By: V4 Agency
The deputy mayor’s statement expressing approval of a student union’s discriminatory practice against white students has drawn strong reactions. Many find the deputy mayor’s racism against white people unacceptable. One politician has called on prosecutors to investigate the case.
A recent television interview by Melanie Luce, president of an openly far-left French student union called Unef, has provoked a general outcry. Speaking to reporters, Ms Luce admitted that her organisation regularly employs discriminatory practices; white students are barred from certain meetings and Unef has been following this discriminatory policy for years, according to press sources.
The information drew strong reactions, with renowned French essayist Eric Zemmour even calling on the interior minister to dissolve the union.
Paris deputy mayor Audrey Pulvar also commented on the issue in an interview, making the startling statement that a white person attending a meeting for black people should keep quiet. She said she was not at all surprised to see that people – who are discriminated against for the very same reason – tend to get together to discuss their experiences, and if a white person appears amidst such a gathering for black people, there is nothing wrong with asking that person to leave, she added.
Xautier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region, argued that Unef should not receive public funding and it has no place in public institutions because of its discriminatory practice.
Valerie Pecresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region around Paris, also shares this view. She said that there is no such thing as acceptable racism, because no one should be discriminated against for the colour of their skin. She added that she believed in the indivisibility of the Republic and the unity of the nation.
Members of the most popular opposition party, the right-wing National Rally, were also outraged that the Socialist Party’s top presidential candidate for the Ile-de-France region was campaigning for racial discrimination against whites. This is a clear sign that the left is engulfed by a complete moral crisis, the National Rally said.
National Rally chief Marine Le Pen took to Twitter to call for legal action to be taken, suggesting that Audrey Pulvar should be prosecuted for inciting racial discrimination. Ms Le Pen said the far-left’s racism – which defies every legal and moral rule, as well as those of the Republic – must come to an end.
Not every politician has rushed to condemn the deputy mayor’s statements. Jean-Luc Melenchon, the founding leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, defended Audrey Pulvar. He said the deputy mayor was not racist, she only demonstrated that she understood the essence of holding a support group meeting.
Mr Melenchon’s opinion came as no surprise, as the left-wing politician had already stood by Unef’s position and urged others on Twitter to follow suit, saying defending Unef was “like fighting against ignorance.”