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This logic of whitening the lineage was probably not conscious in him. It was part of a survival system passed down through generations. In Antillean society, it is no coincidence that white or light-skinned people are still found in leadership positions today: the social structure was configured exactly as Moreau de Saint-Méry’ s classification prescribes. A hierarchy so deeply embedded that people were actually called by the label corresponding to their skin tone. A mulâtre is not a métis, who is not a quarteron, who is not a mamelouc. And the Creole language has its own terms: chabin, po chapé, noir comme un Congo( black like a
Congo)…
French Society & Politics
At the“ L’ Afrique fait son cinéma” festival – Best Short Documentary Film Award 2025
In France, the election of mayors of African origin has sparked strong and contrasting reactions. Do these controversies reveal, in your view, a structural difficulty in accepting diversity in positions of power?
Yes, clearly. And the media, and those who own them, follow that same tendency. At the same time, the UN held a vote to recognize the slave trade and slavery as the greatest crime against humanity— and France abstained, even though twenty-five years ago it voted for the Taubira Law recognizing those very same crimes. It’ s a kind of walking schizophrenia: declaring something a crime while refusing to address its consequences. That is entirely incoherent for a country that upholds itself as a nation of law and justice. But civic thinking is not necessarily aligned with institutional thinking— I understood this early on, during my dissertation research. I had built a website to survey French people using fake advertisements: a Black person behind the wheel of a Mercedes, or conversely, a white person in situations typically assigned to Black people. The results stunned me: respondents were entirely willing to see Black people selling luxury or prestige products. That confirmed a real gap between ordinary people and decision-makers, advertisers, institutions.
Flashmag! Edition 171 Avril 2026
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