Paris black feminist festival ‘prohibited’ to whites sparks outrage

PARIS: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called for a black feminist festival in the French capital to be banned, saying it was ‘prohibited to white people.’

The first edition of the Nyansapo Festival, due to run from July 28 to 30 at a cultural centre in Paris, bills itself as “an event rooted in blackfeminism, activism, and on (a) European scale.”

Four- fifths of the festival area will be set aside as a ‘non-mixed’ space ‘for black women,’ according to its website in French. Another space will be a ‘non-mixed’ area ‘for black people’ regardless of gender. Another space would be ‘open to all.’ The English version of the site does not use the word ‘non-mixed,’ but ‘reserved.’ Hidalgo, a Socialist, said on Twitter that she firmly condemned the organisation “of this event, ‘ prohibited to white people’.”

“I am asking for this festival to be banned,” Hidalgo said, adding she also reserved the right “to prosecute the organisers for discrimination.” Police prefect Michel Delpuech said in a statement that police had not been advised about the event by Sunday evening. But, Delpuech added, the police ‘would ensure the rigorous compliance of the laws, values, and principles of the republic’.

French antiracist and antisemitism organisations strongly condemned the festival.

SOS Racisme described the event as “a mistake, even an abomination, because it wallows in ethnic separation, whereas anti-racism is a movement which seeks to go beyond race.” — AFP