Dismantling Eurocentrism in the French History of Chattel Slavery and Racism

Abstract

Eurocentrism serves as an interpretative framework to analyse any phenomenon through the lens of Western superiority. Eurocentrism acts like a filter that constantly privileges Western achievements. French President Emmanuel Macron embodied Eurocentrism during a press conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017. The French have (re)assured themselves about their moral high ground because their imperial rule was civilizing backward people. Modern civilization has justified the violence that characterized the second wave of colonization and, in retrospect, chattel slavery. Chattel slavery is equated with the intra-African slave trade, the Arab Muslim slave trade, and the Indian Ocean slave trade. Chattel slavery and its role in enriching the entire French nation, a fortiori Europe, disappears. In the Eurocentric framework, chattel slavery is made foreign to Western modernity. Learning about the constitutionalizing of chattel slavery during the French Revolution in schools and universities is urgently needed to dispel the Eurocentric dogmas that plague the struggles of people of colour against racism.