Is this historically accurate or is he naive? - Foreign Student (1994) Discussion

[–] guy-bellinger 17 years ago

It is not wrong. A lot of American Black artists or writers like Josephine Baker, Richard Wright, Sidney Bechet and others chose to live in France because they felt they could live freely there. Which does not mean there are no French racists: let's not dream. But the racism commonly displayed by the French rather targets Algerians and Arabs, whom they accuse of stealing their jobs. Africans or African Americans are better accepted, all the more if they are documented aliens and if they are artists.

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[–] t1380 16 years ago

But if you are Black and not an artist, the French will still treat you like crap?

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[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] poupartca 14 years ago

And an earlier poster said, France certainly had its share of racists, but, esp. in urban, intellectual, or artistic circles, was relatively accepting of blacks (esp. African-Americans). The sharp contrast comes into focus with the comparison to the Jim Crow system in much of the USA in the same era, which was the opposite extreme.

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[–] marcchanois 14 years ago

I never tried to deny that.. of course novelty value.. either hate or love..

i merely expressed what i think about france today..

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[–] MarthaJonesSmith 14 years ago

This was adapted from his autobiographic book, so yes...it is as accurate as can be.

And remember, Josephine Baker was even allowed to adopt caucasian children as well as children of other nationalities back then. Something unheard of back in the '50's.

Canada and France were very accepting...as was probably a reason old Thomas Jefferson often took Sally Hemings with him to Paris way back in the day...while on business.

GLENN: "Damn the siren song of your frittata, Ron! No man can resist...!" - Sons of Tucson

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[–] marcchanois 14 years ago

accepting is not supporting ..I 'm totally not against letting a black rule my country.... but i'm sorta against letting them be my family members

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[–] MarthaJonesSmith 14 years ago

Wow....if you think that way I'm really sorry. I would never exclude a person from joining my family just because they were black, white, Chinese, Native American, Mexican, any other color or nationality.

People donate organs everyday and I bet the recipients forget to ask..."What color was the organ donor?"

GLENN: "Damn the siren song of your frittata, Ron! No man can resist...!" - Sons of Tucson

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[–] marcchanois 14 years ago

you might not care about the race, but you surely care about something more "important" than race....the thing which I probably care less..

don't say sorry, I'm not tragic, we are equal. but I despise you.

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[–] poupartca 12 years ago

Go away, you despicable little troll. Poujadiste chien.

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[–] spw143-1 12 years ago

you ARE quite pathetic.

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[–] KayDrama 10 years ago

I am black and visited Paris in the 1970's, as a teenager. If I had had the finances to move there at that time, that is where I would have chose to live out my life. Now, I have family ties here.

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[–] Goombas84 9 years ago

Indeed in those times, a black man would not be targeted by racism and could live freely in France. The racism displayed in USA was somehow out of place in the world in its time.

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