« Je“It is think it was a mistake, and that it was not a good thing for the Republic. » These are the words of the outgoing National Rally (RN) MP Roger Chudeau, spoken on the BFMTV set on Thursday, June 27. He was referring to the former Minister of National Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, and to her dual nationality, which should have, according to him, prevented her from reaching such responsibilities. “Ministerial positions must be held by Franco-French people, period. » And to add: “There is a problem of dual loyalty at some point.”
These declarations are part of a very specific context: that of the legislative elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7, strongly marked by the rise of the RN and its deadly ideas, and by the physical and verbal violence that more and more people are suffering. racialized people, including among candidates, activists, elected officials or former ministers. « CWhat surprises me is the surprise of the observers”tackles Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, emphasizing that the distinctive sign of this political formation – the RN – is none other than racism.
An RN activist during Jordan Bardella’s election night for the results of the European elections in Paris on June 9, 2024. © Photo Chang Martin / Sipa
Enlarge image: Figure 1
« Ce is just that. The rest, the ties, the social program, the nice words, it’s of the dressing. That people are surprised shows to what extent we have managed to collectively manipulate ourselves, to the point of forgetting what is the DNA of this party »points out the one who is today president of the association France terre d’asile. Nothing new, she believes, more outraged by the legitimacy now given to a far-right party. That she is criticized – again – for her dual nationality? ” I am exposed to this type of accusation for years.”
And to add: « I have lived in France for forty-two years, I was adopted by this country and I have embraced the values. Despite this, I am sent back at my origin, et through mes millions of French people who are dual nationals or ont and immigrant parent. »
Hundreds of racist messages
« On it is will never be French enough for their taste. LThe hunt for those who do not resemble them is open, we are in theidentity assignment the most tRealtor »she deplores, noting that the supporters of the RN do not only attack foreigners in an irregular situation or so-called delinquents, but also those who “succeed” et “integrate”. “They can’t stand that. »
This violence, Sabrina Ali Benali, candidate under the banner of the New Popular Front (NFP) in Seine-Saint-Denis, describes it as being: “impressive”. Previously, she said, “it was mostly under a pseudonym on social networks”. Today it’s « open bar ».
This Franco-Algerian doctor speaks of the hundreds of racist messages she has received every day since the start of the campaign, urging her to “return to the countryside” and invoking the arrival in power of the RN for the “clear”. « On a Also francs a cap in the vocabulary. It is fascist, they talk about race, qualify us as parasites, tell me that II should kneel before the white race which is superior…”
Added to this are sexist insults and amalgamations around terrorism. “Now it’s Arab = Muslim = terrorist. When you know that my family fled the dark years in Algeria, it’s hard to be associated with that.”she confides.
The candidate says she feels ” penalty “ for his loved ones, who arrived in France and “started from nothing”worried of “to integrate” to the point of not teaching Arabic to their children, of whom she is one. “We found out much later, but it was to prevent us from suffering the racism they had lived. »
To protect himself and continue the fight, Aly Diouara, NFP candidate in Seine-Saint-Denis as well, tries not to dwell on the hateful messages that reach him. At least not in their entirety.
“It’s extremely violent. They tell me I’m going to go back to Gambia, they insult me like a monkey [Aly Diouara est noir – ndlr]. Things from another time », he laments, which are addressed to him on social networks but also by email. So far, during constituency campaigning, he says he has been spared verbal or physical attacks.
“But when I see the bus driver attacked and then knocked down in Val-de-Marne, we wonder how we got to such a level of violence and open racism. »
I had a very bad experience with it, I had sleepless nights.
In Belfort, activist Karim Merimèche experienced this violence on the ground, while he was campaigning for the outgoing candidate La France insoumise (LFI) Florian Chauche on June 17, as reported by France Bleu. “We found ourselves in a parking lot at the Roseraiehe tells Mediapart. I handed a leaflet to two men in a car, which they refused to take.”
The latter explain to the activist that they are voting “National Front, uh, National Rally”The candidate’s substitute, Mathilde Regnaud, then asked if they were aware of “voting for a racist party”. “They replied that they were not racist and that the party was not either.”continues Karim Merimèche.
But after digressing on the election of Mitterrand, « ils [lui] ask where [il] prop[t] at this moment “. « I understood where they were coming from, so I clarified that I was born in France. » He didn’t expect such an outpouring.
“One of the men told me: ‘Go back to your country, you dirty raghead, get lost, go home.’ I was shocked, I said nothing and I walked away. But he continued, calling me a ‘dirty raghead, piece of shit’ again and telling Mathilde to go and ‘get fucked by the ragheads.’”
Two witnesses to the scene managed to identify the man, aboard a company vehicle from the company Optymo, responsible for public transport in the Territoire de Belfort.
Karim Merimèche filed a complaint the following day, Tuesday, June 18, for racial insults. He does not understand how “we were able to get there today”condemning the racist, xenophobic, sexist and liberticidal ideology of the extreme right. “I took it very badly, I had sleepless nights. Being sent back to your origins and your skin color after everything that happened in history is incomprehensible.”
On Friday, June 28, outgoing MP and NFP candidate Mélanie Thomin denounced, in a press release, the “racist attacks” suffered by Kofi Yamgnane in Paris on Thursday June 20. Former minister and former mayor of the commune of Saint-Coulitz (Finistère), this dual French-Togolese national was attacked on a platform at Montparnasse station in Paris, he tells the Telegram.
« You better prepare to return home to Africa”, “We’re going to kick you all out”said a passerby as he crossed his path. “I feel like something different is happening. q“that racists feel liberated”he told the regional daily.
“I forgot to say how sad I am about all this.”concludes with bitterness Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who does not believe Marine Le Pen’s denials regarding Roger Chudeau’s attacks but clings to the numerous expressions of support received since Thursday.
For the former minister, the question that now arises is the following: do we want to exclude one in five French people, knowing that 13 million people are immigrants? or have at least one immigrant parent, according to INSEE? « We must raise our threshold d’collective intolerance towards racism, as we have been able to do towards sexism.
