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Dragon Horse
SuperMentor
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
{Posts: 1829 }
Location: Lookin DC Metro, Feelin Geneva
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 Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 02:14 Post subject: Miss France: Chloe Mortaud |
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| Quote: | Miss France wants to advertise French diversity
By RACHID AOULI / Associated Press Writer
Published: December 7th, 2008 08:08 AM
Last Modified: December 7th, 2008 08:08 AM
PARIS - The new Miss France, born to an African-American mother and white French father, said Sunday she wants to advertise her country's diversity on the world stage.
Chloe Mortaud is not the first nonwhite winner of the beauty pageant, but she is joining a growing chorus of French public figures breaking traditions by speaking openly about race.
"I want to go to people and explain to them that fear of the other is unfounded," she told The Associated Press the day after being crowned. "I want to incarnate ... today's French diversity" at international beauty pageants.
France has championed a colorblind standard that sees all citizens as just French, regardless of ethnic origins - an ideal meant to make everyone feel equal. But it has failed to snuff out racism, particularly against immigrants from former French colonies in Africa. Discrimination in part fed riots in 2005 by largely minority youth in French housing projects.
Days after Barack Obama's election last month, leading French figures published a manifesto urging affirmative action-like policies to expand opportunities for millions of blacks, Arabs and other minorities. First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said she hoped the "Obama effect" would reshape France's political and social elite.
Mortaud, a dual French-American citizen, said her mother was born in Mississippi but grew up in California, and her father's heritage is ethnic French "as far back as we could trace the family tree."
Mortaud said she and her brother were the only children of mixed ethnic background in the small town where they grew up in the French Pyrenees, where she said "everyone knows each other and respects each other."
Mortaud, 19, is a student in international business in the southern city of Toulouse, and speaks Chinese. |
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Dragon Horse
SuperMentor
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
{Posts: 1829 }
Location: Lookin DC Metro, Feelin Geneva
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 02:15 Post subject: |
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| She looks about as white as my step sister...hell my mother looked more white than her.amazing how genes work. I would like to see what both her parents look like. |
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G-Man
Moderator
Joined: 27 Nov 2004
{Posts: 2992 }
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 15:11 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Chloe Mortaud is not the first nonwhite winner of the beauty pageant, but she is joining a growing chorus of French public figures breaking traditions by speaking openly about race. |
So prior to her there were no French public figures speaking openly about race? 
What she's probably peeved about is the lack of affirmative action in that country. And as we all know affirmative action will benefit all those "others' who live in France's housing projects.
| Quote: | | "I want to go to people and explain to them that fear of the other is unfounded," she told The Associated Press the day after being crowned. "I want to incarnate ... today's French diversity" at international beauty pageants. |
If she isn't the first nonwhite and not the first person of African descent to win the pageant or other beauty pageants in that country then fear of the other can't be too widespread in that society. It's apparent that French society may be tolerant of racial and ethnic diversity but not cultural diversity if she and other nonwhites have won such contests. |
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Dragon Horse
SuperMentor
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
{Posts: 1829 }
Location: Lookin DC Metro, Feelin Geneva
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 15:24 Post subject: |
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| G-Man wrote: | | Quote: | | Chloe Mortaud is not the first nonwhite winner of the beauty pageant, but she is joining a growing chorus of French public figures breaking traditions by speaking openly about race. |
So prior to her there were no French public figures speaking openly about race?
What she's probably peeved about is the lack of affirmative action in that country. And as we all know affirmative action will benefit all those "others' who live in France's housing projects.
| Quote: | | "I want to go to people and explain to them that fear of the other is unfounded," she told The Associated Press the day after being crowned. "I want to incarnate ... today's French diversity" at international beauty pageants. |
If she isn't the first nonwhite and not the first person of African descent to win the pageant or other beauty pageants in that country then fear of the other can't be too widespread in that society. It's apparent that French society may be tolerant of racial and ethnic diversity but not cultural diversity if she and other nonwhites have won such contests. |
I don't know, in France it seems pretty taboo to talk about race.
