What does it mean to be French? | Al Jazeera World Documentary

In France, nationwide protests erupted after police shot and killed a 17-year-old identified as “Nahel M” in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre on June 27, 2023.
In 2016, violent protests were also held when French teenager Adama Traoré died in police custody.
Al Jazeera's Abdullah Elshamy visited several communities to identify the social, cultural and economic problems facing French towns like Argenteuil and Aulnay-sous-Bois.
In this 2018 film, Elshamy examines the complex questions of identity and alienation in these suburbs and asks what it means to be French. He speaks to residents in marginalised communities, as well as journalists, politicians and campaigners across the political spectrum.
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We appreciate you taking the time to watch and we'd love to hear your insights! Share your opinions in the comments section below. If you'd love to watch more documentaries from Al Jazeera World, find them here: aje.me/AJWplaylist Connect with Al Jazeera World: ‣ Twitter: twitter.com/AlJazeeraWorld ‣ Facebook: facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld ‣ Instagram: instagram.com/_aljazeeraworld

[@bobobobo2880]

I am from African decent born and raised in France. The difference between the US and France is that at least the US knows they have a systemic racism problem. France is in complet denial. France wants to believe it is not a racist country and racism in the French police doesn't exist even though everything shows the opposite. I was 15 years old first time me and my friends got stopped by the police. We got slapped and pushed around for no reason and no I never got in trouble with the law a day of my life. This was my first interaction with the police I never forgot.

[@beaconofhope8891]

Thanks for this report. I believe that what in France is not just racism but also the exclusion. The values of the republic is just for the pure French. The others do face day and night all forms of exclusion by the state. And I don't expect it will change unfortunately.

[@aljazeeraenglish]

Thanks for watching. @@beaconofhope8891

[@revolve5995]

It's France but you only interviewed black and brown people until the end of the documentary....where you then interviewed far right white people. By the time you started speaking to native white people you'd already interviewed two imams and been to a mosque. In France.

[@WaveRider1989]

Lol true, but they wanted to show the suburban lifestyle though.

[@adityakumarsingh5204]

Well it's a Muslim channel. What do you expect?

[@yolandepakaya5174]

maybe because it's about French identity of the people living in the ghettos aka "HLM" and the majority of these kinds of communities are immigrants or children of immigrants who are French.

[@revolve5995]

@@yolandepakaya5174 No. It's supposed to be about the french in general. Why lie? If I asked you to go and ask the french "What does it mean to be French?" would you only ask people who live in the ghetto? Would you only ask non-natives this and then only ask the natives who can be branded as racist? It's CLEARLY social engineering.

[@henrythoreau645]

No, this documentary was not meant to be about the French in general. It was meant to be about those who are poor, marginalized, from Muslim backgrounds and who live on the periphery of big cities especially Paris. What does it mean to be French for them?

[@adityakumarsingh5204]

If I didn't know more I would have thought France is an Islamic country looking at this report.

[@malenedietl3369]

Look, if you colonize a great chunkof Africa and those lands are muslim, you can expect to have to interact with the peoples of those lands. It's give and take but France never wanted to play the game fairly.... You should know, the english were in India for some 150 plus years.... Dumb remark, mr.

[@adityakumarsingh5204]

I can't make any sense of your comment. Maybe it's because I am dumb. If you could elaborate so that someone as dumb as me could understand, it will be highly appreciated.

[@thomaslacornette1282]

@@malenedietl3369 Colonies stopped in 50s 60s its time to get over it one day. "but France never wanted to play the game fairly" oh maybe maybe but ti's over since a looonnggg time, maybe we derserves to be invaded by 200 millions immigrants? Maybe that would be fair to you.

[@malenedietl3369]

@@adityakumarsingh5204 I should have commented more like the guy reacting to my comment. I don't understand your comment at all. I have seen how some british and french habits invade both Pakistan/India and some countries in the Middle East and North Africa with my own eyes, and it's not becoming.

[@malenedietl3369]

@@thomaslacornette1282 Maybe it's a loooong time ago, but now the chickens are coming home to roost, sir.

[@blackforest885]

France is lost forever...

