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Black French people also known as French Black people or Afro-French (Afro-Français) are
French people who are of
African (including
Malagasy people) or Melanesian ancestry. It also includes people of mixed African/Melanesian and French ancestry.
Population statistics
Although it is illegal for the
government of France to collect data on ethnicity and race in the
census (a law with its origins in the
1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the
constitution of 1958),[2] various population estimates exist. An article in The New York Times in 2008 stated that estimates vary between 3 million and 5 million.[3] It is estimated that four out of five black people in France are of African immigrant origin, with the minority being chiefly of Caribbean ancestry.[4][5]
Some organizations, such as the
Representative Council of France's Black Associations (French: Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favor of the introduction of
data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians,[6][7] often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harkens back to
Vichy-era identity documents.[8] During the
2007 presidential election, however,
Nicolas Sarkozy was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.[9] Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the
Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.[2]
Notable people
In French politics
Afro-French or Kanak members of the French Parliament or government from overseas France
There have been dozens of Afro-Caribbean, Kanak, and Afro-French MPs representing overseas electoral districts at the French National Assembly or at the French Senate, and several government members.
Jean-Baptiste Belley, first black politician to take seat at the
National Convention when elected on 24 September 1793, as one of three members (deputés) elected to the French Parliament by the northern region of
Saint-Domingue.
Hégésippe Légitimus, second black deputy elected to the French National Assembly from 1898–1902 and 1906-1914.
Ngalandou Diouf, elected in 1909 to represent the
commune of
Rufisque at the advisory General Assembly (Conseil Général) of Saint-Louis, then capital of colonial Senegal.[10]: 109–110
Achille René-Boisneuf,
Guadeloupe politician and one of the first black deputies in the
French National Assembly. He is incorrectly given the name Émile instead of Achille in Jean Joly's Dictionnaire des parlementaires français de 1889 à 1940 1946.[11]
Christiane Taubira,
deputy from
French Guiana, was the first black candidate to a French presidential election, in 2002. In 2012, she became the Justice Minister until 2016.
Severiano de Heredia, president of the municipal council of Paris (1879–1880/ sort of mayor of Paris ), deputy for Paris (1881–1889), minister (1887)
Blaise Diagne (1872-1934), first person of Sub-Saharan African origin elected to the
French Chamber of Deputies, and the first to hold a position in the French government.
Élie Bloncourt (1896–1978), second Black metropolitan deputy (1936–40, 1945–47), first Black metropolitan
general councillor (1934–40, 1945–51)[12]
Gaston Monnerville (1897–1991), first Black metropolitan senator (1946–1974), president of the French Senate (1947–68), mayor, president of
Lot's
general council
George Pau-Langevin, Paris deputy (2007–12), junior minister (2012–2014), Minister for Overseas (2014–)
Seybah Dagoma, then 34-year-old lawyer of
Chadian descent and founding member of a left-wing think tank, was elected in a Parisian constituency in 2012 and in office until 2017.
^
abOppenheimer, David B. (2008). "Why France needs to collect data on racial identity...in a French way". Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. 31 (2): 735–752.
SSRN1236362.
^Louis-Georges, Tin (2008). "Who is afraid of Blacks in France? The Black question: The name taboo, the number taboo". French Politics, Culture & Society. 26 (1): 32–44.
doi:
10.3167/fpcs.2008.260103.