The electoral turnaround in France on July 7 was no miracle. If two out of three voters rejected the expected victory of the far right, it was not primarily out of enthusiasm for the economic policies of the other parties, but because they abhor and fear the racist France promised to them by the Rassemblement National (RN).
Sociologists will explain how the ineptitude of the RN candidate highlighting her “Muslim dentist” and her “Jewish ophthalmologist” and the brutality of the relegation promised to millions of dual nationals provoked a republican reflex. Two out of three French people refuse to live in such a country.
“There are two opposing tides,” explained former footballer Lilian Thuram on July 4 in the weekly magazine L’Humanité Dimanche. “I know that, in my country, there are more people in favor of living together than against it.”
The reaction of the electorate has been comforting but only offers a respite. Behind its alleged “de-demonization,” the RN carries the old post-Algerian war anti-Arab racism. There were several high-profile examples during the campaign, from a TV report on a woman suffering racist abuse from her neighbors, to a prominent journalist receiving threatening letters.
Social jealousy
While racial hatred serves as an outlet for feelings of abandonment or downgrading, which must be addressed through policies of redistribution and public service, it is a poison – and a criminal offense – in its own right. Yet never since decolonization has racism been so central to an election campaign. Anti-racism, however, has never been more politically powerful in uniting the defenders of republican values, the very people we now need to unite to make the country governable. However, the left, which has historically supported anti-racism and came out on top on July 7, needs to clarify its position on this divisive issue.
The electoral map is clear: The less diverse the population, the higher the far-right vote. Racism has less to do with living with different people than with the feeling that “those people” are more successful or benefit from social safety nets than others. Thuram once said, “What bothers the far right is not that people of immigrant backgrounds don’t integrate enough, it’s that they integrate too well.”
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