Education in France | DBI

• Understanding Frantz Fanon:

The premise of post-colonial thought is a very well explicated dialogue by many authors, yet Frantz Fanon, born in Martinique, manages in a short period of time to expand colonial discourse. Many of the postulations asserted by Frantz Fanon are the subject of modern conversation as his debate expands and relates to post-colonial ideas about family, liberty and the Algerian revolution. His footprint on psychological literature is very diverse and he reigns as a forefather to black psychology.      Fanon’s understanding of family in Frantz Fanon: A Critical Study by Irene Gendzier, is depicted in distorted form, as a critique to undermine Fanon’s forward preconceptions, notably when she writes “he merely demonstrated that the concept of family was so different in the Martinique as opposed to the French milieu “ (58) Fanon argues that familial values were constructed through the synchronization of the family, community, and nation. (58) From the lens of a child, these assertions and additional syncretic concepts, Fanon elucidates this error inherent  within the populace, specifically  the dependency complex which is learned in childhood. In the departmental realm Algeria was quivering for liberation and subsequent Independence from France.  Fanon’s homeland of Martinique was recognized as a department by that time and Fanon was on a quest of cultural prosperity and his writings were complicit in depth and exploration in many areas of unchartered literary and psychological theory.  The dependency complex embodied by Martiniquans, rather the textual understanding of Fanon’s point is inscribed within the subjective comprehension of a “minority group.” (60)          Frantz Fanon typified the values of the Algerian revolution, although his initial fealty or curiosity towards the prospect of a foreign nation, where he was appointed a position as a Psychiatrist at Blida Joint-Ville, or maybe his interest was spawned because the famous unsuccessful experiment at Blida Joint-Ville in the early 1940’s. Interestingly, Frantz Fanon’s earliest experiences in Algeria and Tunisia enabled him to participate in the early Algerian revolutionary movement and growth of the influence of the FLN (Front Liberation Nationale) a socialist party founded in November 1954 by Abdelaziz Bouteeflicka. The respective military department of the FLN was the Armee de Liberations network, known as ALN, and they confronted France in Algeria’s war of Independence.  The formal negotiations were held in Evian Les-Bain France 1961, and Algerians achieved autonomy and national liberty in 1962. (Gendzier, 137)      Frantz Fanon formally joined the FLN in 1957. (141)  Upon arriving in Algeria, he began building a rapport with Pierre Chaulet. “Fanon was attractive because of his medical training” (141) Chaulet is particularly special because he was a pied noir; someone  originally born in Algeria but a French Citizen, and he opted to pursue acquiring Algerian citizenship, similar to Fanon. Aside from Fanon’s work as a certified psychiatrist, he wrote for el Moudjahid, an Algerian revolutionary newspaper first published in summer 1956. (Gendzier 143) Fanon’s scholarly contributions to el Moujahid began with his first article in 1957. (Gendzier, 144) Later Fanon also resided in Tunis, Tunisia, following the expulsion of French citizen and loyalists, from newly liberated Algeria. While working for el Moujahid, Fanon was able to re-develop and refine his theories on the nature of colonialism, as colonizer and colonized. In an edition of the newspaper published in November 1958, Fanon criticized Charles de Gaulle’s seemingly liberal position as Irene Gendzier argues that De Gaulle was “simply doing his best to salvage what he could of the French interest in Algeria” (149)     Fanon addresses the difference between independence and colonialism very profoundly in his first book Black Skin, White Masks (1952). Decolonization, Fanon argues is a process that is impractical as the essence of colonialism, creates an everlasting connection between colonizer and colonized. “Decolonization… is the granting of a new status to succeed the colonial relationship.” (150) Therefore, as the colonizer grants that autonomy, France in this scenario, upon the subject as a gateway to a better status, in the case of Algeria; it will forever retain a bond that is in no doubt a statement of liberty. This notion lends itself to the postulation that freedom is a believe in the process of social liberation and the predilection that it is not given to any man or entity, the subject once colonized must then seized their freedom to assert their independence.     In Nigel C. Gibons interpretation of Fanon’s writing, it can be understood from a secondary source that Fanon contends that there exists a reversal within the construct of the ‘colonizer/ colonized’ relationship as the latter and direct subject expresses the desire to embrace liberty in the name of revolution. Gibson asserts that Fanon’s anti-colonial argument is inherently as violent as the colony, upon arrival of the settler. (113) Gibson explains that Fanon desire for inclusion and the collective teachings of Manicheanism, and early agnostic interpolations, is a reciprocal relationship whereas Fanon remarks “Obedient to the rules of pure Aristotelian logic, they both follow the principle of reciprocal exclusivity” in his second book Wretched of the Earth which Fanon wrote remarkably, under pressure due to his ailing health in 1961. (38-9, Gibson 114-15)     Frantz Fanon was an alien albeit his martyrdom for revolution and seclusionary ideals regarding the negritude movement of black inwardness, and the positive influence of the movements’ forefathers, Aime Cesaire, Leopold Senghor and Leon-Gontron Damas. (Gibson, 41) However, with regard to revolutionary ideals, Fanon’s revolutionary spirit express through his published works and his contributions to the FLN and el Moudjahid were extensive. Fanons death is a topic well documented, but in after life he permeates French history as a revolutionary, and well articulated philological authority, even though he abandoned his motherland in the pursuit of freedom and inclusion.Fanon is celebrated esoterically throughout the world, especially in Martinique.  Black Skin White Masks, The Wretched of the Earth, and  A Dying Colonialism are inventions that have yet to be modified adequately in the spheres of post-colonial and black psychological dialogue. Most critics who have encountered the writings of Frantz Fanon will agree that he is so meticulous with his conjectures and examples, which makes attempting to grasp his level of understanding, indicative of an internal struggle against the confines of colonization and the freedoms associated with the pursuit of liberty.

