That was a headline in one French paper when it was confirmed that Barack Obama would be the next occupant of the White House. Blacks and citizens of Arab descent in France were inspired to believe in the possibility of someone other than a pale-faced European one day taking charge of the country. An enthusiastic black entrepreneur actually launched “Obama Soda” that offered “the taste of the American dream”. Did this euphoria make sense? Well, blacks – whom we’re talking about here – have a long way to go. There’s just one black MP sitting for a metropolitan district, no senators and only a handful of mayors. It’s notable that when a black assumes a high profile like Harry Roselmack reading network news, this is hailed as a huge breakthrough while in the US and UK black anchors have been around for years. It proves nothing to point at the bright, beautiful but politically naive Rama Yade who was nominated to her junior government post, not elected, and simply underscores Sarkozy’s certainly sincere belief in diversity.

Anyway, how many blacks are there in France? Hard to say because collecting overt racial statistics is considered an offence against the republican ideal of equality. Someone who accepts this is soccer star Lilian Thuram: “I’m not black; I’m French.” Okay, but for most other people (and not just racists), on first acquaintance it’ll be his colour that creates his master identity. Guesstimates put the black population at a minimum of 2.5 million. It’s a diverse group, ranging from sometimes highly educated antillais to virtually illiterate immigrants from France’s former African colonies. West Indians and Africans don’t especially like each other.

So what’s it like to be black in today’s France? We asked Dwight Gordon, a Jamaican, married to a martiniquaise and living in Aix: “You can get aggro from the Arabs sometimes and your friends are likely to be from your own sort of background. I don’t have any African friends. Ordinary French people are usually civil enough, even the police, but if you’re looking for a job it rarely helps to be black but it’s better than being an Arab. Obama seems a great guy but I’m not telling my two boys they should aim at the Elysée.”

From Riviera Reporter Issue 131: Feb/March 2009

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