On 17 October 1961, a peaceful protest by Algerian migrants in the Paris region was met with overwhelming police force.
Author: Melissa Byrnes
So, apparently, we’ve endangered the French Republic. “We” here is US academics who talk about race. And “endanger” seems to mean that the idea that racism needs to be ta
The scene was, as of yesterday, eerily familiar. A throng of right-wing extremists, including multiple paramilitary groups, rioted at the gates of the legislature. The setting was Paris; the date 6 Fe
Régine Jean-Charles just put out an excellent analysis of Barrett’s description of her children during her confirmation hearing. Subjecting the young children of public figures to extra scrutiny can be problematic. In this case, however, Dr. Jean-Charles is simply calling attention both to the way that Barrett’s supporters have attempted to turn her adopted children […]
2020 has been quite a year for history lessons. In the midst of so much madness, folks keep looking to historians for parallels or templates, or even just what not to do (this last is our professional
Albert Memmi, the Franco-Tunisian writer, died on May 22. Memmi is best known for his meditations on colonialism, racism, and Jewishness. Born in Tunis, educated within the French system, sent from th
France’s insistence on requiring masks while banning burqas mirrors the fetishization of bare faces among the anti-lockdown crowd.
As if the last 24 hours haven’t been horrific enough, Slate and CNN bring us this headline: “El Paso Shooting Victims Might Avoid Hospitals Due to Immigration Status.” And this is wh
Those currently claiming to “protect” the memory of camp survivors conveniently forget those survivors who fought to ensure all concentration camps would be properly identified. Emma Kuby,
Thirty years ago today, iconic protests against authoritarian regimes took place in both Poland and China. Their different trajectories have led to very different stories–and different silences. Here are some resources to track how both are being remembered in 2019. In Poland, years of organizing by Solidarność–the shipyard workers’ union started in Gdansk in 1980–not […]
Yesterday’s student protests across Algeria signal a commitment to continued political activism and suggest deeper roots than a disagreement over the President’s bid for a fifth term. Prot
The latest in laïcité: the mayor of a Parisian suburb banned a vendor from the city’s Christmas market because she was wearing a Muslim headscarf. Zekiye Yildirim was invited by the marketR