Several thousand people gathered this Saturday in Nice to denounce racism and say no to police violence.
Approximately 2,500 people (a little over 1,000 according to the police) marched peacefully against racism and police violence. Many young people, students, and regular protestors participated in this kind of protest march.
The issue, if there is one, is that the reading of the Prefecture’s communiqué suggested a prohibition for health and safety reasons; in fact, there were more than 10 marchers, a large majority did not wear protective masks, and especially, there was no social distancing.
Moreover, a sort of fraternization occurred between protestors and law enforcement with a fist bump greeting. On the other hand, there were no incidents of violence to report, and that’s a good thing.
In the end, amid the prevailing confusion, it was unclear in whose honor this was for – George Floyd from Minneapolis, a victim of the local police, or the young man from the Paris suburbs, Adama Traoré, whose death’s circumstances are the subject of a controversial inquiry and various speculations – and against whom – the alleged violent behavior of the French police?
And again, when we talk about racism, we need to be more explicit and specific: racism from whom? The French police?
When dealing with such sensitive topics, one should be more attentive to avoid meaningless generalizations: writing a slogan on a placard is easy, shouting slogans is also easy. But to get messages across, one must avoid amalgamations and especially not speak just to hear their own voice.
Tomorrow – as a repeated event – another march is announced. Will it be the same people and for the same reasons?
The Prefecture supposedly – in principle – prohibited the demonstration for the same reasons as today’s.
As they say in such cases: it goes in one ear and out the other! That’s how life goes!