Works Cited:

Gendzier, Irene L. Frantz Fanon: A Critical Study. New York: Pantheon, Random House (1973).Gibson, Nigel C. Fanon: The Postcolonial Imagination. Malden, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (2003).

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Education in France

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Senegal, Sex, and Salie: Fatou Diome’s Representations of Gender in Her Niodior

The Belly of the Atlantic was released in French in 2003, and in English in 2006

 

Amidst a semi-autobiographical story of a Senegalese woman navigating issues of immigration, race, family, and tradition, Fatou Diome presents in The Belly of the Atlantic several images that grant the reader a glimpse at her understandings of gender in Niodior, Senegal. The anecdotes and reflections Diome writes from the perspective of protagonist Salie, who leaves Senegal for France, detail several narratives. Salie describes some ways that women find power in community within their gender roles, while also detailing the rigid set of expectations gender places upon the people of her native community. In addition, Diome includes an anecdote of Salie and other women involved in a questionable sexual encounter, further highlighting questions about the role of gender in the daily lives of the people in Niodior.

            Salie speaks of the silence that is placed upon her because of her sex and gender, but then turns the discussion into one of self-empowerment:

I don’t like sub-missions; I prefer real missions. And I love high heels, too. Will Marie Curie be wearing them at gatherings with the great and the good? I have no idea. On the other hand, I’m sure all the great men of this world have knelt down, at least once in their lives, to kiss the foot of a woman wearing them. So I’m keeping my female hormones! I wouldn’t want testicles for the world. (24)

Continuing a discussion of Senegalese women navigating sexism and oppression, Diome writes that despite men commodifying women’s bodies and behaviors, women can claim a certain power in this process. She describes a scene in which a man watches a woman as she dances and pursues an intimate night with her, but Salie tells the reader that “she, however, will be the one who decides, with a mocking smile, when they will have sex” (25). Later, Salie recounts a kitchen setting and the work that women do there. The kitchen is designated as the women’s space, and men are allowed to pursue other activities outside of it. Diome’s writing, however, reflects an admiration of the kitchen work the women perform, describing it as “sublime alchemy” (119) and naming the women magicians. Several descriptions of settings such as that one reflect similar sentiments from the author.

            Despite the respect Diome pays to women in several places, she does not ignore or hide the realities of Niodior’s rigid gender system. When Salie is talking on the phone with her brother thousands of miles away, she delves into thoughts on the social installation of masculinity that her brother experiences. Her description of his experience, though, presumably represents the experience of many boys in Niodior or Senegal.