[@isaymymind1727]

Stop saying that in France, a place where university education is almost free, a black person cannot have the same opportunities as a white. I am from poor corners of Africa and I studied in France. I am in the aviation industry and have a confortable job. Don't listen to these complainers

[@henrythoreau645]

There's a small error here. Le Monde Diplomatique is not the monthly edition of Le Monde and has not been for many decades. It is an independent publication.

[@ramatgan1]

I left the UK went to my home country Somalia. Now I live in Garowe. In the UK you live in tiny homes, drive in tiny roads, taxed heavily, you live like a rat, working then sleeping. Here I live like a king. It's night and day.

[@Saudi705]

🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀of holes. King of rats. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@WaveRider1989]

Wow nice. But how come so many Africans die trying to get to Europe?

[@krnpowr]

@@WaveRider1989 I was about to ask the same. Maybe they can only live like kings once they save up all the money they made in Europe and then migrate back to Africa. That's how many Mexicans who migrate to the US operate.

[@ramatgan1]

@@WaveRider1989 Because the EU and US are heavily involved in their country. Creating wars, instability, basically destroying it. So they will migrate. In the future many tens of millions more will come.

[@Avaricumstudios]

​@@WaveRider1989conflict is the producer of many of these immigrants....you will hardly see people from East Africa washing up in the med.... except the people fleeing conflict zones ie in Somalia,parts of Ethiopia etc ....

[@localfox1000]

Very interesting documentary. Thanks.

[@kwatai9298]

the note on the screen is too small please point of correction.

[@leacrazybambi]

Where can I find more info about the Campaign for apology for colonisation of Algeria? I checked google but couldn't find it :(

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

To be French means to be African in appearance.

[@Native_soul321]

To be American Canadian Australian new Zealanders you have to white European in appearance.

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

@@Native_soul321 The native Americans were just racists who were afraid of diversity.

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

@@mudshovel290 Yes and look what happened to them moron

[@Jackie-ji2sj]

Haha. French is white, just like all European countries 😂

[@isaymymind1727]

There exist French French and wanabes...The darker ones are wannabes

[@TJ-hs1qm]

I can't vouch for East Africa but the youth in West Africa is extremely well behaved and respectful towards elders. Poverty and injustice are driving this misery in France.

[@niccoarcadia4179]

A huge problem is rise of lawlessness. Theft is crippling business and police are taking bribes. What part are you from?

[@chetyoubetya8565]

Then stay where you are from

[@user-qb4ix6yq6l]

99% of blacks in france are from west africa

[@jarosawbielski2301]

If you show yourself weak in the day of trouble, your strength is only impotence.

[@Native_soul321]

Long live revolution 0:42 More power to oppressed people of colonialism. Deth to apartheid state of Israel

[@henrythoreau645]

Not to deny the gravity of racism and islamophobia, but the National Front student interviewed near the end of the video had a point; it's not only people who look like immigrants who get stopped. If you're young, male, and identifiably poor, you get stopped too. It used to happen to me. At 58 I no longer look young, and the police leave me alone.

[@BC-du5hm]

Many reasons for tensions. Its a complex issue. I feel the solution for low birth rate in developed is not to import 10s of millions of immigrants. I do support immigration but it needs to be much more lower & selective. With AI, Automation, we wont need too many humans to keep the economy productive. Developed nations need to rethink economy,immigration. Too many immigrants create cultural tensions with locals. Thats not surprising the world over.

[@gilberttello08]

Better apply the Chinese political system playbook to avoid this tragic great replacement in the works in the whole of France. The true French residents of european blood being overwhelmed by people from Africa. It is a great tragedy!

[@venuspeaches9319]

if they had not colonized Africa, draind their resources and killed there wolud not have been that many immigrants today. It has been les than 100 years since som african countris gaind independance this is their direct result. France and many others european countries are taking their well earned karma. enjoy

[@henrythoreau645]

This is a good documentary. Yes, what does it mean to be French if your ancestors were from Africa, or Asia for that matter, and if the religion you grew up with was Islam, and add poverty to that, too. Actually so many French people have immigrant backgrounds, with ancestors from Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, ex Yugoslavia, and the Middle East too, apart from Africa. And there are others from places like Guyana, Guadalupe, Martinique, Madagascar, "French" Polynesia. In the old days, before World War 2, if they'd made a documentary about marginalisation and police harassment, those interviewed would have been mostly white and working class. Poverty and discrimination are the problems. Even today I hear of cases of French people being rejected for jobs on the basis of their acccent. With that alone you can hear whwre they are from and their social background. France is elitist, has too much racism encouraged by an opportunist and xenophobic far right, and its motto liberté, égalité, fraternité has become something of a joke, especially if you're poor. Having said all that, I'm French too, and I love that country.

