In the Larris district of Fontenay-sous-Bois (Val-de-Marne), only the youngest took part in the demonstration against police violence organized in support of the family of Adama Traoré, who died in 2016 after his arrest by gendarmes of Val-d'Oise. The event brought together more than 20,000 people on Tuesday June 2 in Paris. "We are wholeheartedly with those who have moved, but when we get older, we do not go, we know that it is the risk of taking a flash-ball shot for nothing, loose Mickaël , 29 years. I am a father now. "
This mestizo, very clear of skin, believes he has "the chance of being very rarely controlled." It's probably due to my color and my blue eyes. Because we see how it goes with videos of burrs like in Neuilly-sur-Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis) ". His younger brother, Yohann, is "darker, him, and he is sometimes checked twice in the same day, we know it's facies," sighs their mother. "It's not all the time, but we feel that sometimes some people try by all means to verbalize me," said Yohann, who claims to have been checked sometimes every day for a week. “Once, I was parked in front of the mosque, when the police saw the cross hanging from my rear view mirror, they left me alone by telling me that I was a good Catholic. "
"The state must recognize that something is wrong"
For Philippe Rio, mayor (PCF) of Grigny (Essonne), racism is more present than before in society and the police. "Because there is racism because of the color of the skin and since 2015 and the attacks, anti-Muslim racism", estimates the one who heads one of the poorest cities in France, with two districts classified as zones of priority security (ZSP). “The National Rally is 25%. And when Eric Zemmour says on TV that Grigny is not France, it infuses the poison of racism, judges the mayor. To pacify society and raise the debate, the state or the institutions must already take a step forward and recognize that something is wrong. We are necessarily more controlled by the police when we are colored. And this professional determinism is problematic. "
VIDEO. Castaner promises "punishment" for "every racist mistake or word" in police
Bakary Soukouna, head of the Nuage association in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), was on Tuesday evening at the demonstration in front of the Paris courthouse. “Violence or facial checks is nothing new, I suffered and saw it when I was 16 years old. Today, when you are young, between 13 and 22 years old, and you come from a city, you are checked daily, ”says the thirty-something.
His association is also working on a "tool" to train young people on how to behave during a test. “We have the feeling that the police are taking advantage of the fact that young people are unaware of their rights and duties. So you have to do some pedagogy, explain, for example, that you can ask why you are being checked, and that the police officer's number must be visible. "
"A white person is more likely to get by"
This demonstration was not only the affair of the working-class districts. "I am blonde and I do not feel directly concerned by police violence, I do not suffer them, I have never been checked, but I found it my duty to go and support them", explains Joseph, 17 , admitted to Sciences-po for the start of the 2020 academic year and activist for the climate.
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He lives in Vexin, half an hour from the family of Adama Traoré. "Our society must be fairer, but we know that between a black person and a white, the white is more likely to get by." The trigger? "During the confinement, I saw a lot of videos on police violence, and it shocked me, I inquired, I researched the Adama Traoré case. "
But this is not limited to this media case. In Les Larris, 15-year-old Brian, a tall guy in sports clothes, says that he was "handcuffed in the police car". "And I got a pie, for free. Anything could have happened, there was nothing I could do. And of course we cannot file a complaint afterwards. What would it be used for? Who can believe me? "
Sitting on a bench not far away, Seher, 37, a mother, recalls that racism also exists on the street. "When I walk with my headscarf, I sometimes hear people I meet and who I don't know, who say to me: go home, go back to your country ."
Since 2015, uninhibited anti-Muslim racism
In this same working-class district, Halima, 40, talks about her former employer in the construction industry: "In front of me who is of Algerian origin, when my boss spoke of the Arabs, he said: this bougnoule there ..." And to evoke also uninhibited attacks after the attacks. “After Charlie-Hebdo, in an elevator at the hospital where I was going to see a friend, a woman asked me if I didn't have a bomb under my coat. At work, I was told: did you see what they did your cousins ? "She is looking for work today. "But after having been so disparaged, it's difficult to go up the slope," she breathes.
Some young people have chosen not to keep silent, precisely. “We will not let this happen anymore, this demonstration is not too early. How many deaths did it take for people to finally understand what we are going through? drops an angry black man. When I was a teenager, it was like that. While on vacation in Sables d'Olonne (Vendée), CRS who had seen us with girls tried to humiliate us and then they told the girls that they were going to tell their parents. This demonstration is only the beginning of the struggle. ”
And it "could be a turning point," according to many political leaders like Olivier Léonhardt (DVG) who called on the government this Wednesday in the Senate: "Can you tell me what new actions are planned to fight against the problems of violence and racism in the National Police? "
Violence has no place in a democracy, it's true. Neither in the Republican police and when it manifests itself, it cannot go unpunished. End of ventral tackle, pedestrian cameras, independence of the IGPN ... strong responses are essential to the cohesion of the country. #Clichy https://t.co/Wgb1uESncm
- Aurélien Taché (@Aurelientache) June 3, 2020"Violence has no place in democracy, it's true, asserted this Wednesday morning the deputy (ex-LREM) Aurélien Taché in response to a tweet from the Minister of the Interior. Neither in the Republican police and when it manifests itself, it cannot go unpunished. End of ventral tackle, pedestrian cameras, independence of the IGPN ... strong responses are essential to the cohesion of the country. "
VIDEO. Death of Adama Traoré: "There is no state violence instituted in our country"
