J'emmerde la France
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Baldwin describes French attitudes towards Algerians as « snide and vindictive », showing a kind of vengeful violence. He explains that the increase in police brutality against Algerians was a sign of how scared French authorities were after losing Indochina. This reminds me of a story my Tunisian grandfather told me. Before marrying my grandmother, he travelled extensively between Germany and France. In Paris, he lived in the 18th district, which you are familiar with if you listen to a bit of Charles Aznavour. This district is divided into two parts: Barbès, where immigrants lived, and Montmartre, where the artists lived. Today, the area is being gentrified, meaning a lot of « bobos » (bourgeois-bohèmes) now live there. One night, as he returned to his « chambre de bonne », there was a police raid in his building. The police checked every apartment and asked everyone for their ID. Since he was Tunisian, nothing happened to him, but if you were Algerian, they would take you for « interrogation ». Therefore, this displays a really tough and traumatizing climate for Arabs. This intense climate is still very present in today’s France, as the media continues to heavily circulate Islamophobic content. Even the UN Human Rights Office has called on France to address its deeply rooted issues of racism in policing. So, whenever someone tells me, « France gave you everything; if you were in Tunisia, it would be so much worse », I can’t help but respond like my grandmother does: « J’emmerde la France ».
« In their looks, their words, their intonations, all that. Everything that could be used to differentiate « real French people » from non-white French people has been used. Karim's story about how he behaves and how he thinks of himself has been the reality for every person of colour (I want to assume). I have many examples of stories similar to Karim’s, and I will share one. I remember my aunt, who I think of as a bit white-passing. The year she graduated from high school, she called the admissions centre for Sciences Po, an outstanding school, to get some information. The girl who answered asked for her name, which is Imene. After giving her name, the girl said on the phone, «With a name like yours, you won’t be able to do much » (in diplomacy, because this was the field she was interested in). Even though she was born in France and went to «Les écoles de la République, » she was always considered unfrench. This event really stopped her, and she decided not to apply. This is just a tiny microaggression that every Arab-looking person had to go through in everyday life in France in the 90s. Now, I think that this kind of racism is more subtle, in a more Canadian manner.I also resonate with what Karim says about « always to make a good impression, » as this is something my parents reminded me of when I was a kid. But it didn’t sound like futile advice; it was more like a matter of life or death. Because the way you look is menacing.