(Photo Credit: Google Images)
Writing for The Root, Breanna Edwards writes that France’s Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has been subjected to a slew of racist slurs and insults in recent weeks. Edwards writes:
“It’s the third time in about a month that France’s justice minister, Christiane Taubira, has been publicly ridiculed with racist gibes, causing backlash for the lack of respect afforded the foremost black politician.
Given the public reaction, Interior Minister Manuel Vells said that he would look into seeing whether it was legally possible to block the magazine’s distribution, saying the insidious headline cannot be overlooked.
According to the AFP, politicians went to Twitter, demanding the magazine’s editor be prosecuted for incitement to racial hatred. The human rights group SOS Racisme is investigating lodging a formal legal complaint, forcing authorities to look into any possible breach of laws.”
This isn’t the first time that Taubira has been subjected to racist taunts. In October, National Front (FN) candidate Anne-Sophie Leclere, the FN candidate for Rethel in the northeastern Ardennes region, caused a fire storm of criticism by comparing Justice Minister Christiane Taubira to a monkey on French television. Leclere also admitted that she created a photo-montage showing Taubira, who is from French Guiana, alongside a baby monkey which was posted on her Facebook page. The caption underneath the baby monkey said “At 18 months,” while the other caption under Taubira’s current photo said, “Now.”
In April 2013, Minister Taubira made a historic speech introducing France’s gay marriage and adoption bill to Parliament. Her speech has been likened to other historic speeches like Simone Veil’s plea for abortion rights in 1974 and Robert Badinter’s speech supporting the abolition of the death penalty in 1981.
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