Men don’t like details, they say, and he, even as a kid, had it drummed into him that he must behave like a man. He’s been taught to say ‘Ow!’, to grit his teeth, not to cry when he’s hurt or afraid. (24)

Furthermore, Diome makes the connection between boys’ conditioning with general sexism in the community, when Salie adds, “As a reward for the courage he had to show in all circumstances, a throne has been built for him high above the female sex” (24). The constant presence of sexism in Salie’s home community becomes apparent in her continued stories.

            Salie later tells of young women dancing under the moonlight, in a social space reserved for women while the men reside elsewhere. As Salie’s narration continues, she again slides into commentary on the way community and tradition function in Niodior. She poetically describes patriarchs meeting to arrange marriages, and the political and social meanings of marriage. After a jarring retelling of a story in which a woman’s father murders her newborn baby because she conceived him out of wedlock, Diome delivers a succinct declaration of how she views the state of things in Niodior. She declares, “In this corner of the earth, a man’s hand is placed over every woman’s mouth” (89).

            Salie’s presentation of gender within her Niodior community becomes very personal when she tells the story of sexual abuse she suffered in the name of tradition and community. Her guardian at the time forces her to take part in what is likely a scam disguised as a fertility ritual in which Salie must perform a sexual act on a stranger. After the traumatic experience, Salie is told to keep quiet about it, and she recalls that she “made [her] memory a tomb for this story for many long years” (110). This singular story highlights the effect that sexism and sexual dominance has on the individual women in Salie’s childhood world.

            With the repeated statement, “Every scrap of life must serve to win dignity!” sprinkled throughout The Belly of the Atlantic, Fatou Diome details several personal histories of people from her home community of Niodior. However, the message of the repeated phrase becomes increasingly relevant when Diome takes Salie’s stories to places that describe the ways in which gender and the expectations from it exist in the daily lives and experiences of the people in Niodior. Her presentation of women finding power and agency, in addition to her honest displays of oppression at work, are important to understand the complexities that exist as intersecting with issues of race, class, nationality, immigration and other identity markers.

Map including Niodior in yellow

 

Louis Georges-Tin: A Career of Firsts

Tin holding copies of The Dictionary of Homophobia, a tremendously important publication

Hailing from Martinique, Louis Georges-Tin was born into a family of teachers and political leaders. His career, coincidentally, led him down a path of education and political activism. He currently teaches at the IUFM of Orleans, and his research focuses on gender. Georges-Tin recently began work as the president of the Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France (CRAN).

Georges-Tin’s career has largely focused on the fight against homophobia in France. He founded the first gay and lesbian organization at l’École Normale Supérieure, directed publishing of the Dictionary of Homophobia, and received the Golden Tupilak Award for launching the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). This year, his name has come up in discussions for the Nobel Peace Prize. He has also been involved with CRAN since its foundation in 2005. His presidency marks a continued representation of a black gay person working as an activist. With Georges-Tin as president, CRAN launched a massive pact for equality and diversity in February 2012. “Le Pacte” is a book of over 200 proposals to end all forms of discrimination, and twelve organizations collaborated on it.

This is an excerpt from CRAN’s press releases on the Pacte:
“With concrete examples in support, the authors highlight how discrimination is pervasive, often without our knowledge. Racial profiling, the glass ceiling in business, the daily obstacle course for the blind and paralyzed, gays and lesbians being harassed in school, refusing to hire those who are too young … or too old. In short, 100% of French are privy to discrimination!
Shared through the support of the newspaper Liberation and the media presence of Louis-Georges Tin, the Pacte is a political act in itself, challenging all of us.”

French Banlieues are NOT American Projects

When discussing la banlieue to an unfamiliar person, the example always given is that it is similar to the “projects” in America. Although while it is understandable to make this comparison, there are several distinct differences between the two that should not be overlooked.

