The following came from a friend:
“But being a French citizen means you?re not categorized as African French or Southeast Asian French or West Indian French; you?re just plain French. That?s the republican ideal, citizenship bestowing theoretical equality, belying the reality of racism. French schoolchildren are steeped in the concept of a single France. The law actually forbids taking a census according to ethnic or racial categories.” – The New York Times, Oct. 17, ‘07
Why does it happen here in the United States then? When you become a citizen here, would you (i.e., me) prefer to be called just American or Asian American?
Do you think people like the connection they have to have with their ethnicity?
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Now me: At a recent conference I attended in Boston, I was part of an affinity group for international students and faculty. One of the members made an excellent point, one that I have adapted here. In the United States, we prize diversity, differences, individual cultures and traditions (or at least we say we do and then try to show it), whereas in France the culture seeks to suppress individual differences as the only way to achieve unity. Recent racial and ethnic riots in France tell us that theirs is a flawed model, and while ours has many problems too, at least we strive for our motto E Pluribus Unum.
