Baloo defended the necessity of better understanding France's colonial and migratory history and called for the fight against racism. He reminded that Italians also suffered racism in France, citing the massacre of Italians in Aigues-Mortes in 1893, and that people of Asian descent were also victims of discrimination. He mentioned the experiences of several colonized peoples or recruited workers. According to him, Algeria had been colonized for 132 years and integrated into France as departments, despite unequal rights. He also stated that Algerians had been recruited to work in factories and on construction sites, sometimes in slums, and that the French army had tortured, raped, and killed civilians during the Algerian war. He wrote that Senegalese and Malians had been enlisted in the French armies, sometimes by force, before being employed in sectors such as mining and construction. He added that agreements had been signed as early as 1963 to bring in Moroccan and Tunisian workers. Baloo also mentioned colonial slavery in the Antilles and Réunion, abolished in 1848, and then the creation of BUMIDOM in 1963 to organize the departure of people to the mainland. He emphasized that these people were already French. Regarding Congo, he attributed forced labor and atrocities that would have caused millions of victims to the reign of Leopold II, King of the Belgians. He estimated that the effects of domination and exploitation persist, particularly in the inequalities in overseas territories and the debates about monetary sovereignty around the CFA franc. However, he clarified that he did not hold today's French responsible for the actions of their ancestors but deemed it necessary to understand this history. Reflecting on his childhood in Montfermeil and the documentary he had made about the town, Baloo stated that in the 1980s, the mayor refused enrollment in school for children from immigrant families. He also described neighborhoods marked, in his opinion, by degraded housing, insufficient infrastructure, and limited prospects. He believed that misery and exclusion could foster certain deviations, without excusing delinquency, and reminded that these neighborhoods also saw the emergence of professionals and artists. Finally, he denounced what he saw as a contradictory treatment of French people of immigrant descent: celebrated as French during World Cup victories but sent back to their origins when they claimed rights or denounced racism. He concluded that no one should have to justify their place in the country where they were born. #Histoire #Éducation #Racisme (translated)
