'Refusing to divide French society into the racialized and the non-racialized does not mean denying the existence of racism'

T

he false report about Bally Bagayoko, the new mayor from the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI), illustrates how far-right narratives can now spread well beyond the small circles where they originate. He allegedly told LCI TV presenter Darius Rochebin that Saint-Denis, in the Paris suburbs, was "the city of Black people."

The false report dominated media headlines for several days. Comments implicitly casting him as the representative of the "city of Black people" sparked legitimate outrage among those who oppose racism. Nevertheless, it is important to ask what the best way is to respond to this kind of identity-based labeling.

On March 17, on BFM-TV/RMC's morning show, Bagayoko condemned these racist rumors, saying: "Personally, I don't really like the term racisé ['racialized']." On March 30, on radio channel France Inter, he added: "If you go to working-class neighborhoods, you'll find that none of the residents of Saint-Denis or other working-class areas would spontaneously describe themselves as 'racialized.'"

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