[@incumbentvinyl9291]

''What does it mean to be French?'' That you eat frogs?

[@omarghoonem6173]

hey there, you don't have any permission to shot the kids faces on camera, that's ILLEGAL.

[@wallaceahtone6149]

This mini doc held my interest from start to finish. This is why I subscribe to Al-Jazeera. Good reporting and they cover the human element well.

[@aljazeeraenglish]

Thanks for watching, dear Wallace. 🙌 We are glad you liked the film.

[@bobobobo2880]

I am from African decent born and raised in France. The difference between the US and France is that at least the US knows they have a systemic racism problem. France is in complet denial. France wants to believe it is not a racist country and racism in the French police doesn't exist even though everything shows the opposite. I was 15 years old first time me and my friends got stopped by the police. We got slapped and pushed around for no reason and no I never got in trouble with the law a day of my life. This was my first interaction with the police I never forgot.

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

Why are you trying to be European?

[@AnthonyD-yy2in]

@@user-vg7xu1lm8s you don't get to choose where you are born, and if you were born anywhere in Europe and had African ancestry you would understand that simple fact.🙄

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

@@AnthonyD-yy2in They are making a choice willingly to stay in Europe because they think white people are superior.

[@diazcastro7331]

You can go back to Africa fool

[@brojwz2314]

Seems like you deserved what you got

[@TJ-hs1qm]

The nation-state reminds me of the dog meme with two dogs fiercely barking at each other when the gate between them is closed and stopping immediately when the gate is opened. Perhaps the nation-state, being a recent concept, is already at the core of the problem of racism.

[@Kingleazard]

That's propaganda. 99%of the time everything's fine.

[@bob_0146]

You're French if you're white. No need for a 46 min explanation.

[@resurrectedone7463]

‘Europe is a garden, rest of the world is a jungle’: EU’s Josep Borrell

[@cookiemonster7043]

Well, I guess that includes Australia and Canada and the US

[@mohdnorzaihar2632]

100 year of judeo-christian progress

[@ernestolynch1926]

There is nothing Christian about this "progress" - only Zionism and Judaism ... Sapienti sat ...

[@michaell8002]

The have and have nots..French imperialism

[@MmmM-uo6ti]

KARMA in coming to France people's!!! Freedom to African people's

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

You're just proving that diversity isn't a strength.

[@isaymymind1727]

Africans are good at selling and enslaving each other...and playing victim over it

[@oceanwave4502]

Western Europe is receiving more and more immigrants to deal with their aging issue. For example, Germany needs at least 400,000 new immigrants from now on to keep its economy "as-is" (let alone thriving). My hope is that in democracy system, when immigrants become more representative, especially when they're the workforce (the main driver of society), their own voice must be heard and their own political power must be respected as well as their own values must be allowed to thrive.

[@culture88]

I'm completely militantly secularist and anti-religion in government policy. I also have a spiritual practice, but there is NO WAY I want anyone's religion dictating government policies.

[@eziliterris9146]

In this doc We are talking about 3rd and 4th generation, it s always been evil strategy to racialize , opress economically and more evident under Macron s presidency criminalizing a part of the population to cover government s failing in every aspect; Employment, degradation of social services etc.... eternal scape goating, ,it is really going bad in France,

[@user-vg7xu1lm8s]

It's being done purely for political reasons in order to destroy nationalism.

[@Native_soul321]

Europeans hate nonwhites more than they hate religious people.

[@hermanspaerman3490]

Short answer: Absolutely no one needs muslim immigration.

[@Saudi705]

Abdullahs are disliked lot. Juggernaut of Gabdullahs destruction taking shape. Ww3 end of Abdul.