Building up French blackness through an Afrocentric lens?

Abstract

The French national historical narrative, epitomized by the anthem ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, has long been a monochrome one. Despite a long black presence, Blackness was ignored. Black people were considered as outsiders. After the 2005 riots in the suburbs and the 2007 presidential election, they gained attention as a community significant to the constructing of a multicultural society. Black communities seize this time as an opportunity to remedy their political and social invisibility. One way chosen by some black people is to look back at history. Whether calling for an ‘African-centered’ or ‘black-centered’ perspective or knowledge, some now define their approach as Afrocentric. Though the ideas and concepts carried by Afrocentrism are not new in France, they now gain popularity among people of African descent as a means to challenge black people's outsider/insider status in French society.