This is unprecedented in the history of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH). No one at Matignon responded to its invitation to submit its annual report on the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, published this Thursday, June 27. A meeting in principle essential for the Prime Minister for more than three decades.
On the eve of the early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7, the figures revealed in this report – based on face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of 1,210 people – are nevertheless alarming: the index longitudinal tolerance, which measures each year the evolution of prejudices among the French on a scale of 0 to 100 (the closer the index is to 100, the higher the level of tolerance), declines by 3 points in one year, to reach 62. A setback “substantial and rare”underlines political scientist Vincent Tiberj, university professor and researcher at the Emile-Durkheim Center, co-author of the report.
The index, in decline for the second consecutive year, nevertheless remains at one of the highest levels, far from those recorded at the beginning of the 1990s and 2010 (around 50). Under the effect of three demographic developments – the rise in the level of qualifications, generational renewal and the diversification of the French population – “biological” racism, based on the conviction that there are races superior to others , has become marginal. An overwhelming majority of French people today are quick to condemn discrimination and 79% consider that a “vigorous fight against racism is necessary in France”.
“Political-media noise”
“A majority of citizens remain openinsisted M. Tiberj. Open to diversity, to immigration, capable of distinguishing between criticism of Islam and anti-Muslim prejudice, but many do not vote, while the most radical right-wingers go to the polls. » Thus 54% of supporters of the National Rally (RN) and 26% of supporters of the Republicans say they are racist. And their contingent is growing, while the image of the far-right party has improved among the French. According to the annual barometer on the image of the RN, published by The world and - in December 2023, 41% of French people think that the RN represents a danger for democracy, the lowest level since 1984.
His electoral success is today fueled by a multi-faceted xenophobia which places immigrants at the heart of all intolerance. Beyond old stereotypes, it is also economic and social. “In a context of deterioration of public services, particularly health, there is the feeling that immigrants are capturing part of the resources allocated to social protection”adds Emmanuel Rivière, opinion specialist and teacher at Sciences Po. To this is added “the link made by many French people between insecurity and immigrationexplains Laurence de Nervaux, executive director of the think tank Common Destiny. And finally, there is tension around the question of Islam and its relationship to the values of the Republic, in particular women’s rights and secularism.
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