Demonstrators march through Paris against racism
Thousands of people have marched through central Paris to demonstrate against racism nearly 30 years after the first national anti-racist movement in France.
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Demonstrators in Paris marched to Place de la Bastille, a square on the site of the storming of the Bastille prison that sparked the French revolution in 1789.
The marchers held banners carrying the name of SOS Racisme, an anti-racism organisation. They also wore badges saying: “We are all Taubiras against racism”, in reference to the French Justice Minister, Christiane Taubira. France’s most prominent black politician has been the target of racist slurs in recent weeks, notably being compared to a monkey by a far-right magazine.
Unions and the leader of the far-left Front de Gauche party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, also took part.
Harlem Désir, the first secretary of the ruling Socialist Party who was the first president for SOS Racisme, said racist comments have permeated public life.
“We can’t accept the normalisation of racist speech, because France has a pact with equality and fraternity,” he told the protesters.
Similar marches were held in other cities and in France’s overseas departments.
Thirty years ago on December 3, 1983, the March for Equality and Against Racism ended in Paris with 10,000 people demonstrating for equal rights.
It was France’s first national anti-racist movement.
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