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A joke that ends up provoking an identity debate: the host of one of the flagship programs of American television, "The Daily Show", has attracted the wrath of the French ambbadador in Washington for having claimed that Africa had won the World Cup after France's victory.
South African Trevor Noah, one of the most famous comedians and presenters in the United States, congratulated "Africa" for this victory because of the immigrant origins of many French players.
"Africa won the World Cup!", welcomed the host. "I understand, they have to say it's the French team, but look at them, huh, you do not get so tanned when you hang out in the south of France, your friends."
The joke immediately provoked an avalanche of reactions on social networks, reviving the debate on the American and French immigration models. And while it has made many people laugh, especially in the United States, it has also shocked many others, who have accused Trevor Noah – son of a white father and a black mother who grew up under the apartheid– to play the game of the extreme right.
– Angry diplomat –
The output of the host seems especially to have strongly displeased to the French ambbadador to Washington, Gerard Araud. The diplomat sharply responded Wednesday in a letter that "nothing could be further from reality."
"The rich and varied origins of these players reflect the diversity of France," wrote Araud in this missive also published by the embbady on Twitter. "Unlike the United States, France does not refer to its citizens on the basis of race, religion, or origin."
"Calling them an African team, you seem to deny their identity French, "the ambbadador continued.
" Even in the form of a joke, it legitimizes the ideology that claims to be white as the only definition of the French identity, "said Araud, who regularly defends the French republican model on Twitter
Trevor Noah's answer was quick
"When I say that they are Africans, I do not say it to exclude them from their French identity", he said during his program after reading excerpts from Mr. Araud's letter to his audience. "I say it to include them in my Africanity."
– Double Identity –
The animator acknowledged that the extreme right in France and the United States used the argument of origins to attack immigrants, but he said to find "strange" to imply that the players could not be both French and Africans.
"Why can not they be both? Why this duality is it only allowed to a small group of people? ", he added to the applause of the public.
" So what they say here is that to be French you have to erase everything that is African? " he continued.
"America is not perfect, but what I love about this country is that people can still celebrate their identity within their American (…) You can go to a Puerto Rican parade in America to celebrate the fact that you are Puerto Rican and American at the same time, "he said.
Trevor Noah also protested against the fact that, "especially in France," media and politicians evoked the origins of African immigrants only "when they are unemployed or have committed a crime ".
But "when their children give France a victory at the World Cup, we should identify them as + France +," he denounced, saying he would continue to praise the players " as Africans because I think they come from Africa – their parents are African– and they can be French at the same time. "
" And if the French say they can not be both of them, so I think they're the ones who have a problem, not me, "he said again.
This sensitive topic had already been addressed, but in a different tone, by the former US president Barack Obama, visiting Johannesburg for the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela
"All these guys do not look, in my opinion, Gauls," said smiling Mr. Obama in reference to the Blues. But "they are French, they are French!", He insisted.
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