Letter From Paris
Paris Kiosque - November 2008 - Volume 15, Number 11
Copyright © 2008 Harriet Welty-Rochefort - Used with permission.
You probably know that much-quoted saying : « When
America sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold ».
The phrase is generally used to describe a negative happening such as the
recent U.S. financial crisis that has spread like wildfire to the rest of the
world.
For once, though, America sneezed and the « contagion »,
with the election of Barack Obama, the first black President of the United
States, was wildly positive.
In France, where 84 per cent of the population was pro-Obama,
the effect was immediate. Blacks in the low income suburbs that blazed in
2005 gathered to exchange high fives or get down on their knees to give
thanks. In my building, a Singaporean neighbor, who like me, is married
to a Frenchman, jumped up and down as I approached her in the
courtyard of my building the morning after the election with a huge smile
and « Congratulations !! »
« What a wonderful truly democratic country the U.S. is, »
she exclaimed.
My French sister-in-law who was traveling in Cambodia
even phoned to send her félicitations.
To say it was a wonderful moment is an understatement. For
anti-Bush Americans, it was the first time in eight long years
that they could hold up their heads with pride. Whether
pro-McCain or pro-Obama, one thing became evident
the minute Obama was elected : The tremendous bad will engendered by
Bush seemed to disappear in the wink of an eye.
After the congratulations came the rumination : how is it, the French
asked themselves, that the Americans elected a black President only forty
years after segregated schools and buses and restaurants when in France
minorities are so under-represented in public life.
The statistics are telling. In the entire French National Assembly, there is
ONE person of color. There are no Arabs, Muslims or anyone but old and
young white guys (and to a much lesser extent gals).
As for heads of major companies, students in the elite schools, mayors
of cities, you'd have to look long and hard to see many, if any,
representatives of France's rich ethnic diversity.
Not that nothing has been done. President Nicolas Sarkozy, himself the
son of a Jewish mother of Greek origin and a Hungarian father, is not
exactly the typical French president of a « purely French »
mother and father. Acutely aware of his own difference, he opened up his
conservative government to members of the French left and was the first
President to appoint a black Frenchwoman, Rama Yade, of Senegalese
origin, and two Frenchwomen of North African descent, Rachida Data and
Fadela Amara, to key positions in his government. A major step,
certainly, but not major enough for those who point out that these were
appointments, not elections.
Another breakthrough came seven years ago when the director of the elite
Institut d'Etudes Politiques, which counts among its graduates
several Prime Ministers and a few French presidents, set up a special
program encouraging bright high school students from the low income
suburbs to take the competitive entrance examinations to attend this
exclusive university. His move caused a scandal (with one protestor
yelling « Give them money ! ») but the director prevailed,
« Sciences Po », as it's called, became
democratized, and the program is a success.
In spite of efforts like this, many French people think that to avoid further
burning in the suburbs, it's high time to step up the action. Only
a few days after Obama's election, Le Journal de
Dimanche, a French Sunday paper, published « a manifesto for
real equality » to speed along the process of integration.
« The election of Barack Obama », it said,
« illuminates the cruel contrast between the shortcomings of the
French Republic and the gap that separates us from a country whose
citizens were able to go beyond the racial question and elect for president
a man who happens to be black. What a lesson ! We French ...should
listen. »
One who is listening is French Secretary of State for Urban Policy Fadala
Amara, a huge fan of Obama who says that the President-elect
will be a wonderful role model for minorities in France.
« I love America more and more », she told a group of
journalists at a press breakfast I attended a week before the election.
« Why ? » we asked, intrigued.
« Obama, » she replied with a big smile.
For this 44-year-old junior minister of Algerian descent,
« the United States is a democracy capable of bringing a person of
color to the highest office. I find that the democratic process that brings
him to power formidable, » she said, adding that in France this is
not about to happen soon even though she is doing everything she can to
better the life of people in low income suburbs and level the playing field.
« It's not our election, of course », she said, but
« there's been an extraordinary infatuation with Obama in
the neighborhoods, a true phenomenon of identification ».
She lauds President Sarkozy's openness in appointing her to
head up the Ministry of Urban Policy. « I told him I was a person of
the left and that I didn't vote for him, » she says. That
didn't stop him, an aspect of his personality she admires.
Fadala is as outspoken and blunt as Sarkozy in a political world where
most come from the same privileged and polished background and speak
the same politically correct language which, she says, she cannot abide.
She takes a tough stance on what she calls « miserabilisme »
(looking at the sordid side of life). «I come from these
neighborhoods myself and for 30 years I was subjected to various
government plans coming from on high. I'm against those who
preach victimization and advocate handouts. Most of the problems are
caused by a small minority of people who are dealing in drug trafficking
and other illegal measures. The ones burning the cars and catcalling the
Marseillaise aren't representative of the suburbs-they
are kids who are rivals for territory.»
One reason she's against victimization is that she herself refuses
to be seen as a victim. After her village was bombed by the French in the
Algerian War, her family moved to Clermont Ferrrand where she founded
a group called Ni Putes Ni Soumises, a group of women in low
income areas militating for secularism and the rights of women.
Fadala is a ferocious advocate of secularism : « I'm a
practicing Muslim but I like the French model in which no one cares about
what religion I am and religion remains in the private sphere. »
Since she comes from the places she's now trying to clean up,
she's aware of how visits from government officials usually go.
« They clean up and paint things on the streets the official will
travel through. If the minister ventures off one block, which she
won't, she'll see a picture of decay. » As
Minister, she decided to make four or five visits a week to the suburbs and
not follow the path set out for her. Instead she shows up in the homes of
ordinary people and chats with them about their lives and what they
would like to see fixed.
She disapproves of what she sees as the English and American model of
communautarism. « What this means in my community is that the
virginity of women is a community affair having to do with the honor of
the family and that there is tremendous pressure put on the body of the
woman who cannot make decisions for herself. The function of the
Republic is to allow people to get OUT of their communities and their
regressive practices. »
So what about Obama. Could France ever have a black President ?
Not now, she says.
But there's no doubt about it : The election of the first African
American President has set the suburbs on fire - the fire of
hope.
Harriet Welty Rochefort is the author of
"French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French"
and "French Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris"
French Toast was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "wise and devastatingly
funny". For world-famous chef Alain Ducasse, her second book French Fried
"in a lively and hilarious style ... gives an inside look at the world of
French cuisine and wine." Both books are published by St. Martin's Press.
She is currently working on her third book about the French.
Coming to Paris? Harriet gives
tailormade wine and cheese tastings to individuals as well as to university
groups. For more information, visit her webpages:
www.frenchfolio.com and
www.understandfrance.com .
If you've had some funny, startling, satisfying, or dismaying
food experiences in France you'd like to share,
you may contact Harriet directly at
harriet.welty@hwelty.com.
Editor's Note:
Dear Readers, while our writers are always
delighted to hear and to receive comments, both about their columns in the The Paris Kiosque,
as well as your experiences in Paris,
they are unable to answer requests for travel information.
Thank you for your understanding.
