Can we have an Obama in France?
I am still in France till tomorrow. Like French people, I have been following the election results on TV. I was amazed to see that every French channel was following the election. It sounded a bigger deal than when French president Sarkozy was elected.
89% of the French population supported Obama. It was the same in Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium,…almost all over.
Barrack Obama ’s election is a big deal not only for the Americans, but for the French too. It raised the following question: “Can an Obama be elected in France as well”? The answer is NO.
This is very sad but it is true. The French government is still racially biased, even more than the French population. Sociologist El Jamine Soum has been interviewed on France 2 today and his answer was clear. There is still a lot of discrimination in French Politics, in the right as well as in the left parties. The motto:”Liberty, Egality, Fraternity” is still far from being true.
Hopefully this new election will be a model for France and other countries. I have been American for 2 years now (before I was Belgian) and I can say that today, I am proud of my new country.
My name is Jackie Grandchamps. In 2003, I founded French Escapade, offering another way to travel in small groups of 8. "Don't be a tourist, be our guest" is the moto and spirit of my company.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 4:36 am
What do you mean by “Can an Obama be elected in France”?
Do you mean:
(1) “can a young, fresh politician, unknown just a few years ago, not in the core elite of his party, with a relatively modest social background, be elected” ??
or do you mean
(2) “can a “black” or “coloured” (or whatever other ambivalent term) person elected” ??
If it’s (1), your question is relevant, interesting, and at the core of the french problem.
If it’s (2), your question is irrelevant. If I were a bad guy, I would even notice that your question would in this case be a “racist” one, in the strict sense of the term.
Unfortunately, I know that everybody actually thinks (2) when asking this not-so-smart question.
I’m happy that France is a coloured-blind society.
Even if it’s mocked as pure “theory”, even if social discriminations in the French society may in some cases be favoured by the skin colour.
On the long term I’m sure it will pay.
Affirmative action would lead nowhere. Europe needs other questions and other answers. Let’s talk about social justice, let’s talk about the conflict of generations over here. THESE are the real issues.
Obama’s election is good news.
It’s not a reason to naively focus on his “colour”, not a reason to import US “ethnicism” in Europe, not a reason to stop thinking.
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I completely agree with you that Obama’s election is a good thing. Like I said in my post, I am proud of being American right now and as you can guess, I did vote for Obama.
My question, which is in fact your question #2, is actually not a personal question. I had been watching the French news that day and they asked the question to El Jamine Soum. His answer was no.
So. I am sorry if this post offended you. It was just a reflection I heard and I think it is legitimate to post whatever was on the news.
I gave my personal opinion by saying that I hope we have an Obama one day.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
Jackie