1. American inner cities are enormous in comparison

The “projects” in America generally extend for miles and are in nature cities of their own. This is not the case with la banlieue they are much more defined areas. Although there may be several banlieues surrounding each other, each is a distinct area. Formally speaking, the word banlieue is a socially neutral term, designating the urbanized area sourounding the city center, which is composed of both sparsely and heavily populated areas. Consequently, in the Parisian area, for example, Neuilly-sur-Seine, the suburb Nicolas Sarcozy and many other wealthy residents live,  may be referred to as a banlieue the same as La Courneuve, where Alibi Montana was raised. To distinguish them, Parisians refer to a banlieue aisée, or comfortable suburb for Neuilly, and to a banlieue défavorisée, or disadvantaged suburb, for Clichy-sous-Bois.

2. There is less racial segregation in le banlieue

While American Projects tend to be extremely segregated by race, la banlieue is a very pluri-ethnic community. This is shown in several films such as La Haine (1995), in France minority groups have a tendency to unite, and race is not a divisive force.

 

 

3. Residents of the banlieue interact more with the city they are near

Gang Leader for a Day, a sociological piece written by Sudhir Venkatesh describes life in the “ghetto” of Chicago. He finds that these areas are similar to mini-cities, and outside interaction with the surrounding city is rare. In contrast, residents of the suburbs often interact with the surrounding city because there are not many grocery stores, movie theater, or even places to work in la banlieue.

 

 

 

4. Guns are much more common in American inner cities

One of the most notable differences between these two areas is the availability of fire arms. In France, it is highly illegal for citizens to possess assault rifles, only police are permitted. Although violence in the banlieue might be just a frequent, there far less deaths in these areas than in than in the American projects.

 

 

5. There is significantly more police presence in la banlieue

Additionally, while Police tend to stay out of the “projects” as much as possible, in France the police are very present in la banlieue. Many believe that this is part of the reason for the extremely tumultuous relationship by the police and banlieue residents.

6. Instead of Rap and Basketball, French youth hope to leave the banlieue through rap and soccer

The dream of making it big as a rapper of basketball is not unique to American “hood rats”.  The only difference is that for their French counter parts soccer is the sport of choice. The documentaries Hood Dreams (1994) and Les Yeux dans la Banlieue (2008) provide great insight into the dynamics of these aspirations.

–Brianna Losoya

Le Conseil Representatif des Associations Noires (CRAN) in Colorblind France

The French Republic’s colorblind stance and the accompanying institutional racism that substantially disadvantages its African and Black Caribbean immigrants necessitates the creation of institutions like the Conseil Representative des Associations Noires (CRAN). Organizations like CRAN are crucial because they allow France’s Black immigrant population to be more collectively visible in a society that vehemently ignores them and the facts of their reality.

Being colorblind does not mean that France is blind to their social problems involving their immigrant groups, it simply means that they attribute these problems to immigration as opposed to racism in the republic. The Black residents in France need councils like CRAN because living in colorblind France heightens racial tensions in that it ignores the role that their skin color has on shaping their disenfranchised social realities. This further makes them invisible and allows mainstream society to act in racist ways and get away with it.

CRAN is group of about 120 French associations, many of which are represented by Black Africans and Caribbeans whose primary mission is to fight against discrimination against Black residents of France so as to realize a more social equality between them and White French resident. The idea came about in 2005 at a conference examining the invisibility of the Black people in France. Its first president was Patrick Lozès (of Benin descent), followed by (after being reelected in 2008) the current president, Louis-Georges Tin (of Martinique descent), who was elected in 2011. CRAN was created specifically for Black French residents because, as Tin explains on the main website, “they need to make more visible the black question in France… which is an important question because it encompasses the problems of social, colonial, and racial discrimination”. It is also interesting to note that CRAN was founded in 2005 because this was right around the time of the 2005 riots which were highly racialized and a very tense period for France.

CRAN works towards its mission of increasing the visibility of the Black question in France by having annual dinners in which they gather some of Frances top figures and political personalities and discuss some of the issues facing the Black residents and what can be done to ameliorate them. They’ve also created a research council with 20 top academics to focus on researching the current state of Black residents in France and uncovering their history in France, some of which France has hidden. In addition, they have demanded that Le Petit Robert, one of France’s popular dictionaries, take out their definition of colonialism because of its emphasis on the positive effect of racism. Also notable is their demand that France collect diversity statistics. As mentioned earlier, part of France’s color-blind stance means that they cannot collect racial/ethnic statistics. CRAN argues that France should collect some sort of diversity statistic because it helps delineate feelings of membership. However, they do not argue for ethnic statistics because they find those potentially racist.

