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The absence of a legal definition of what it means to be "black" in France, the extent of anti-miscegenation laws over several centuries, the great diversity of black populations (African, Caribbean, etc) and the lack of legal recognition of ethnicity in French population censuses make this social entity extremely difficult to define, unlike in countries such as the United States.
In France, there is no formal definition of ethnicity, particularly in terms of its relationship to French identity or to métissage. However, this type of identity may be reflected in organizations such as the Conseil représentatif des associations noires, or in other ways.
Much of the academic literature dedicated to black people comes from the USA, where "black identity" is relatively homogeneous: these are essentially the descendants of slaves brought over in the 18th century to work on the plantations of the American Southeast. However, the definition of "black" in the United States, based on the "One-drop rule", is also highly open to criticism, and only partially correlates with skin color and historical trajectory.
If the black Americans can be roughly compared to French black people from the overseas departments (notably the West Indies, even if equal rights there go back much further than in the US), the bulk of dark-skinned people living in mainland France have nothing to do with this pattern or with the history of slavery: as historian and former minister Pap Ndiaye points out, in France "the black group is infinitely diverse socially and culturally, and lumping all blacks into the same categorical bag is a problematic operation."[2]
This great complexity in talking about "Blacks" served as the basis for the screenplay of the film Tout simplement noir (by Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax, 2020), which illustrates the distance between personalities such as Claudia Tagbo (a naturalized French actress from Côte d'Ivoire), Omar Sy (a French actor born in Trappes to Senegalese and Malian parents), Lucien Jean-Baptiste (an actor from Martinique) and JoeyStarr (born in Paris to Martinique parents of Afro-Caribbean, Breton and Chinese descent), Éric Judor (born to a father of mixed race from Guadeloupe and an Austrian mother) and Vikash Dhorasoo (of south Indian origin).[3]
Other non-African black-skinned ethnic groups include some of the Dravidian peoples of southern India, and the Melanesians of the south-western Pacific Ocean (including the French territory of New Caledonia), of whom Christian Karembeu is a famous representative.
Although it is illegal for the government of France to collect data on ethnicity and race in the census (a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958),[4] various population estimates exist. An article in The New York Times in 2008 stated that estimates vary between 3million and 5million.[5] It is estimated that four out of five black people in France are of African immigrant origin, with the minority being chiefly of Caribbean ancestry.[6][7]
Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of France's Black Associations (French: Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favor of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians,[8][9] often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harkens back to Vichy-era identity documents.[10] During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.[11] Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.[4]
In French politics
Afro-French members of the French Parliament or government from overseas France
There have been dozens of Afro-Caribbean, Kanak, and Afro-French MPs representing overseas electoral districts at the French National Assembly or at the French Senate, and several government members.
Jean-Baptiste Belley, first black politician to take seat at the National Convention when elected on 24 September 1793, as one of three members (deputés) elected to the French Parliament by the northern region of Saint-Domingue.
Hégésippe Légitimus, second black deputy elected to the French National Assembly from 1898–1902 and 1906-1914.
Ngalandou Diouf, elected in 1909 to represent the commune of Rufisque at the advisory General Assembly (Conseil Général) of Saint-Louis, then capital of colonial Senegal.[12]:109–110
Achille René-Boisneuf, Guadeloupe politician and one of the first black deputies in the French National Assembly. He is incorrectly given the name Émile instead of Achille in Jean Joly's Dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1889 à 1940 1946.[13]
Christiane Taubira, deputy from French Guiana, was the first black candidate to a French presidential election, in 2002. In 2012, she became the Justice Minister until 2016.
Louis Guizot (1740-1794), magistrate, became the very first Black Mayor of a town in metropolitan France in 1790, before ending up guillotined during the Reign of Terror.
Severiano de Heredia, president of the municipal council of Paris (1879–1880/ sort of mayor of Paris ), deputy for Paris (1881–1889), minister (1887)
Blaise Diagne (1872-1934), first person of Sub-Saharan African origin elected to the French Chamber of Deputies, and the first to hold a position in the French government.
Raphaël Élizé[fr] (1891–1945), first Black metropolitan mayor elected through universal suffrage (1929–40)[14]
Élie Bloncourt (1896–1978), second Black metropolitan deputy (1936–40, 1945–47), first Black metropolitan general councillor (1934–40, 1945–51)[15]
Gaston Monnerville (1897–1991), first Black metropolitan senator (1946–1974), president of the French Senate (1947–68), mayor, president of Lot's general council
George Pau-Langevin, Paris deputy (2007–12), junior minister (2012–2014), Minister for Overseas (2014–)
Seybah Dagoma, then 34-year-old lawyer of Chadian descent and founding member of a left-wing think tank, was elected in a Parisian constituency in 2012 and in office until 2017.
Oppenheimer, David B. (2008). "Why France needs to collect data on racial identity...in a French way". Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. 31 (2): 735–752. SSRN1236362.
Louis-Georges, Tin (2008). "Who is afraid of Blacks in France? The Black question: The name taboo, the number taboo". French Politics, Culture & Society. 26 (1): 32–44. doi:10.3167/fpcs.2008.260103.
Laura Flessel, a Caribbean sportswoman (Guadeloupe)
Vikash Dhorasoo, a footballer originating from south India.
Sébastien Folin, a TV presenter of Indo-Malagasy origins (from la Réunion).
Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff twin brothers, considered as Russian in France but who would be considered as people of color if following the US ethnicity guidelines.
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