Volume 11
Issue
2
Date
2019

Reaction to: The Illusion of French Inclusion

by Nicole Walker

Critical race theory often overlooks modern day anti-black, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim racism in European countries. Similarly, other insular discrimination is ignored in the Western context, such as the effect of racial disparities on Afro-Caribbean, genderqueer, immigrant, and disabled minorities. Accordingly, Perkins’ Note on racism in France is necessary. We often think of discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged groups as a problem confined to the United
States. Despite some missing contextualization in the build-up of the piece, the effort is valiant. Perkins begins the Note by highlighting the plight of ethnic minorities in French society as it pertains to education, housing, employment, and law enforcement. There are a few key areas early in the Note where the reader needs more details about to whom the author is referring. As a juxtaposition, to say that the United States has a pervasive culture of anti-minority discrimination that leads to educational and housing disparities, police brutality, etc. is true, but incomplete. Different minority groups can feel the effects of discrimination differently. For example, while Latinx people face discrimination generally, especially immigrants, groups within the Latinx diaspora, such as Puerto Ricans who are U.S. citizens, are impacted differently by discrimination. The former can be unable to obtain a driver’s license because of immigration status, which can negatively impact employment prospects. On the contrary, although the latter has all the vestiges of citizenship, Puerto Ricans on the island aren’t represented in U.S.
elections. As a result, the effectuation of their interests is stifled.

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