Thousands of French sign petition against Taubira racist insults
French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira was handed a petition signed by 100,000 people condemning racist abuse she has been subjected to on Thursday. Organisers criticised Taubira's cabinet colleagues for not reacting quickly enough to the slurs.
Issued on:
The government is not doing its job and should have acted when Taubira was first compared to a monkey by a far-right local council candidate, Steevy Gustave, the Socialist deputy mayor of the small town of Bretigny sur Orge, east of Paris,
Since then Taubira, the most prominent black politician in France, has been subjected to a series of public racist insults with a right-wing magazine, a child on an anti-gay marriage protest repeating the slur and other opponents making racially charged remarks.
And this week former Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen called her "anti-French" because she began her political career as a member of a party that called for independence for Guiana, the French overseas territory in Latin America.
In an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien Taubira said the insults had hurt her and her family.
But she has received some high-profile support.
The French edition of the magazine Elle this week named her its woman of the year, complete with cover photo.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe