Hammou Moussik, Marius Trésor, Louis de Funès ... Emmanuel Macron wants to highlight the different faces of the Republic.
In his interview with Brut on December 4, the President of the Republic said he was in favor of
"300 to 500 names"
of personalities
"from neighborhoods or immigration"
be identified in order to be able to use them to rename "
streets and statues
”.
To read also: Eugénie Bastié: “Street names and“ diversity ”, the perilous concession of Macron”
"There is a whole part of our collective history which is not represented
", justified Macron.
"A
whole part of the youth which is black, (...) Maghrebi, they have their heroes, simply, we did not recognize them, we did not give them a place."
This work takes place in a context of memorial polemics, which this year resulted in the unbolting of statues representing figures of colonization or slavery.
But this initiative is also an opportunity for the executive to deliver a message around the theme of equal opportunities, one of the axes of the bill against separatism presented last Wednesday in the Council of Ministers, and whose aspects repressive forces occupy the center stage for the time being.
Back to this
controversial
“catalog of heroes”
.
An online catalog
The collection of names desired by the executive will take the form of a catalog, made up of 400 to 500 biographical files concerning personalities "
who have contributed to our history but have not yet found their place in our collective memory
", explained to
Le Figaro
on Wednesday, December 16, an advisor to Nadia Hai, the Minister for the City in charge of the project.
Each file will be written by a historian and embellished with photos, music or links to press articles to allow a better discovery of the person.
They will then be classified by categories (literature, cinema, military, etc.) and collected in early 2021 on a website, with open access and free of charge.
Immigrants who embody the Republic
The men and women put forward will be artists, soldiers, sportsmen, entrepreneurs, associative or political leaders, writers ... Some will be French, others not: the stated objective is above all to offer a "
youth looking for
" models closer to her, in the words of Emmanuel Macron.
Most will therefore come from the different waves of immigration that France experienced during the 20th century.
Only obligation to appear on the list: to have made "
the choice of France
", explains Nadia Hai.
“
We want to show that the Republic does not stop only at de Gaulle or Jean Moulin.
There are also foreigners who fought for the Republic, who embody its values, and who deserve to be honored.
"
Examples of personalities who could appear in the first version of the collection: Hammou Moussik, a Moroccan soldier who participated in the Liberation of Corsica in 1943, Raphaël Elizé, the first black mayor of France who died in deportation for acts of resistance in 1945, but also Lino Ventura, Italian actor who has become a monument of French cinema.
A scientific committee at the helm
The Minister for the City has appointed a scientific committee to decide on the hundreds of names that will appear in the collection.
“
We especially did not want to put our hands in there
,” blows an adviser to Nadia Hai.
“
It's a work of memory, not political propaganda.
"
To read also: Nicolas Chaudun: "Unbolting statues, the reign of anachronism and ignorance"
This scientific committee is headed by Pascal Blanchard, historian specializing in immigration.
It is equal - a requirement of the ministry - and made up of 18 people in total: historians (including Pascal Ory, a great connoisseur of French social history), association officials (Aissata Seck, one of the Foundation's officials). for the memory of slavery), but also writers Leïla Slimani and David Diop, actress Rachel Khan and journalist Isabelle Giordano.
"
I tried to choose people from very diverse backgrounds and professions, who sometimes have radically different political sensitivities to ensure the most objectivity possible in the choice of names
", explains Pascal Blanchard for
Le Figaro
.
After collecting 8,000 names, proposed by the various members, the scientific committee debated and voted on each of the profiles.
Only those which aroused general enthusiasm (at least 16 votes out of 18) were kept.
If he refuses to reveal the names of the characters who have caused controversy, Pascal Blanchard says he is "
convinced of the relevance
" of the book, which he believes should see the light of day at the end of January.
>> SEE ALSO -
How will the new names be chosen to rename the French streets?
Nadia Hai's responses
A tool for town halls, teachers ...
This collection is presented as a tool intended for local authorities: they will be able to draw from it when they seek to name a street, a housing estate, a party hall ... "
Too often, when a municipal council seeks to baptize a school or a park, and that he wants a figure who embodies the fight against racism for example, he opts for Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela
”, argues Pascal Blanchard.
“
But we also have people in France who carried these fights, and it is a shame not to highlight them.
"
The register should also be used as a support for school projects, or can be used by grandes écoles to name their student promotions, NGOs to designate operations, boards to select the names of new stations and metro stations. .
"
Mayors or teachers will never be forced to use it, of course,
" says Nadia Hai.
“
The collection is only made to make their life easier: if they need it, if they want inspiration, they will know they can consult this document.
"
A controversial initiative
"
We owe it to ourselves to breathe new life into a collective Republican imagination that speaks to everyone: it is not a question of rewriting history, but of enriching it by giving back their place to all the children of the Republic
", pleads the Minister Delegate.
However, this project has attracted much criticism.
Marine Le Pen accused Emmanuel Macron of making separatism himself by asking "
that a list of black and Arab personalities
" be made with which French people from neighborhoods or from immigrant backgrounds can identify.
"
For me it's separatism, it's racialism,
" hammered the president of the National Rally.
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot also estimated last Friday that Emmanuel Macron "should have added women" in his plea for diversity
.
O
nly 2% of French streets bore the name of a woman in 2014, according to a survey of the association "
Soroptismist
".
>> SEE ALSO -
Marine Le Pen accuses Emmanuel Macron of "separatism" and "racialism"