Comparing Novel to Film: Euzhan Palcy’s Adaptation of Black Shack Alley

Below is the opening excerpt from my midterm essay comparing the specific adaptations Euzhan Palcy made to the novel Black Shack Alley in order to convert Joseph Zobel’s original novel to film. If interested the full essay BlackShackAlleyComparingNovelToFilm is included here.

Euzhan Palcy’s standout work, Sugar Cane Alley (1983), is a film tightly based upon Joseph Zobel’s semi-autobiographical novel, Black Shack Alley. Set in Martinique in the early 1930’s, both the film and novel follow the life of the young protagonist, José, as he matures and struggles to escape the poverty and hardships of a sugar cane plantation in the colonial Caribbean. Aided by the sacrifice and love of his family, while both versions tell the same story of his eventual triumph, it is interesting to examine the subtle adaptations that Palcy made upon Zobel’s original text. Some of these changes, such as a stronger emphasis on José’s maturity and education in early scenes, are necessary to match the time scale of the book to that of the film. Others, such as character and dialogue changes, are artistic choices that highlight the close relationship between M’an Tine and José as well as directly confronting issues of racial inequality, slavery, and the push for a collective African heritage and identity. The end result is an outstanding film that maintains the authenticity and beauty of Zobel’s original novel while simultaneously challenging the viewer to think critically about the difficult racial issues present in colonial society.

Freedom of Religious Expression

To provide some background, the government of France has attempted to align itself with concept of laïcité, a constitutional guarantee that means there should be no mixing of religion and the state. Though the most recent iteration of this was implemented in 1905 in the French law on separation of church and state, secularism in France has had a long history with regard to the relationship between the government and the Catholic Church. Indeed, such concepts were important during the French Revolution when an end to the Church’s domination of the state was pursued aggressively. Today, however, the concept of laïcité can actually be very anti-religion in its implementation.

This is manifested in the 2004 headscarf ban. Essentially the bill, signed into law by President Jacques Chirac on March 15, 2004, banned the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols in public primary and secondary schools. While some Muslims may see the headscarf as a symbol of modesty, still others see it as a religious requirement that is overly patriarchal and oppressive. The latter is the view that most non-Muslims in France take and, thus, the passage of the 2004 headscarf ban went virtually unopposed with between 60-70% of the population supporting it. While it is true that many French do not consider the ban to be a problem, the reason for it probably had more to do with the center-right French government receiving a great deal of pressure from the far right National Front. If one thinks critically about the issue, it is apparent that the law would disproportionately fall on Muslim girls in public schools. Given this, the ban inevitably has led to many Muslim families removing their children from the state’s educational system. This would thereby deny a specific gender of one religion the right to equal educational opportunities. Unfortunately, this was not the end of problems for Muslims and their unique religious symbols.

Much more recently in April 2011 France formally banned the wearing of full-face veils in public places. Because of the wide-scale implementation of this law (as opposed to just in public schools), a number of protests took place throughout France. Since France has one of the largest (if not the largest) Muslim populations in Europe and because the law struck such a cord, the French police have been hesitant to implement this law. Indeed, law enforcement officers are not allowed to directly remove veils, but instead can fine offenders. The movement towards this particular ban came in 2009 from André Gérin, then the Communist mayor of Vénissieux. He believed that the full veil should be banned in the name of liberty and equality in a secular country like France. However, he also took his problems with Islam a step further by explaining that he was pushing for such a ban to curb the spread of what he considered Muslim radicialism and a separatist movement that threatened the French Republic. Given Gérin’s (and many other French officials’) fear of the “other” in France, a look at French identity is also necessary.

