Macron ends US visit in New Orleans with push to promote French language
French President Emmanuel Macron wrapped up his his three-day state visit to the United States on Friday with a visit to New Orleans, home to one of the oldest French-speaking communities in the US.
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After a lavish reception at the White House with US President Joe Biden, Macron is due to spend just under 24 hours in the Louisiana state capital, New Orleans.
Once owned by France, New Orleans was sold to the United States by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803 as part of the "Louisiana purchase".
Ties to France are still evident in the variety of French dialects spoken across the state today.
Speaking to the French community in Washington DC this week, President Macron announced that he would inaugurate an ambitious initiative "to support the learning of French wherever it is at stake in the United States – from kindergarten to university – especially among disadvantaged groups".
He stressed that he wanted to change Americans' image of French, which is sometimes associated with elitism.
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Speaking to France 24, Will McGrew, founder of Télé Louisiane, the first entirely French-speaking media in the state, said: “We need not just symbolic support, but practical support and funding.”
He is one of a dozen members of the French-speaking community due to meet Macron on Friday.
“It's a privilege that he's coming here and taking the time not just to come to America but to come all the way to New Orleans to meet us,” said Christine Verdin, a Pointe-au-Chien Indian descended from the first inhabitants of America who learned French from settlers in the 18th century.
French Quarter
Following in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle back in 1960, Macron is expected to stroll through the streets of the "French Quarter" – the bustling historic centre of New Orleans, whose population is overwhelmingly African-American.
According to the French presidential palace: "We have history in New Orleans and important things to say there that concern both our past and what we want to do next."
The French head of state will also pay hommage to the resilience of the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed more than 1,800 people and caused billions of dollars of damage.
Meetings are planned with energy and climate-focused companies, with Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Louisiana Governor John Edwards due to sign an agreement on energy transition. The state depends heavily on oil and gas.
Emmanuel Macron will also meet with cultural figures in the city, which is famed as the cradle of jazz music. Thursday's gala dinner at the White House featured a performance by virtuoso pianist Jon Batiste, who comes from a family of musicians from New Orleans.
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