Tracy McNicoll's article about Obama in France is persuasive and good on many fronts but entirely wrong on one: race in France. France has always been one of the top immigrant destinations and racial dynamics are very different compared to the United States. To compare blacks in the US to those in France is like comparing apples to oranges. Blacks in France were never slaves and came to France on their own free will, mostly for employment opportunities or asylum from corrupt regimes like the one in Zimbabwe. The American media really needs to be careful how it presents things because these kinds of articles can be very misleading...this article suggest that the blacks in France are suffering and have unequal rights...the real issue is that France's economy on the whole is bureaucratic (for everyone including whites) so its hard for people to advance and move around since work and life are heavily controlled by the government (including unions to which many blacks subscribe). Sadly, this is the legacy of utopian-minded socialists...the same ones who invited scores of Africans to come live in France with free education, health care, etc...really, blacks in France have it good, perhaps better than in America (plenty of free benefits and a race blind government). This article in fact contradicts its message because in the end it states that this man Sturn 'runs his own production company' ...so this guy runs his own company and the blacks are really suffering? Being half French and half American myself, having lived in both countries, and being of mixed race myself, I would conclude that the blacks in France are severly misguided..but what's more troubling is what does Tracy have in mind when writing about blacks in France? why not write about all the positive things sarkozy and obama talked about? interesting indeed Tracy...what are you suggesting to our impressionable minds?









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