There is definitely a false ideal in France about what makes someone French. French politicians would have the rest of the world believe that French society is blind to ethnicity, color, and religion, but this is clearly not the case. Unlike the United States, which has had a major civil rights movement and discussion about race, ethnicity, and issues like affirmative action, no such dialogue or language for discussing differences has existed in France until very recently. Thus, issues such as secularism (in the form of laïcité) are then interpreted to exclude certain groups rather than including them. The very far right that Sarkozy attempts to appeal to still believes that the French Republic belongs to the typically white, Catholic, and French-speaking citizens. In their minds, there is no room for anyone even remotely different. And this is the heart of the problem. This is the reason why France so aggressively pursues blatantly “anti-other” laws such as the headscarf ban in public schools or the full veil throughout the country. As long as these extreme conservative elements within politics and among the French people have such a deeply rooted fear of those who are different, all the laws about secularism, separation of church and state, and racial/religious equality will be useless.

-Supallav Baksi-Lahiri

Les Bleus: A representation of racial progress and struggles

Sports, with all the passion involved for player and fan alike, has always been a medium through which the best and worst aspects of a society are brought to public attention. No team represents this truth more than Les Bleu, the French national team that throughout history has represented the both idyllic French model for integration but also recently served as a stark reminders of how racially prejudiced French society remains today. Listed below are some key moments in the history of Les Bleus relating to racial integration and issues, starting back in the early 20^th century and spanning to the most recent racial controversies in the last decade.

Early History: Progressive attitudes and Les Blancs, Black Beurs

• In 1931 the first player of ethnic descent, Raoul Diagne, makes the French national team. A defender born in French Guyane but from Senegalese heritage and family, Diagne was widely embraced by the public for his play and adoption of French culture
• By 1938 the French World Cup team included multiple players of West and North African descent, placing France far ahead of other countries in Europe and America
• By the 1990’s and in preparation for hosting the 1998 World Cup Les Bleus are lauded by the French public as the ideal model for French racial integration
• The 1998 national team, which was over half players of ethnic descent, was coined Les Black, Blanc, Beurs in celebration of the teams ethnic heritage upon winning the world cup

 

Growing Racial Tensions: Jean Marie-Le Pen and Alan Finkelkraut

• Even with the teams tremendous success in the late 90’s, racist remarks about the team in the public sphere
• In 1998 Jean Marie Le-Pen, a National front politician, declared that the team did not look “sufficiently French” because of the high numbers of players of ethnic descent
• Le-Pen had previously declared in 1996 that the team was “unpatriotic” due to the number of “foreigners” on the team, referring to the non-white players of immigrant descent
• In response to these comments the French national team publicly opposed Le Pen in the 2002 elections, the movement was led by Marcel Desailley, a member of the winning 1998 team of Ghanian descent

• In 2005 French essayist Alain Finkielkraut commented that les bleus were actually “black, black black”, claimed that France was made fun of all over Europe because of it

Head Butt Incident

• Occurred in 2006 World Cup Championship Game ft. France and Italy
• Zinedine Zidane of France head butted Marco Materazzi of Italy and was immediately ejected
• Materazzi rumored to have called Zidane’s parents “terrorists”
• Italian team had no minorities

2010 World Cup

• 2010 World Cup ended disastrously for the French national team
• Striker Nicolas Anelka expelled from team after argument with coach during a match
• Rest of the team refused to attend a training session in protest
• Media vilified players as “scum,” “gangsters,” and “little shitheads from the projects” in response to poor showing

“Quotagate”

• April 28^th, 2011 French website Mediapart released story and audio recordings of secret French Football Federation meetings designed to put “quota” on number of ethnic players
• FFF tried to put limit of 30% on Black and Arab players in French 12-13 year old soccer academies
• National Technical Director Francois Blaquart fired after investigation
• Current team manager Laurent Blanc was reported to have agreed to quota.  Claimed in previous meetings that there were too many “tall, strong black players” in the academies
• FFF leaders “afraid of players leaving France to play for other countries” after going through the different levels of French soccer academies
• After investigation Blanc cleared of charged

 

-Duncan Hussey, Travis Muraoka

NEGRITUDE

Negritude is a literary and ideological movement that began in France in the 1930s as a protest against French colonial rule and assimilation policies. It had a distinctly pan-africanist perspective with a focus was on preserving African values and culture and pride in being Black. As Cesaire put it, negritude is “the simple recognition of the fact that one is black, the acceptance of this fact and of our destiny as blacks, of our history and culture.” This conscientiousness of a shared black heritage would be used as best tool to fight European hegemony.

