French President Emmanuel Macron said the country will not tear down and “erase” statues of colonial-era leaders as protests against racial inequality and police brutality take place throughout the country.
Macron, of the liberal political party La Republique En Marche, denounced all racism in the country, promising to be “uncompromising in the face of racism, anti-Semitism, and discrimination,” in his first public address concerning race and equality following the death of George Floyd in the United States. He added that none of the country’s controversial statues or memorials, which in some cases represent the country’s history with the slave trade, will be taken down.
“The republic will not erase any trace, or any name, from its history … it will not take down any statue,” Macron said.
“It is necessary to unite around republican patriotism. We are a nation where everyone, whatever their origin and religion, can find their place,” he said.
Macron’s address comes as protesters in the U.S. have taken to the streets denouncing police brutality and racism in the wake of Floyd’s death while he was in police custody in Minneapolis.
These demonstrations, some of which have spun off into riots, have inspired protests in countries around the world, including calls to tear down memorials of past leaders. In France, roughly 150,000 protesters congregated in Paris’s Place de la Republique over the weekend in memory of Adama Traore, a 26-year-old black man who died in police custody in 2016.
“We should look at all of our history together,” including with Africa, with a goal of “truth” instead of “denying who we are,” Macron said.
