For the first post in this new blog, which I am hoping to use to share photos, writing (as in fiction), news related musings and hopefully the odd bit of proper journalism (I'm setting it up as much as anything to stop myself procrastinating and get to work on some ideas I've had kicking around for a while), I thought I'd start with something that makes my blood boil more than almost anything else we come across in French public discourse - what makes one French, and can anyone not born here, with four French grandparents, ever attain this hallowed state? It's back in this morning's papers, after a woman born in Norway dared to be chosen as the Europe Ecologie presidential candidate (after nearly 4 decades living in France), and then had the temerity to suggest the traditional Bastille Day parade might be a little militaristic for the 21st century - Prime Minister Francois Fillon has been one of the keenest to say she doesn't understand French traditions (see today's le Figaro).
A few lone voices, like this excellent Rue89 piece, have pointed out France's Republic hasn't always had the healthiest relations with its army, and it might perhaps be Fillon who needs a history lesson, but the idea that those of dual nationality can't be truly French seems to be leaking from the extreme right across the political spectrum - the idea of forcing dual-nationality citizens to choose has already moved from Marine le Pen to interior minister Claude Gueant. I understand that France, like the US, but very unlike mongrel Britain, is a nation that created a founding myth out of Enlightenment principles; France as a bastion of the equality of all citizens and the brotherhood of man; but after several years here, I still don't understand how that idea became so warped socialist-voting friends are horrified, for example, by schools teaching second-generation Algerian children Arabic, saying it's 'fundamentalist' to embrace any non-standard cultural identity.
Where I live, in the majority-ethnic Goutte d'Or in the 18th arrondissement, where many white Parisians fear to tread, national identity is much more than a philosophical debate - it's discrimination they face every day, from bureaucratic struggles to prove their citizenship if they can't provide French birth certificates for all four grandparents, to the endless studies showing job applicants with 'Arab' or 'African' names are up to 80% less likely to get a job interview. They're not taking it lying down though - an organised movement against decades of marginalisation is springing up, and pushing forward despite a near total lack of media attention. Here's some of the excellent slogans I spotted at the recent 'D'ailleurs, nous sommes d'ici' (We're from here, anyway) demonstration here.
A few lone voices, like this excellent Rue89 piece, have pointed out France's Republic hasn't always had the healthiest relations with its army, and it might perhaps be Fillon who needs a history lesson, but the idea that those of dual nationality can't be truly French seems to be leaking from the extreme right across the political spectrum - the idea of forcing dual-nationality citizens to choose has already moved from Marine le Pen to interior minister Claude Gueant. I understand that France, like the US, but very unlike mongrel Britain, is a nation that created a founding myth out of Enlightenment principles; France as a bastion of the equality of all citizens and the brotherhood of man; but after several years here, I still don't understand how that idea became so warped socialist-voting friends are horrified, for example, by schools teaching second-generation Algerian children Arabic, saying it's 'fundamentalist' to embrace any non-standard cultural identity.
Where I live, in the majority-ethnic Goutte d'Or in the 18th arrondissement, where many white Parisians fear to tread, national identity is much more than a philosophical debate - it's discrimination they face every day, from bureaucratic struggles to prove their citizenship if they can't provide French birth certificates for all four grandparents, to the endless studies showing job applicants with 'Arab' or 'African' names are up to 80% less likely to get a job interview. They're not taking it lying down though - an organised movement against decades of marginalisation is springing up, and pushing forward despite a near total lack of media attention. Here's some of the excellent slogans I spotted at the recent 'D'ailleurs, nous sommes d'ici' (We're from here, anyway) demonstration here.
As you can see, the protest attracted all sizes and shapes of people - local undocumented migrants, students, middle class professionals, older people - and even though every time I find myself having to talk about the national identity debate, I want to scream, at least this shows there is some hope!
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