Emmanuel Macron blames imported US ideas for French society becoming ‘racialised’
- The president took aim at American social science ideas that focus on race
- ‘I don’t agree with a fight that reduces everyone to their identity or their particularity,’ he says
“I see that our society is becoming progressively racialised,” Macron told Elle magazine in an interview.
He took aim in particular at the idea of “intersectionality” – popular among left-leaning US academics – that seeks to explain discrimination and poverty by examining the role played by race, gender and other social factors in affecting an individual’s life chances.
“The logic of intersectionality fractures everything,” Macron said. “I stand for universalism. I don’t agree with a fight that reduces everyone to their identity or their particularity,” he continued.
“Social difficulties are not only explained by gender and the colour of your skin, but also by social inequalities.”
The 43-year-old added that he could think of young white men in his hometown of Amiens or nearby Saint-Quentin in northern France “who also have immense difficulties, for different reasons, in finding a job”.
