable," she said. "It is not a mystery. It is racism."

France haunted by its colonial past

Fleming added that the protests and riots following the deadly shots fired by police were "a reaction to French racism which is linked to colonialism". Both, she says, are typically denied and erased [from collective memory] by French authorities and politicians – "despite centuries of racial oppression of its minorities and colonised populations".

A window bearing the French motto "Liberty, equality, brotherhood"; above a hole in the glass where it has been punctured by a projectile (image: Yves Herman/REUTERS) — France's 'colourblind' image: although the French state collects no census or other data on the race of its citizens, its non-racist facade belies the reality of those who live with day-to-day discrimination. France's human rights ombudsman has found young men perceived as Black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped by the police. President Emmanuel Macron has called the killing of Nahel "inexcusable" and "inexplicable". Sociology professor Crystal Fleming disagrees: "It is not inexplicable," she said. "It is not a mystery. It is racism"

It is true that France was one of Europe's largest colonial powers. From the 16th century until the 1970s its leaders, like many others on the continent, believed their "civilising mission" justified the forceful exploitation of countries and territories all over the world.

While the French Revolution in 1789 promised "liberty, equality and fraternity" to all French men (not women, but that is another story) on the French mainland, those in the colonies could only dream of equal rights. Their day-to-day life was marked by repression. Men and women were forced to "assimilate” the French culture and language.

France's role in Algeria, in particular, has remained a very sensitive topic. The North African country was first colonised in 1830 and then integrated into French national territory. When Algeria reclaimed its independence, a brutal war broke out that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly on the Algerian side, which eventually led to the end of French rule in 1962.

Admission of 'historic crime'

At around the same time, France was forced to relinquish control of its other colonies as well, mostly due to the success of independence movements. Some oversea territories, however, still remain. And the country has kept its economic, political and military influence in its former colonies, mainly on the African continent, for example by supporting authoritarian leaders to defend its interests.

Current French President Emmanuel Macron has, more than any other head of state before him, acknowledged his country's colonial past as a "historic crime". He vowed to give back stolen artefacts and set up commissions looking into France's role in Algeria and during the genocide in Rwanda.

France's history with Algeria is particularly fraught (image: AFP/Getty Images) — Franco-Algerian relations a highly sensitive topic: the North African country was first colonised in 1830 and then integrated into French national territory. When Algeria reclaimed its independence, a brutal war broke out that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly on the Algerian side, which eventually led to the end of French rule in 1962

For critics like Crystal Fleming that doesn't go far enough. France, many say, should assume full responsibility for past errors, especially when it comes to acknowledging crimes committed during colonial rule. Yet Macron has stated that he does not intend to "ask for forgiveness" over his country's role in Algeria "as it would break all bonds".

Elements of French society and schoolbooks have long argued that colonialism had its positive aspects. In 2017, far-right politician Marine Le Pen said French colonisation "gave a lot" to former colonies. The fact that Le Pen made it into the run-off elections in 2017 and 2022 and has a chance to become France's next president shows how widespread this thinking still is.

Cultivating a non-racist image

At the same time, "the French government continues to portray itself as non-racist", says Fleming. In fact, France has long portrayed itself as "colourblind", meaning it collects no census or other data on the race of its citizens.

This, however, is not what many people of migrant descent, like those who are now protesting, are experiencing. "There is a problem of systematic racism in the French police," said Rokhaya Diallo, an author and one of France's best-known racial equality activists. The French government has repeatedly denied that accusation.

According to a study by the country's human rights ombudsman, young men who are perceived as Black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped by French police. And many of those young men trace their roots back to former French colonies and live in the so-called banlieues, the suburbs of big cities like Paris, Marseille or Lyon.

These banlieues, as author Johny Pitts wrote in his book "Afropean – Notes from Black Europe", were actually a side effect of the creation of the Paris so many love and cherish nowadays. In the mid-19th century, funded mainly by colonial riches from Africa, Napoleon III commissioned city planner Georges-Eugene Haussmann to create a new Paris with wider streets and a better sewage system.

Those with smaller budgets were pushed to the outskirts. After World War II, high-rise buildings were constructed in response to economic growth that encouraged migration.

Historically, these banlieues have been neglected by the French government. In 2005, during his term as interior minister, former president Nicolas Sarkozy suggested cleaning the suburbs with a high-pressure cleaner. Since then, programmes have been initiated, talks held, but not much has changed.

A resident of Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, told DW’s Paris correspondent Sonia Phalnikar that the French government created "this situation of deprivation", adding "I know poverty and misery. And it seems we can't get rid of it."

Marina Strauss