The issue of race in France

[mbewane]

The French were very big on assimilation I.e. Africans becoming Frenchman. Do you think most blacks in France see themselves as Frenchman?

I find it interesting because the Anglos were very much about keeping blacks separate.

Still are very much into assimilation ("integration" in french) to this day, which really goes back to how the French state was built even before Black people were in the picture. How France was set up was to have one nation, one language, one people, meaning that even white regional identities have been violently crushed since forever. There used to be tons of regional languages (in Bretagne, Basque country, Alsace, French Flanders, and basically all over the southern half of France) and when public school became a thing and french was being taught, it was prohibited to speak those regional languages. Basically it was the power in Paris imposing itself on the rest of what is now France.This is quite specific to France, which is extremely centralized, as opposed to countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc. So this assimilation policy towards black people comes from very far, and that's one of the reasons it's so difficult to have discussions over race. Also this same assimilation policy was applied to all immigrant groups : people from Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Armenia, etc. It's not specific to Blacks (or Arabs), but in this case obviously you have the added and crucial racial aspect.

It depends what one means by "Frenchman" I would say. If it means ONLY as a Frenchman, and like a random white guy from Poitiers who has no specific foreign origins or links to other countries, then no. Maybe Black french people recognize themselves more in the region/city/communities where they live as opposed to France as a country. Even more so the case in the banlieues and in the South, especially Marseille. But unless we're talking about people who grew up in Africa or the Caribbean and moved to France later on, I don't think there's a huge group of people thinking about moving "back" to wherever their origins are. Most people from what I can gather want to change things here, which is where a vast majority of them were born and raised. But the link with the country of origin/Africa is something that won't, and shouldn't, go away, so it's a different way of "being french". (all of this is my thoughts of course, I'm no expert)

 

[MischievousMonkey]

On education in colonial French West Africa:

In French West Africa, for instance, it
was a battle for acculturation of the African mind in order to assure France of the
loyalty of her African subjects. By alienating the African as much as possible from
his culture, France was able to economically maximize the benefits accruable from
colonialism without much dissent from the colonized. Themost strategic tool for this
cultural acculturation was the colonial education policy. In the words of M. Brevie,
theGovernor-General of FrenchWest Africa, which he stated before the Government
Council of French West Africa

The duties of colonialism and political and economic necessities have imposed a twofold
task on our work in education. On one hand, we must train indigenous cadres to become
our auxillaries in every area, and assure ourselves of a meticulously chosen elite. We must
also educate the masses to bring them closer to us and transform their way of living… from
the political standpoint we must make known to the people our intention of bringing them
into the French way of life… From the economic viewpoint we must train the producers and
consumers of tomorrow… the content of our school programs is not simply a pedagogical
affair. The pupil is an instrument of indigenous politics (Moumouni 1978, 43).

In the text of the decree of May 10, 1924, which reorganized education in French
West Africa, it stated quite clearly, the reasons for embarking on the education of the
natives as follows:

Article 5: Attendance in school should be obligatory for the sons of chiefs and notables.
Articles 9: The best student from the preparatory school, those who understand and speak
French, shall be directed to the nearest elementary school and continue directly on for the
Certificat d’etudes primaries indigene (CEPI). The others, constituting the large majority,
will be returned to their families and replaced by an equal number of young recruits in order
that the largest number of children will be given an introduction to the understanding and
use of spoken French.
Article 2: The essential goal of elementary education is to bring the greatest possible number
of indigenous people closer to us, to familiarize them with our language, our institutions and
our methods, to lead them gradually towards economic and social progress by the careful
evolution of their own civilization.
Article 32: The goal of advanced primary education is to provide general education in each
colony:
1. To give additional instruction to the sons of local notables who will later be called on to
assist our administration as chiefs.
2. To prepare candidates for the schools of the Governor-General, in order to supply native
officials for general administration.
3. To train officials for local administration. The number and nature of the sections will vary
according to the needs of the colony.
Article 64: French will be the sole language in the schools. Teachers are forbidden to use
local languages with their students (Moumouni 1978, 45).

Indigenous Knowledge and Education in Africa, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu