"A white person is to keep quiet at black people s meeting"
The deputy mayor s statement expressing approval of a student union s discriminatory practice against white students has drawn strong reactions. Many find the deputy mayor s racism against white people unacceptable. One politician has called on prosecutors to investigate the case,
A recent television interview by Melanie Luce, president of an openly far-left French student union called Unef, has provoked a general outcry. Speaking to reporters, Ms Luce admitted that her organisation regularly employs discriminatory practices; white students are barred from certain meetings and Unef has been following this discriminatory policy for years, according to press sources.
The information drew strong reactions, with renowned French essayist Eric Zemmour even calling on the interior minister to dissolve the union.
Eric #Zemmour sur @CNEWS : « Je demande la dissolution de l UNEF. @GDarmanin a dissous Génération Identitaire pour trois fois rien : s il est cohérent avec lui-même, c est le minimum de dissoudre l @UNEF » #FAI
— Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) March 23, 2021
Paris deputy mayor Audrey Pulvar also commented on the issue in an interview, making the startling statement that a white person attending a meeting for black people should keep quiet. She said she was not at all surprised to see that people – who are discriminated against for the very same reason – tend to get together to discuss their experiences, and if a white person appears amidst such a gathering for black people, there is nothing wrong with asking that person to leave, she added.
„Je demande aux blancs de se taire”@audreypulvar pic.twitter.com/qkEeYWU4Cf
— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) March 27, 2021
Xautier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region, argued that Unef should not receive public funding and it has no place in public institutions because of its discriminatory practice.
L UNEF ne doit plus bénéficier de financements publics. L UNEF ne doit plus siéger dans les institutions publiques. J ai écrit au Préfet pour demander que dans les @hautsdefrance, l UNEF ne siège plus au CESER. #LeGrandRDV pic.twitter.com/Vgp5Hd1DU0
— Xavier Bertrand (@xavierbertrand) March 28, 2021
Valerie Pecresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region around Paris, also shares this view. She said that there is no such thing as acceptable racism, because no one should be discriminated against for the colour of their skin. She added that she believed in the indivisibility of the Republic and the unity of the nation.
Je crois à l indivisibilité de la République & à l unité de la nation. Dans ma région, aucun habitant ne doit être discriminé pour la couleur de sa peau. Il n y a pas de racisme „acceptable”! Je serai toujours un rempart face à ceux qui tentent de fracturer notre pays.
— Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) March 27, 2021
Members of the most popular opposition party, the right-wing National Rally, were also outraged that the Socialist Party s top presidential candidate for the Ile-de-France region was campaigning for racial discrimination against whites. This is a clear sign that the left is engulfed by a complete moral crisis, the National Rally said.
Tête de liste du PS aux #régionales2021 en #IleDeFrance et adjointe PS à la mairie de Paris, Audrey Pulvar tombe le masque : elle fait campagne en assumant des appels à la discrimination raciale à l égard des Blancs.
Le naufrage moral de la gauche est total ! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/251Ko2Nves
— Rassemblement National (@RNational_off) March 27, 2021
National Rally chief Marine Le Pen took to Twitter to call for legal action to be taken, suggesting that Audrey Pulvar should be prosecuted for inciting racial discrimination. Ms Le Pen said the far-left s racism – which defies every legal and moral rule, as well as those of the Republic – must come to an end.
Le parquet doit engager des poursuites pour provocation à la discrimination raciale contre Mme Pulvar.
Il faut mettre fin à cette escalade raciste de la part d une partie de l extrême gauche qui s affranchit de toutes les règles légales, morales et républicaines. MLP https://t.co/l2c6Ty3XOD
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) March 27, 2021
Not every politician has rushed to condemn the deputy mayor s statements. Jean-Luc Melenchon, the founding leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, defended Audrey Pulvar. He said the deputy mayor was not racist, she only demonstrated that she understood the essence of holding a support group meeting.
Audrey Pulvar n est pas raciste ! Elle a juste compris ce qu est un groupe de parole. Ceux qui se jettent sur elle, par contre, n arrivent pas à cacher leur pente sexiste et discriminante. Le débat public s effondre. Le PS va-t-il défendre sa candidate en Île-de-France ?
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) March 27, 2021
Mr Melenchon s opinion came as no surprise, as the left-wing politician had already stood by Unef s position and urged others on Twitter to follow suit, saying defending Unef was „like fighting against ignorance.”
Défendre l #UNEF, c est lutter contre l obscurantisme – Nouvelle note de blog.https://t.co/ST18keqdQu
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) March 23, 2021