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Donc. J'ai une théorie.
(So. I have a theory.)
For the past few days and weeks, French establishment people in the government and media have been openly tweeting Islamophobic comments and abuse. While baseline French racism has always been high, this scale is ...new
(So. I have a theory.)
For the past few days and weeks, French establishment people in the government and media have been openly tweeting Islamophobic comments and abuse. While baseline French racism has always been high, this scale is ...new
These accounts have attacked me as well as several brilliant Black women who have spoken out about Islamophobic racism, especially @KarenAttiah @_ShamGod @RokhayaDiallo
The level of abuse and toxicity these accounts have demonstrated have not only been morally disgraceful, but culturally a kind of catastrophe -- if France is proud that its biggest export is culture, surely you cannot expect the world to admire your bourgeois racists, non?
At the same time, I have been talking with my Parisian friends about this. I travel to France and Paris often, study French history and language and culture, and had hoped to live there, at least briefly. Was this strange behavior from prestigious French accounts?
My friends all said the same thing: We have never seen anything like the scale and force of the racism coming from the Elysee, from En Marche (Macr*n's party) and from the police (widespread open brutality against refugees and even journalists).
This mystery intrigued me. To say that France is racist is, to the rest of the world, to say that the sky is blue. It's obvious. But why is it suddenly seizing consuls and diplomats, so much of prestige media, and, for instance, the entire Paris bureau of the Economist?
As a journalist one thing I know is that the worst journalists align with their sources. They start to think that reporting on power means they have to serve power. So I started there. Who are these journalists trying to impress? It had to be someone(s) in government. But who?
At the same time, you saw Macr*n's clownish minister of the interior, Darmanin, give successively more outrageously racist interviews. At one point he expressed shock that supermarkets would allow aisles for kosher and halal food for French citizens.
Darmanin, of course, is ridiculous. As an individual and as a politician he is une catastrophe. But one thing he definitely is, is the classic French petit fonctionnaire who rose too high. He follows orders, in other words. But where were the orders coming from?
Macr*n's transformation from centrist Obama-style liberal to widely despised authoritarian "Jupiter" has been mildly surprising. As a candidate, he called out French racism and wanted to term France's colonial actions in Algeria a "genocide." (His advisers intervened.)
So what changed about Macr*n, specifically? Well, for one thing, he has been losing power. His approval ratings have been some of the lowest in modern French history. Everyone in France thinks he's mildly ridiculous at best and an arrogant incompetent autocrat at worst.
Macron's party, En Marche, faced defections from some MPs earlier this year and also made a weak showing in elections. And he's only 3 years into his term so somehow he has to hold power until 2022, with Le P*n breathing down his neck https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/10/08/macron-s-not-worried-about-islam.-he-s-worried-about-le-pen-pub-82931
Last year, Macr*n received a lifeline, of sorts. Les Republicains, France's center-right party, lost their leader to disgrace. Many are the Never-Trump kind of American Republican who would not support Le P*n because they like their racism more refined. But they DO like racism.
As an indicator of what these French Républicains are like, I met one of their most prominent members at a party back in 2017, shortly after Macron's win. They lamented Macron and said to me about Trump, "at least now your country is going in the right direction." True story. 
So, last year, Macr*n -- failing as a leader, desperate for support, Le P*n menacing his chances -- started courting these racist bourgeois Républicains into En Marche. Suddenly he had conservative advisers and supporters to answer to. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/emmanuel-macron-wins-conservative-support-frances-republican/
It is my theory that these Républicains -- many of them very powerful in the French establishment -- are driving the Macr*n administration's decisions. The Islamophobia, police brutality and hatred of journalists are all Républicain positions.
Because the Republicains are culturally powerful - again, they hold top spots in media and government -- this also means they exert influence on Macr*n's petty bureaucrats like Darmanin as well as journalists who will weak-mindedly serve their sources to preserve access.
One thing ppl in France know is that the Republicains are insufferable. They are portrayed as the old headband-wearing matrons of the 16th, old white men afraid of losing power, people without imagination who are high in snobbery and exclusion and low on tolerance.
So. I think (again - a theory) this is why Macr*n, a man who is desperate at the best of times and certainly has his political back against the wall now, is willing to enact any autocracy to keep these racist Republicains from defecting to Le P*n.
Frankly I think Macr*n is making a mistake by informally merging his party with these Republicains. For one thing, they will never defect to Le P*n. They see her supporters as working-class village racists and their see their own snobbish racism as bien-élevé (classier).
In other words, Macr*n does not need to concede anything to these Républicains. They only have the illusion of power. They are rudderless and have no leverage. Macr*n is the only game in town for them, as far as survival. He actually holds the cards but he doesn't know it.
This basic misunderstanding of political negotiating leverage is exactly what you would expect of an untested young leader who has always won everything before he really earned it. He lacks savvy. So he is easily manipulated by more experienced people who sense his uncertainty.
The main truth -- and I say this as a person who loves non-racist France and wants to correct it -- is that this Républicain takeover is leading the country down a very dark path. It has already been condemned by Pakistan and the European Commission. If Macr*n continues...
...he will irreparably harm not only his own already-tattered reputation but also that of France itself. This will hurt tourism -- as the g*let j*unes did -- and it makes France look backwards. That sells less Chanel perfume and Lancôme lipsticks.
(Side note: Both Chanel and the L'Oreal-founding family cooperated with the Nazis under the Vichy government. Good times!)
In conclusion: This Républicain cooperation has, incredibly, done more damage to Macron in less time than even his disastrous fumbling with attacking the left over the past three years. He should fire Darmanin -- this week, preferably, before more journalists get hurt.
C'est tout pour maintenant 
Also, as a reminder - every journalist who has backed up these Républicains on Twitter, including those from Le Monde, the Economist, Figaro and BFM just to mention a few I saw -- has disgraced themselves. It is best not to throw in your lot with defending racism.
As another reminder, while these Républicains and the weak En Marche people keep yelling about how this is not racism and lobbing abuse at international media colleagues, the whole world is watching and no one is fooled. https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1331154096028602368
Remember, France: You always have the choice to pick better. No one likes a doormat but they like an autocracy even less.
And all of these arrogant racists (who cannot even properly read a Twitter bio!) can stop with the smokescreen that other people don't "understand" France. We do, first of all, and secondly, our disgust comes from knowledge of what's happening, not ignorance. https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1328245843976220672
I'll be appending further reading here. Always read @RokhayaDiallo https://twitter.com/RokhayaDiallo/status/1331205909813596160
Attaching this here. A lot of people are seeking cover behind smokescreens and dog-whistles, saying it's "not so bad" and "what do you expect him to do about Muslims." That's racist thinking. https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1331334594084401152
Important tweet below. I keep hearing is that these French and UK Islamophobes are alarmed that people-- mostly women, and mostly Black -- are talking about this racism. They are trying to intimidate all of us into silence. It will do the opposite. They are revealing themselves. https://twitter.com/KarenAttiah/status/1331063964147609600
For those who are unaware of Macr*n's racist, Islamophobic dogwhistles designed to demonize French Muslims, here is a thread of his government's attempts to turn the populace against Muslims.
This is not "fighting terrorism." This is dehumanizing citizens to grab votes. https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1328245843976220672
This is not "fighting terrorism." This is dehumanizing citizens to grab votes. https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1328245843976220672
