In officially colorblind France, blacks have a dream – and now a lobby

"There is resistance in France to confronting the question of race," says Françoise Verges, a specialist in postcolonial politics who teaches at the University of London. "As soon as it emerges, as it did with CRAN, you immediately have people linking it with multiculturalism."

In the 1930s and beyond, France was seen by many black American artists as a haven from racism at home. For years, the subject of race relations was a staple of French intellectual debate. But that debate was focused on French conduct toward its Arab and African colonies and the status of its Pacific Ocean territories. Once the colonies became independent countries, race receded from the public arena.

"Now we are talking about black citizens, citizens who carry another history that is at the same time the history of France," says Ms. Verges. "In that, it's similar to the American civil rights movement in that it asks what it means to be a citizen."

In the near future, however, France may not see its black population mobilize into a cohesive pressure group or evolve into a voting bloc. As far as French pollsters have been able to determine, blacks tend to vote along the same left-right patterns as the rest of the population.

"It would be a radical change in electoral behavior if people voted as a bloc because of color," says Pierre Giacometti, director of the Ipsos polling company, which conducts regular political-opinion surveys. "It's unlikely that blacks will vote as a bloc. And even if they did, their influence would be relatively marginal because their demographic weight is not like in the United States."

Regardless of what CRAN does, many of its concerns about discrimination are likely to figure in the campaign anyway. "Questions of identity and integration will influence the debate and the vote," adds Mr. Giacometti, "because the public is still preoccupied with last year's riots and the sense that our system of integration has failed."

Mr. Lozès says that he takes a long view and wants to model CRAN after the activism and voter-awareness programs of the 98-year-old National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. But some of CRAN's members are more impatient for change.

A few months ago, they invited Edgar Chase III, an African-American business professor at Dillard University in New Orleans, to speak about the role of education in achieving racial equality.

It was not long before the discussion turned into a strategy session, with Mr. Chase as mentor.

"We should be boycotting companies that don't hire enough blacks," said one young woman. "In the US, big companies felt it was in their interest commercially to not be racist."

There were murmurs of approval from others in the room – all of them French, most of them blacks whose parents or grandparents came from former French colonies in Africa. Mr. Lozès asked for a primer on American affirmative action laws. Others chimed in to ask how to mount a protest march and get positive publicity.

"You need to have a positive mind-set," said Mr. Chase. "You've got to sell your dream and focus on the future, not the past."

"Yes, yes," affirmed Ferdinand Ezembe, a CRAN leader in charge of its education committee.

"Maybe you do a protest march," continued Chase. "But you send a positive message: 'We're doing this because we love France and want it to be able to compete in the global economy."

Afterward, Mr. Lozès was in high spirits.

"I took from him a confirmation of the justice of our struggle," he said.

Page: 1 | 2