Racism in France
has been called a serious social issue in French society, despite a widespread public belief that racism does not exist on a serious scale in France. Antisemitism and prejudice against Muslims have a long history. Acts of racism have been reported against members of various minority groups, including Jews, Roma, Berbers, Arabs, Southeast Asians and East Asians. Police data from 2019 indicated a total of 1,142 acts classified as "racist" without a religious connotation.
In-depth assessing of the issue remains difficult as French law prohibits the government from collecting ethnic and religious census data. The National and Consultative Commission on Human Rights reported in 2016 that only 8% of French people believe that some races are superior to others. French law legislates against racism. The Constitution of 1958 guarantees citizens equal treatment despite origin, race or religion. France was relatively early in history to have black people in a national parliament or in a government, or as president of a house of parliament. Some black people have held decisive positions, such as military officer Camille Mortenol who commanded the antiaircraft defence of Paris against Germany in 1914–1918. It nurtured the idea of a national immunity against racism despite the growth of anti-Arab violent crimes in the 1960s–1970s following waves of Arabic immigration.
France has long been a secular state. The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State established state secularism. The 2004 French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools bans all conspicuous religious signs for students in schools; the 1905 law prohibits all non-neutral signs on the part of all people working for the state, most notably in the civil service, including teachers and all other staff in a school. Politicians are prohibited from expressing religious preferences in public including through religious clothing. French secular laws have been presented by minority groups, especially Muslims in recent years, hindering their ability to express their religion.
In December 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it was "concerned" by "the persistence and extent of racist and discriminatory discourse in France, particularly in the media and on the Internet". At the end of the periodic review of France's policy towards its minorities, the independent experts of Cerd issued a series of observations and recommendations. They are concerned about the "racist political discourse held by political leaders", whose names are not mentioned, about certain minorities, in particular the Roma, travelers, Africans, or people of African descent, or North African.
Culture and political tradition
French political tradition does not use the term "racial minority" in its discourse because all of the rights that the French Revolution represents lie on two notions: the notion of the state and the notion of man. Thus, French political tradition sees these rights as a universal and natural benefit of being human.Some believe that politicians' desire to adhere to these ideals leads to a lack of recognition of ethnic minority groups. The existence of minority ethnicities is recognized in many European nations by the judicial system and the political sphere. Some states give migrants specific rights such as the right to receive an education in their native language. France, however, does not allow these rights as it only recognizes rights in the context of citizenship and human characterization.
In this vein, the state has encouraged assimilationist policies. In particular, the government has sought that foreign-born nationals, who have acquired French nationality, be considered French and not by their ethnic self-identity. Many Arab Muslims in France identify as Muslim, rather than Algerian, Moroccan or Arab. This is based more on community and family ties than religious observance. It is said that the notion of ethnicity, when it is used in France, ignores reference to race, in contrast to perceived usage the term in North America and the United Kingdom, to focus on cultural aspects.
Governmental and police statistics
The Interior Ministry provides a set of descriptors to be used by the police to classify individuals in lieu of race. The descriptors are: européen ; africain/antillais; métis; maghrébin; moyen-oriental; asiatique; indo-pakistanais; latino-américain; polynésien; mélanésien-canaque.For each year since 1990, the National Commission on Human Rights, attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, publishes a report regarding the state of racism in France.
In 2016, the Commission reported that 33% of French people consider themselves colourblind when it comes to race while 8% believe that some races are superior to others. It is believed that the 2015 terrorist attacks in France led to a greater presence of Islamophobia and raised the number of racist acts. Complaints of anti-Muslim acts and threats increased by 223% and the incidence of violent racist attacks was higher in the month following each terrorist attack.
According to the Commission, this data does not show the full reality as it is based exclusively on police data amidst a backdrop of allegations that French police are unjust in their treatment of racial issues.
The Commission also reported that 34% of the French population view Islam in a negative light and 50% consider it a menace against the national identity. In addition, 41% of the population believe that Jews have a singular relationship with money and 20% of them believe that Jews have too much power in France.
The Romani people in France are the minority group less tolerated: 74% of French people consider them a groupe à part and more than half of the people still believe the Roma make their living from stealing and other illicit activities.
In March 2024, the statistical service of the French Ministry of the Interior reports that crimes or offenses of a racist, xenophobic, antisemitic or anti-religious nature increased by 32% in 2023 compared to 2022 in France.
According to the 2024 report of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, the report notes a very great intolerance towards minorities and a sharp increase in racist acts in France.
Racism and religion
Some racist acts have a religious connotation: 687 anti-Jewish and 154 anti-Muslim acts were perpetrated in 2019 for a total population of over 67 million. Although France's Muslim population far exceeds its Jewish population according to private studies, antisemitic acts far outnumbered Islamophobic acts in 2019 according to official government statistics.Religious minorities have experienced discrimination based on France's secularism laws. Recently, in 2022, the Council of State ruled in favour of the Ministry of the Interior that the municipality of Grenoble had broken secular national law when its council voted in favour of authorizing burkinis in public swimming pools. In a 2016 case however, the Council of State ruled that burkinis could be worn on public beaches in France as beaches were found to constitute a "public space" rather than a "public service".
Racism against Jews
In France, Liberty of religion was mainly granted by two laws: the first law was passed in 1789 and the second in 1905.The Dreyfus Affair
In 1894, a Jewish artillery officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of giving secret French documents to the German army and tried and convicted of treason. In 1895, the real culprit, Commander Esterhazy was found, tried, and acquitted, even though abundant proof of his guilt was brought to court. Dreyfus and his family then decided to contact the President of the Senate to prove the weakness of the allegations that were brought against him. Because antisemitic and nationalist ideals plagued late 19th-century France, Dreyfus was quickly targeted due to his Jewish origins and he fell victim to much antisemitic discrimination. Eleven years after his conviction, Dreyfus was found innocent.The Vichy Regime of 1940–1944
In 1939, France declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland. Many tensions arose within the government, separating supporters of the war effort from dissidents. Marshal Pétain became Council President after Paul Reynaud stepped down and left office due to the harsh climate that the French government was experiencing. Pétain left Paris and traveled to Vichy with his government. With the support of Pierre Laval, he obtained full powers from the National Assembly and used them to create a new constitution for the French state, putting an end to the 3rd Republic.The new Pétain government, also called the Vichy Government, surrendered to Nazi Germany on 22 June 1940, in Rethondes, France. Germany immediately moved into France and the Gestapo occupied the Northern part of the country. After becoming head of State, Pétain set up a cult of personality, banned all political parties and censored the press. After it instituted these reforms, the Vichy government began to express its antisemitic views by passing laws which discriminated against Jews in imitation of the Nazi German Nuremberg laws. In 1940, Jews were prohibited from working in certain jobs and they were also prohibited from going to certain places such as restaurants and stores. They were also required to wear the Star of David on their shirts, the visibility of this symbol enabled non-Jews to recognize Jews on sight. As the Vichy government continued to collaborate with Nazi Germany and as Jews continued to be marginalized from French society, French officials organized raids and they also began to call for the deportation of all Jews who were living within French territory.