Bastille Day Goes Colonial
This Bastille Day, Nicolas Sarkozy has drawn sharp criticism for his decision to have troops from former French colonies join the celebrations.
Happy Bastille Day to all French patriots and … Africans?
It was not French soldiers that led the march down Paris’ Champs Élysées during Wednesday's Bastille Day parade -- commemorating the beginning of the bloody French Revolution -- it was 400 African soldiers from twelve of the Republic’s former colonies.
President Nicolas Sarkozy followed behind the troops, waving to the crowds from a military vehicle. Many have interpreted the African troops’ presence not as a sincere attempt to incorporate French heritage and history into the parade, but rather, as a demonstration of Sarko’s nostalgia for the French empire. President of the former French colony, Côte d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, refused Sarkozy's invitation to attend the parade, claiming that, “The 50 years of independence is our anniversary, not France's… It is not up to [France] to organize it for us. It is tactless of [France] to do so.”
In Sarkozy’s defense, France’s colonial history is an important component of the République’s heritage and modern culture. Secretary of General of the Golden Jubilee (AKA: “Chief Director of July 14th Celebrations”), Jacques Toubon, asserted that the parade is intended to honor a “common history” and “pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Africans who fought for France.”
However, insisting that African representatives of this colonial heritage be featured at the front of a distinctly French celebration – celebrating the history of an entire nation, not of a particularly contentious period – is a bit … much … Especially when considering that many of the African heads of state Sarkozy invited to the parade are corrupt dictators, many of whom have come to power thanks to previous colonial power structures – or even direct French military intervention.