Jean-Claude Tchicaya, spokesperson for the anti-racist organization Devoirs de Memoires, considers this event a turning point in the future of our country.
Is there a trend of favoring Barack Obama in working class districts?
Tchicaya: Yes, undoubtedly. It’s more than admiration, it is more like camaraderie. This is not only perceived as an American affair, but also an international affair for many reasons. For one, he announced a break with Bush’s policies not only on the national level but also on the international level.
What exactly about this candidate interests the working class French people?
They see themselves in one another. This man resembles everyone; he is black and white, white and black – that is to say bi-racial, like our banlieues and therefore our own country. One could see him as being of North African or Indian descent. People identify him with their own personal journey: the son of an immigrant who experienced a single parent household, living in a bad neighborhood in Chicago, etc. He lauds policies that transcend real or imagined divides, in terms of the national community in the United States, but even in the international community. He wants each person to feel a part of each of their racial identities without having to disavow any. He is the proof that upward social mobility is possible. Obama isn’t only charismatic, he is also very intelligent, a man of the 21st century. The youth in our housing projects see him as an example of the possibility of becoming the leader of a country, a Party, a business, of being a subject and not an object. The fact that the largest world power can have a black man at its head opens up an immense hope.
How can one see French reality in Obama? What does he share with those in the banlieues?
His success shows us the path in our own country one must take in order to have a real place in society, not a subalterne or an annex, not an alibi, and not as a guest. The feeling of being a part of society in this country is becoming more and more distant. More and more youths are driven to conceal the illness of not feeling considered as French. The people are seeing themselves as foreigners in their own country. Do those who are perceived as French want to and dream of seeing those from the banlieues as French?
How does Obama embody hope for young French who are descendants of immigrants?
The period of segregation in the United States coincided with France’s colonization efforts. There was slavery in France as well as in the United States. The effects and consequences even in our democratic society have remained and caused powerful psychological setbacks for some. We need international guidance. But is France ready for this kind of historic transformation?
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.