'Winner of the Africa World Cup & # 39; falls badly with the French – POLITICO

An officially blind nation to race struggling with the reality of a multiethnic national football team.

PARIS – They are French. It has been the energetic response of athletes, journalists and even the former United States. President to people who have suggested that the winning team of the World Cup France was more African than French because of the origin of their parents or grandparents.

France celebrates its flawlessness since its 4-2 victory over Croatia on July 15th. continue to honk spontaneously a few days later. And polls suggest that the country's spirits have already been raised by victory, France's second in the World Cup.

But foreign commentators are stifling the good feelings – suggesting that the victory was not really French. The Muslims gave you a second World Cup, " wrote Khaled Beydoun, a law professor in Michigan, in a tweet on July 15 that was shared more than 216,000 times.

French president Emmanuel Macron, center France wins the 2018 World Cup | Alexey Nikolsky / AFP via Getty Images

Trevor Noah, host of the Daily Show and comedian of television, exclaims : "Congratulations to Africa for winning the 2018 Men's World Cup!"

"In reality, Africa," said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

. These suggestions did not go very well in France, implying that the skin color of players – of African descent – was more important than their nationality. The French state does not officially recognize the concept of race because of a constitution based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its literal interpretation of the idea that all human beings are created equal

. saying that they considered themselves primarily French citizens.

Referring to religion or national origin is generally considered a false step in the workplace and school. & # 39; Africa won the World Cup for France & # 39; nonsense [sic] " tweeted the French basketball star Evan Fournier." We are all French, "he adds.

After Sporf's English-speaking sports publication nationalities Ancestral French players on July 17, French defender Benjamin Mendy replied scoring each player as French. "Fixed," he said.

An article by RTL summarized the French views on the issue in a article entitled " The Blues cope with racist comments from abroad", which emphasize that placing the "origins of some actors in the foreground."

The blind policy of France – contradictory to suggestions that players are "African" because of the color of the skin – is often at the center of the controversies used, for example, to enact quotas in the university system, but up to now, the França They remained on their positions, with the French parliament voting unanimously this month to remove the word "race" from the constitution.

The term, considered out of date, has been widely dismissed as a social construct with Republican ideals of solidarity and fraternity. In 2013, parties in the left wing of France led a successful effort to scrub the term of French legislation, saying that it has "no scientific basis." ", Nonchalantly referring to religion or national origin is generally considered a misstep in

The school blind to the race test received foreign support, no less than the former US President Barack Obama. During a speech in South Africa commemorating Nelson Mandela, he said: "All these people do not look like me, but they are French.They are French."

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