This movement was founded by a group of three French speaking black writers and intellectuals that met while studying in France in 1931. The following is a little information on each of the founder.

Aime Cesaire (1913-2008), a man of Martiniquan descent, actually coined the term negritude in his “Cahier d’un retour au pays natal” (1939).  His most famous work,  Cesaire uses poetry and prose to explore the cultural identity of Black Africans in a colonial setting.He was noted to have reclaimed the word “negre” (similar to the N word in the US) as a positive word and would use it in his works. Cesaire also taught the famous psychiatrist, philosopher, and writer, Frant Fanon.  More recently in 2006, Cesaire refused to meet with Sarkozy (the contender for the 2007 presidential election because he disapproved with Sarkozy’s support of a law asking teachers and textbooks to “acknowledge and recognize in particular the positive role of the French presence abroad, especially in North Africa”. In appreciation of his legacy, Martinique renamed thier ariport the Martinique Aime Cesaire International Airport.

Leopold Senghor (1906-2001), was of Senegalese descent and eventually became the first president  of Senegal in 1960. He advocated for a more modern incorportation of the expression and celebration of traditional african customs and ideas. Below is an excerpt from his famous poem “Femme nue, femme noire ” (ends at :30sec)

Leon Damas (1912-1978), was from French Guiana. His style of defending blackness was a bit more militant than the other two founders, especially in his rejection of any kind of reconciliation with the west. He eventually went on to teach in the U.S.A at Georgetown University and Howard University.

Nicolas Sarkozy – A Short Profile

Background

Nicolas Sarkozy was the son of a Hungarian aristocrat, who fled from Hungary to avoid the Red Army.  His mother was bourgeois of the 17th arrondissement of Paris and was married to Sarkozy’s father, Pal, until they split up in 1959.

 

Sarkozy was born in 1955 in Paris and grew up there.  He was not an amazing student, but did pass the bar exam and became primarily a business lawyer.  Today, he is married to singer and model, Carla Bruni, and has four children from three separate marriages.

Political Life

As far as his political life is concerned, he began as the city councilor, and later mayor, of Neuilly-sur-Seine at the tender age of 23.  He eventually would become the protege of former French President, Jacques Chirac.  Chirac made Sarkozy the Minister of the Budget, but then, in what would become something of a frequently tumultuous relationship, Sarkozy turned on Chirac by supporting his rivals.  When Chirac eventually won the election and once more became the French President, he outed Sarkozy from the government.  By 2002, however, they had normalized relations and Chirac appointed Sarkozy as the Minister of the Interior.  Then Sarkozy was promoted to Finance Minister in 2004 and Chirac would ultimately come to support Sarkozy presidential bid in 2007.  Today, however, the relationship has once again turned sour and former president Chirac is said to be voting against Sarkozy in the 2012 elections.

Sarkozy beat Socialist party candidate, Segolene Royal in the first and second round of voting and became president in 2007.  His party allegiance was to the UMP.  One of his first acts upon becoming president was to almost double his salary from $146,000 to $346,000.  Clearly there was some outcry due to such a self-serving act, but nothing came of it and Sarkozy claimed he was simply bringing his income up to par with other world leaders.

Nicolas on Immigration

Sarkozy has been quoted as saying there are “too many foreigners on our territory and we can no longer manage to find them accommodation, a job, a school.”  Indeed, he believes that France needs to toughen residency qualifications, though most believe this was simply an attempt to appeal to the far right National Front party.

Nicolas on Free Speech

After wanting to pass a law punishing anyone who denied that the killings by Turkey’s former Ottoman Empire of Armenians was genocide, Sarkozy came under attack.  Under Sarkozy’s proposed bill, anyone who publicly stated this would receive a punishment of either jail or a fine of 45,000 euros.  However, France’s Constitutional Council found this to be an unconstitutional attack on freedom expression and many in France saw this as an attempt by Sarkozy to pander to the 400,000 voters of Armenian origin in France during an election year.

-Supallav Baksi-Lahiri