Check out this article:
This is from a right wing site but:
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3658
This guy got in trouble in France for saying he was "white".  |
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fwsweet
Administrator
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
{Posts: 5381 }
Location: Palm Coast, FL
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 15:47 Post subject: |
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| Dragon Horse wrote: | | G-Man wrote: | | So prior to her there were no French public figures speaking openly about race? |
I don't know, in France it seems pretty taboo to talk about race. |
DH has evidently never heard of Alexandre Dumas. |
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G-Man
Moderator
Joined: 27 Nov 2004
{Posts: 2992 }
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 15:49 Post subject: |
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| I think he means currently taboo. |
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MisterLawyer
Moderator
Joined: 02 May 2006
{Posts: 443 }
Location: Īle-de-France
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 20:32 Post subject: |
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It is quite taboo to take the position that race exists. The official position is that everyone here is either French, or in the process of becoming French, and that the only race that exists is the human race. Talking about geographic origins, or physical features, is not taboo.
It is a fine line. |
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msmochachina
Regular User
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
{Posts: 69 }
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| Posted: Tue 09 Dec 2008 21:12 Post subject: Interesting |
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| She's very pretty. I think it's interesting that France is the only country in the world that has the same number of interracial relationships between bw/wm as wm/bm. |
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G-Man
Moderator
Joined: 27 Nov 2004
{Posts: 2992 }
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| Posted: Wed 10 Dec 2008 01:58 Post subject: |
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| Is it? If they don't keep racial data, how would people know? |
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Famu
Mentor
Joined: 27 Sep 2007
{Posts: 282 }
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| Posted: Fri 19 Dec 2008 10:21 Post subject: |
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| G-Man wrote: | | Is it? If they don't keep racial data, how would people know? |
Just from personal experience, I've seen far more black woman/white male relationships than the reverse. No data, just ancedata.  |
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Helena21
New User
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
{Posts: 44 }
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| Posted: Sun 21 Dec 2008 09:34 Post subject: |
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| G-Man wrote: | | Quote: | | Chloe Mortaud is not the first nonwhite winner of the beauty pageant, but she is joining a growing chorus of French public figures breaking traditions by speaking openly about race. |
So prior to her there were no French public figures speaking openly about race?
What she's probably peeved about is the lack of affirmative action in that country. And as we all know affirmative action will benefit all those "others' who live in France's housing projects.
| Quote: | | "I want to go to people and explain to them that fear of the other is unfounded," she told The Associated Press the day after being crowned. "I want to incarnate ... today's French diversity" at international beauty pageants. |
If she isn't the first nonwhite and not the first person of African descent to win the pageant or other beauty pageants in that country then fear of the other can't be too widespread in that society. It's apparent that French society may be tolerant of racial and ethnic diversity but not cultural diversity if she and other nonwhites have won such contests. |
Another fake self-righteous, loony right-winger, no doubt. |
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Famu
Mentor
Joined: 27 Sep 2007
{Posts: 282 }
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| Posted: Mon 22 Dec 2008 08:39 Post subject: |
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If she isn't the first nonwhite and not the first person of African descent to win the pageant or other beauty pageants in that country then fear of the other can't be too widespread in that society. It's apparent that French society may be tolerant of racial and ethnic diversity but not cultural diversity if she and other nonwhites have won such contests. |
I don't think that's true. French believe that there is no other culture but French culture. So even though she is biracial and her mother is from the US, she is still a product of French culture.
What the French fear most is loss of French culture and people who do not assimilate, and they are deathly afraid of Arab French or Muslims.
I also think there is a difference between actually being tolerant of racial or ethnic differences, and thinking "Oh, look at the cute little non-white/biracial girl, she is exotic" without actually having to interact with non-white/biracial people on a day-to-day basis. |
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girlfromthenc
Mentor
Joined: 27 Nov 2004
{Posts: 269 }
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| Posted: Mon 22 Dec 2008 16:40 Post subject: |
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I have heard Germans speak the same way about their dislike of Muslims. I think there is a very strong anti-muslim sentiment over there in Europe because Muslims tend not to assilimate like other immigrants as Famu said.
I've heard complaints that Arab men come to Europe and "sleep" with European women but do not approve of Arab women with European men together (but that's islam for you)! |
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