Black French people explained

Group:Black French people
Population:Approximately 3–5 million (2009 estimate); NB: it is illegal for the French State to collect data on ethnicity and race.
Popplace:Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Saint Martin, Réunion, Mayotte, New Caledonia
Langs:French, French Creoles, New Caledonian languages, African languages
Religions:Majority Christianity or Islam, minority Irreligion and Traditional African religions
Related Groups:Sub-Saharan AfricansMelanesians

Black French people also known as French Black people or Afro-French (Afro-Français) are French people who are of Sub-Saharan African (including Malagasy people and Afro-Arabs) or Melanesian ancestry. It also includes people of mixed African/Melanesian and French ancestry.

The absence of a legal definition of what it means to be "black" in France, the extent of anti-miscegenation laws over several centuries, the great diversity of black populations (African, Caribbean, Indian or Melanesian) and the lack of legal recognition of ethnicity in French population censuses make this social entity extremely difficult to define, unlike in countries such as the USA.

Definition issues

In France, there is no formal definition of ethnicity, particularly in terms of its relationship to French identity or to métissage. However, this type of identity may be reflected in organizations such as the Conseil représentatif des associations noires, or in other ways.

Much of the academic literature dedicated to black people comes from the USA, where "black identity" is relatively homogeneous : these are essentially the descendants of slaves brought over in the 18th century to work on the plantations of the American Southeast. However, the definition of "black" in the United States, based on the "One-drop rule", is also highly open to criticism, and only partially correlates with skin color and historical trajectory.

If the black Americans can be roughly compared to French black people from the overseas departments (notably the West Indies, even if equal rights there go back much further than in the US), the bulk of dark-skinned people living in mainland France have nothing to do with this pattern or with the history of slavery: as historian and former minister Pap Ndiaye points out, in France "the black group is infinitely diverse socially and culturally, and lumping all blacks into the same categorical bag is a problematic operation."[1]

This great complexity in talking about "Blacks" served as the basis for the screenplay of the film Tout simplement noir (by Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax, 2020), which illustrates the distance between personalities such as Claudia Tagbo (a naturalized French actress from Côte d'Ivoire), Omar Sy (a French actor born in Trappes to Senegalese and Malian parents), Lucien Jean-Baptiste (an actor from Martinique) and JoeyStarr (born in Paris to Martinique parents of Afro-Caribbean, Breton and Chinese descent), Éric Judor (born to a father of mixed race from Guadeloupe and an Austrian mother) and Vikash Dhorasoo (of south Indian origin).[2]

Other non-African black-skinned ethnic groups include some of the Dravidian peoples of southern India, and the Melanesians of the south-western Pacific Ocean (including the French territory of New Caledonia), of whom Christian Karembeu is a famous representative.

Population statistics

Although it is illegal for the government of France to collect data on ethnicity and race in the census (a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958),[3] various population estimates exist. An article in The New York Times in 2008 stated that estimates vary between 3 million and 5 million.[4] It is estimated that four out of five black people in France are of African immigrant origin, with the minority being chiefly of Caribbean ancestry.[5] [6]

Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of France's Black Associations (French: link=no|Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favor of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians,[7] [8] often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harkens back to Vichy-era identity documents.[9] During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.[10] Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.[3]

Notable people

In French politics

Afro-French or Polynesian members of the French Parliament or government from overseas France

There have been dozens of Afro-Caribbean, Kanak, and Afro-French MPs representing overseas electoral districts at the French National Assembly or at the French Senate, and several government members.

Afro-French people elected in metropolitan France

Political activists

In sports

Other sports

In entertainment and media

In literature

European / African (or Afro-Caribbean) descent

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: fr . Pap Ndiaye . Pour une histoire des populations noires en France : préalables théoriques . 2005 . Le Mouvement Social.
  2. Web site: fr . Camille Diao . Existe-t-il une identité noire en France ? . 14 August 2021 . France Culture.
  3. Oppenheimer. David B.. 2008. Why France needs to collect data on racial identity...in a French way. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. 31. 2. 735–752. 1236362.
  4. News: For blacks in France, Obama's rise is reason to rejoice, and to hope. Kimmelman. Michael. 17 June 2008. The New York Times. 2009-10-27.
  5. News: Black anchor fills top spot on French TV. Bennhold. Katrin. 3 August 2006. International Herald Tribune. 2. 2009-10-27.
  6. Web site: Franceblack. 2010-04-06. 16 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220116221054/http://itsabouttimebpp.com/Announcements/Frances_Forgotten_People.html. dead.
  7. Louis-Georges. Tin. 2008. Who is afraid of Blacks in France? The Black question: The name taboo, the number taboo. French Politics, Culture & Society. 26. 1. 32–44. 10.3167/fpcs.2008.260103.
  8. News: Black residents of France say they are discriminated against. 31 January 2007. International Herald Tribune. 2009-10-27.
  9. News: 28 March 2009. France's ethnic minorities: To count or not to count. The Economist. 390. 8624. 62.
  10. News: French presidential candidates divided over race census. Chrisafis. Angelique. 24 February 2007. The Guardian. 25. 2009-10-27.
  11. Book: Lawrence, Adria K.. Imperial Rule and the Politics of Nationalism: Anti-Colonial Protest in the French Empire. 2013. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-03709-0.
  12. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche.asp?num_dept=902 René, Emile BOISNEUF (1873 - 1927) Biographie extraite du Jean Joly Dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1889 à 1940 1946
  13. Pierre-Yves Lambert, "Conseillers généraux d'origine non-européenne ", Suffrage Universel
  14. Pierre-Yves Lambert, "Maires métropolitains d'origine non-européenne ", Suffrage Universel
  15. Web site: Législatives. Rachel Keke (Nupes) élue dans la 7e circonscription du Val-de-Marne . 2022-06-19 . actu.fr . 19 June 2022 . fr . 2022-06-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220620054825/https://actu.fr/politique/elections-legislatives/legislatives-rachel-keke-nupes-elue-dans-la-7e-circonscription-du-val-de-marne_51733612.html . live .
  16. Web site: Mme Fanta Berete - Paris (12e circonscription) - Assemblée nationale . 2022-08-04 . www2.assemblee-nationale.fr.
  17. Web site: M. Carlos Martens Bilongo - Val-d'Oise (8e circonscription) - Assemblée nationale . Mr. Carlos Martens Bilongo - Val-d'Oise (8th constituency) - National Assembly . 5 November 2022 . French.

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