Myrtha Desulme, Contributor

Sarkozy

On Wednesday, May 16, Nicolas Sarkozy was inaugurated as France's new president, taking over the reins of power from Jacques Chirac.

Sarkozy, who was elected on May 6, made his first public appearance as president-elect four days later at France's annual day of commemoration for the abolition of slavery.

It was a great irony, that fate should have made the abolition commemoration Sarkozy's first official engagement, for while Chirac will be remembered as the first French leader to recognise France's participation in the Jewish holocaust of World War II, and to formally acknowledge its involvement in African slavery, Nicolas Sarkozy, by contrast, has declared: "I'm going to make the French proud of France again, I am going to bring an end to repentance, which is a form of self-hatred, and to the battle of memories, which feeds hatred of others."

Sarkozy was nevertheless incapable of sidestepping the abolition ceremony.

Sensitive issues

The issues of slavery and of France's colonial past have been very sensitive since 2005, when French suburbs, (equivalent to our inner-city slums and projects), erupted in violent riots by French youths of Arab North African and black African origins, which forced the government to call a state of emergency.

More riots flared in protest to the election of the right-wing Conservative President, who was elected on a platform of restoring "order and authority".

Despite being widely praised during his 12-year presidency, for trying to heal the wounds of history, 2005 was a difficult year for Chirac.

He was forced to scrap a law which called for a positive portrayal of France's colonial past in history textbooks, owing to the anti-revisionist furore it sparked in former French colonies.

After the unrest in the suburbs, while Sarkozy was being pilloried for dismissing the rioters as "riff raff", Chirac was coaxing them back into the fold as "Children of the Republic", and creating a commemoration day, to mark the end of the slave trade.

France's commemoration day was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the May 10, 2001passage of the 'Taubira Law', in which the French Republic officially recognises slavery and the Atlantic slave trade as crimes against humanity, transcending the domain of history, for negating the principle of humanity and universal ethics.

The law, which requires that school curricula and research projects in the fields of history and the human sciences accord to the subjects of the Negro slave trade and slavery, passed unanimously.

Yet, it has recently come under fire from some in the ruling conservative party, in retaliation for the discarding of the law highlighting the "positive role'' of French colonialism in schoolbooks; a sign of how sensitive France's colonial history remains today.

France, which was Europe's fourth-largest slave trader after Portugal, England and Spain, is estimated to have transported more than 1.25 million slaves. At th of its empire, France ruled over more than one-third of Africa, and is still deeply engaged in several former colonies.

On May 10, 2006, after158 years of "very deep silence", France instituted Europe's first "Slavery Remembrance Day".

On that day, President Chirac declared:

"This first day in the memory of slavery and its abolition is an important step for France. Looking our past in the face is one of the keys to our national cohesion. Memory and justice must be given to the millions of anonymous victims of slavery. This first commemoration isn't the end, it is the beginning. It is the necessary affirmation of the memory of slavery shared by all French people, whatever their origin. France should look at this past without concession, but also without shame, because the republic was born in the fight against slavery."

France further passed a series of "historical memory" laws, declaring the crime of slavery and the slave trade, which upset the entire world order, "imprescriptible", (to which no statute of limitation applies, owing to the fact that it is unforgettable, and impossible to estimate or repair). These laws make it a crime to contest that slavery and the slave trade were crimes against humanity.

The Truth about Napoleon

Scarcely a month after the riots, noted French historian of Guadeloupean descent, Claude Ribbe, published a book which poured a little more oil on the fire. Revolted by what he deemed to be the intolerably hysterical proportions of France's promotion of Napoleon, Ribbe, supported by several organizations from French Overseas Territories, issued a publication entitled, The Crime of Napoleon, which denounces historical revisionism, and compares Napoleon, who exterminated and enslaved hundreds of thousands, based on racial criteria, to Adolf Hitler.

The book ignited a firestorm of controversy in France, where Napoleon is revered as a national symbol. Ribbe argues that, as long as Napoleon's crimes, which included genocide and racism, is not denounced, that it shall remain an ongoing crime, having set the blueprint for contemporary French race relations.

What are we really celebrating?

Though the objective of the 'Taubira Law', and of our own abolition celebrations is "to defend the memory of slaves, and the honour of their descendants", the real question facing us today, at this bicentenary crossroads, is whether the angry youth of our blighted inner cities, (be they in France, Los Angeles, West Kingston or Cite Soleil, Haiti) have any more hope for a bright future than their ancestors —- the millions of bewildered captives, torn from the bowels of their African homeland?

All the pomp, circumstance and pageantry of the abolition celebrations mean nothing, unless we ensure that our ancestors' suffering and sacrifice were not in vain. We are the enduring reason they have existed.

As Sarkozy will soon discover, his administration will have to do more than concede to "the duty of memory". It will have to grapple with the issue of integrating France's minorities, and providing educational and employment opportunities, as a matter of priority.

The Homeland of Human Rights

In her proposal to the French Parliament, Member of Parliament for French Guyana, Christiane Taubira-Delannon, expounds on the grounds for the 'Taubira Bill'. She declares:

"Those who faced the most extreme cruelty, while taking with them beyond the seas and the horror of the situation, traditions and values, principles and myths, regulations and beliefs, while inventing songs, stories, languages, rites, gods, knowledge and know-how towards an unknown continent, those who survived the apocalyptic crossing in the holds of ships, all those human beings do not have to prove their humanity.

France, which was a slave trading country before being abolitionist, and which is the homeland of human rights, will regain radiance, glory, and prestige by being the first to bow before the memory of the victims of this orphan crime."

To those who ponder the bicentenary celebrations, and opine, that it is time we forget, we simply respond: "We have to remember, before we can forget."

Myrtha Dsulmis president of the Haiti-Jamaica Society