The refusal to take responsibility for the atrocities committed by the French army during colonialisation permeates public discourse fuelled by ignorance and political reasons
The refusal to take responsibility for the atrocities committed by the French army during colonialisation permeates public discourse fuelled by ignorance and political reasons
I’m married to a French, they aren’t really taught “the bad stuff” and are taught things like they were nicer/better to everyone than other colonizers so really they were the most morally righteous of their time so can’t be the ones who were wrong/are wrong. They use their anti-slavery status to ignore everything else and still consider themselves the country who invented culture… France is a lot like the US in the way it sees its self as righteous and superior and therefore anything they’ve done is right and understandable in the context it happened in. It’s weird talking to French people about French history because the scope of what they’re taught about is extremely limited and they’re extremely self righteous about it
I’ve never viewed the anti-slavery stance as much of any substance. The French and others just exported slavery to other countries so they wouldn’t feel bad witnessing where their wealth was coming from. I side eye everytime I see news of French paratroopers touching down in whatever African country that is supposed to be fully independent and not under any French coercion