Martin and Mandin
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Martin’s interviewees are forever foreigners in that they forever feel that they are outsiders from the French, French, whereas they are only foreigner French. They could be born here or have been living in France for most of their lives, there is still something in their heads leading them to feel as though they will never “achieve” the goal of being French, like the French from France. It is an inferiority complex, like Karim, at least before he begins making the steps towards fixing his confidence, where he believes that if only, he can prove himself to be worthy, and abandon his maternal culture, religion and language, that he can achieve the goal of being French. At one point, though, one understands that the people who you were trying to prove your worth to, will never see you as French and it is in this context that many of Martin’s interviewees feel like “forever foreigners”.
According to Martin, the superiority complex of French people towards black people manifests itself in the form of anti-Blackness. This anti-Blackness is a result of France’s colonial past in Africa, recounting history through the eyes of the winners; France. In historical recounts, Africa, Black people, and other colonial subjects are demonized, Orientalized, and fetishized, partly to justify their brutality, but also to paint France as having a victorious colonial legacy in the places that it colonized, furthering French superiority, and immigrant inferiority complexes. This is especially true when recounts of history of this manner are taught in French schools. In fact, as stated by Abbas according to Martin, he says this is intentional of French institutions. When people are taught a history, painting the colonial era as something good, and painting the French as the rightful victors against “barbarism”, it allows French people to avoid accepting or admitting the brutality of their colonial past, and in fact, not only ignores it, but goes further to glamourize it and paint it to be something good. This in turn, manifests into a French superiority complex, and anti-Blackness.
In comparison to Europe, the Maghrebis interviewed by Mandin such as Leila describe their experiences in Europe as feeling stuck socio-economically, with no prospects for moving up. This is in part due to the clear unequal rates of unemployment among immigrants and descendants of immigrants compared to their white counterparts, with the same exact qualifications.
In the case of Nadir, his experiences between life in Europe and life in Montreal differ in the way that he is grouped. In Europe, Arabs are seen as Arabs. They are seen as being one collective unit, and people make assumptions about where they come from, their associations, their socio-economic class, and their lifestyle. In Montreal, however, at least in the way I understood it, Nadir feels more anonymous, and thus feels more like an individual. Although Maghrebis have significant history in Montreal, I feel like it is not to the same level as in France or other European countries with big Maghrebi populations. In Montreal, they are less known, and thus people make less assumptions about them. This might also be because in France, communities are way more densely populated, and thus more assumptions are made about where people come from, who their friends are, what their neighborhood is, etc. I feel like this is what Nadir was saying; although people can probably tell he is an Arab, and surely do direct racism towards him in Montreal, he can act as an individual, and he is not just seen as an Arab, but an individual, with many layers to him, who is of Arab origin.