Megan Izen

Avoiding Race, Sarkozy Blames France Riots on ‘Thugocracy’

Sadly, it’s not surprising that in the aftermath of the second round of French riots in two years, President Sarkozy unabashedly reveals the deep-seeded racism that plagues France (and the rest of the world). Just a few months ago, Sarkozy told a room full of University students, many Black, that Africans are not part of history, they are willfully ignorant, and constantly repeating their mistakes.

Oh, the irony! In October 2005 as the Interior Minister, Sarkozy condemned rioters by using derogatory racial slurs like ‘racialle’ meaning thug or scum and promised to rid France of them. Fast-forward and Sarkozy is still denying the existence of rampant racism against Black and Arab citizens and immigrants and resorting to racist name-calling once again blaming youth uprising on a ‘thugocracy.’ He continues to vehemently deny that the uprisings have anything to do with larger social crises and insists on stoking the fire of civil unrest. Maybe Sarkozy should brush up on some history himself to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Posted at 8:21 AM, Dec 03, 2007 in Global Issues | Permalink | View Comments