Racism
in Alsace
Alsace is a French region, next
to Germany. It is a particular place, because it has often changed
nationality because of wars between these two countries. The last
change happened during the second world war, which is recent enough
for many Alsatians to still feel marked. Indeed, when the region was
occupied, they had to change their language and they had the same
laws as Germany. After, peace came the two countries became united by
a strong friendship. However, today, a lot of Alsatians are racist
against immigrants ; they might feel that immigrants want to occupy
the territory as Nazis did. Of course, this is not true, but we can
understand why they (wrongly) fear such an occupation. However, every
Alsatian is not racist and, even if we can understand their fears, we
can't let them influence the future of Alsace.
So hatred against Arabs is
becoming increasingly present in Alsace and across France. Such
politicians as Sarkozy want to exclude immigrants from France while
the “Front National”, the FN, say more or less that immigrants
are at the origins of our economic problems, and that expulsion is
the solution. Of course, they can not express their opinions
explicitly as maybe people would understand that their plans
are quite similar to what Hitler did to Jews. However, many people
and especially older people are going to vote for racist politicians
because they have been convinced by their arguments. This is above
all shown by the results of the presidential election where after the
first round Sarkozy and Le Pen were beating the other candidates in
Alsace.
“Le Mois de l'Autre” (the
Month of the Other) was created in Alsace, to educate people on the
idea of the “other”, to make people understand them, because when
they understand they often accept. The section of the Strasbourg’s
“Ligue des Droits de l’Homme” also organized a “Café des
Droits de l’Homme”, a meeting to debate racism in Alsace, and
racist and xenophobe actions. Many administratively important people
took part, including a historian and a philosophy teacher from our
high school.
Similarly
the Catholic Worker Action, the ACO, holds debates to discuss
politics and racism in France. A friend of mine, Gerard, is a retired
priest who attends those meetings. He was very pleased to talk about
racism in France with me.
“-Hi
Gerard ! I have a few questions for you... I think, as you see a lot
of people in the street and everywhere, that you are often confronted
to racism, and its consequences... Do you know where it comes from
and how does it manifest itself?
-Hi!
Yes indeed, there are approximatively 100 000 people from the Maghreb
in France. A lot of people vote Le Pen (the “Front National”) in
Alsace, but in fact, the further you go out from cities, the more
people are racist. But we can't say that everyone voting Le Pen is
racist. The FN says that 3 000 unemployed persons are 3 000
foreigners who should not be here. However foreigners are not the
cause of the economic crisis in France. We are always looking for
scapegoats, but this crisis is a result of the policy of relocation.
When I go to supermarket, the security guards are usually black
people, and people working in public works are usually from the
Maghreb. We clearly see that foreigners are doing the painful jobs
that the others don't want to do.
-What
do you think is the cause of those reactions?
-For
me, in this time of economic crisis, xenophobic and racist reactions
are increasing mostly because people don't know why everything is
going so badly. That is why so many associations, such as the ACO,
are trying to meet people, to help them know about the other cultures
and to create better social links. The key is to know we urgently
need to meet people to understand them better. Foreigners are not our
enemy, they are our wealth.
-Yes
I totally agree with you, we all need to act! Do you know why there
are immigrants in France, didn't we need them in the past years...?
-You're
not wrong! In the 1960s and 70s France brought people from
Sub-Saharan and North Africa, because we needed workers. Afterwards
everyone thought that they would go back to their own countries, but
they took root. They then became foreigners in two countries, like
the young girl I met to the JOC (Christian Worker Youth) who comes
from Portugal. In France, everybody called her “the Portuguese”
and in Portugal they called her “the French”.
Racism
and xenophobia are a social cancer.
-How
would you explain the place immigrants hold in our society now?
Because they seem to be the victims of the crisis, not the cause.
-Yes
indeed! Standing up against foreigners and accusing them of being the
cause of the crisis is easy, but those who are genuinely taking
advantage of the situation are the bankers and the shareholders; the
immigrants are the victims, as you said. Our society is taking
advantage of immigrants while xenophobic movements, above all the FN,
say that they are the cause of everything. There are stereotypes in
every society : in Holland, Belgium, France and everywhere else where
the xenophobic extreme right gets hold of people. Consequently, even
people in the street think that immigrants are taking advantage of
grants and subsidies (…) but this is not true!
Racism
is deeply anchored in our society and a lot of people are suffering.
I
think that the majority of people are being fooled.
-Thank
you so much Gerard for all the information you've given me ! I'm
happy to see that people like you are raising up against injustices !
-You're
welcome ! Bye !”
To
close up, racism is very present in Alsace, due to the historical
context of this region, but with the efforts of people like Gerard,
who are very engaged, and with the many associations, we can go
against the tide because even if your family can (wrongly) think that
way, it doesn't mean that you have to be the same. Being in
international schools, being open to others, to differences, might
help some to feel more comfortable with the “others” ! We are all
the same and our generation can change the future by understanding
that being racist won't lead us anywhere... except back to WW2 !
Camille
D
Image's
source :
France
3
[Online]. France 3, 2012 [consulted on : May 2012]. Available at :
http://alsace.france3.fr/info/elections-2012/presidentielle-2012--n-sarkozy-en-tete-en-alsace-73527066.html
Worldnet3 [Online]. Worldnet3, 2012 [consulted on: May 2012]. Available at: http://www.worldnet3.org/valeur.php?i2
Education gouv [Online]. Education gouv, 2012 [consulted on: May 2012]. Available at:
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