French magazine apologises for portraying black lawmaker as slave after massive backlash

 A French magazine named Valeurs Actuelles has apologized after portraying a Black lawmaker as a slave, as the French government and officials across the political spectrum denounced publication. Gabonese French Politician Danielle Obono from far-left party Defiant France said the publication flies in the face of those who complain that free speech is threatened by the fight against racism and sexism.

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“You can still write racists—in a rag illustrated with a Black French parliament member repainted as a slave,” she tweeted. “The extreme right — odious, stupid and cruel.”

The far-right ideology leaned magazine apologized and its Deputy editor Tagdual Denis, while speaking to a French news channel on August 29 said that the image was not designed to wound Obono, and denied that it was an attention-getting ploy. But he added: “What I regret is that we are always accused of racism ... we are politically incorrect, it’s in our DNA.” On the other hand, anti-racism activists said the publication reflected a creeping acceptance of extremist views, fuelled by social media.

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French Prime Minister Jean Castex from the conservative Republican party tweeted: “This revolting publication calls for unambiguous condemnation, the fight against racism will always transcend our differences.”

The junior minister for equality and the only Black member of the French government, Elisabeth Moreno, tweeted that, “I don’t share Danielle Obono’s ideas, but today I offer her all my support.”

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A similar refrain came from politicians from multiple parties, including the treasurer of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party France saw multiple protests in June and July against racial injustice and police brutality inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd’s death at the knee of police in the United States.

French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist who raised eyebrows when he gave an interview to Valeurs Actuelles last year, has pledged to root out racism. But he also insisted that France will not take down statues of figures linked to the colonial era or the slave trade, as has happened in other countries in recent months.

(With inputs from AP)

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