Nothing sinister in French hero’s reward

Re Celebrated hero reinforces stereotypes, Paradkar, May 30

There is so much to write about the rise of racist, nationalist groups throughout Europe and elsewhere. So it was surprising that Shree Paradkar chose to comment on how “sickening” it was to see the celebration around French President Emmanuel Macron giving Malian migrant Mamoudou Gassama a medal, citizenship and a job after he rescued a child dangling from a balcony.

There was a good deal of political posturing in the move. Macron is a politician facing much criticism for France’s clampdown on immigration and the conditions in which many migrants live. “Sickening” is a word that illustrates the situation of migrants and refugees everywhere.

Had Paradkar stuck with that story, it would have been worth reading. Instead, she stacked up assumptions based on unattributed quotations: that “rewarding” Gassama with citizenship turned him into a “noble savage” worthy of being “allowed” into France.

She then used this unsupported premise to argue that, therefore, the “reward” was a tool to make racists feel less racist and that Black and Indigenous people must be flawless in order to have a shot at a better life. She even applies her argument to French and Canadian people in general, assuming that because everything else she says is right, entire populations believe this nonsense. This idea of flawlessness is so important. But Paradkar didn’t do that story justice. She appeared more interested in turning a benign story on its head to express her own self-righteous assumptions than actually developing a better one about people in desperate trouble. Dudley Paul, Toronto

Based on Shree Paradkar’s blistering take on the French response to a hero’s reward for rescuing a dangling child, readers could conclude that France rarely grants asylum to people of colour unless they achieve something spectacular. But France has long accepted migrants from Africa and the rest of the world. Indeed, millions of newcomers, especially people of colour, continue to be absorbed by France. This writer ignores many realities and risks inflaming the wrong kind of sentiments while she attempts to improve on race relations. Garry Bedford, Burlington

Mamoudou Gassama rescues a dangling child and France rewards him with citizenship, a medal and a firefighting job. I celebrate this heroic act; Shree Paradkar does not. I was happy and enthralled with this story. She is sour and mealy mouthed. How can we two Canadians have such different casts on this story? John Marion, Etobicoke