Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron says fighting racism should not lead to a “hateful” re-writing of history following worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd in the US.
Protesters in the US, UK, Australia and elsewhere have targeted statues of historic figures associated with slavery or other past human rights abuses, as well as colonialism.
“I will be very clear tonight, compatriots: the Republic won’t erase any name from its history. It will forget none of its artworks, it won’t take down statues,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday.
Macron’s address came after an unusually long silence, as France faces both exceptional economic blowback from the coronavirus pandemic and rekindled anger over deep-seated racism.
However, he insisted that France would not take down statues of controversial, colonial-era figures.
“We should look at all of our history together with lucidity” including relations with Africa, with a goal of “truth” instead of “denying who we are,” Macron said.
He didn’t address accusations of police violence but said forces of order deserve “the nation’s recognition.”
Read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald (AP/Reuters).