Faced with the “surge of hatred”, working-class neighborhoods decided to make their voices heard

Between the proliferation of xenophobic theses and the breakthrough of the “great replacement” theory, the presidential campaign popularizes ideas that were once marginal, now hammered home on the small screen. First targets of this political and media hype: the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods, the ultimate foil figures, exploited by the “straight” to make “their political business”, denounces Mohamed Mechmache, 55, one of the founders of the national coordination Not without us.

Five months before the presidential election, some, within these so-called “sensitive” territories, have decided to organize themselves to make their voices heard on the sets, in the newspapers, with politicians. “We are not going to remain spectators in the face of this surge of hatred, says Mr. Mechmache. We have things to say, our voices count. »

Because, for the politicians, the neighborhoods have become territories without voters to seduce, territories where we no longer vote – the abstention rates are reaching record highs. Results, “no one addresses them as if they did not belong to the body politic, regrets the essayist Hakim El Karoui. On the other hand, they are very useful to some, on the right, who, to explain the downgrading of the middle classes, applies the well-known and populist principle of the scapegoat”.

Selected pieces : “In the districts of the Parisian suburbs or other large metropolises, we have in fact arrived at the end of the “great replacement””, “These delinquents, drug kingpins who are armed, are mostly Muslims” (the polemicist Eric Zemmour, putative candidate, October 18 on BFM-TV and September 21 on CNews); “What we see today in certain neighborhoods (…), it’s a kind of ethnic cleansing (…), where you have people of foreign origin who are gradually driving out what in demography are called natives (…). We push out (…) populations that do not belong to a Muslim bloc” (Gilles Platret, vice-president and spokesperson for Les Républicains, October 5 on CNews). Politicians no longer speak of “blacks and Arabs”, they hardly speak of “suburbs”, they speak of delinquency, immigration and Islam, drug traffickers, foreigners and Muslims.

Train “ambassadors”

“The suburbs have been converted to Muslims”, ironically committed humorist Yassine Belattar. “While the concerns generated by the terrorist attacks are legitimate, the aggressiveness towards Muslims and neighborhoods is not., thunders Mr. El Karoui. How can such comments be made without so few people reacting? The way these speeches have entered the public debate is very worrying. The underlying and unhealthy idea that they convey is to say that “they” are not like us, “they” are immigrants, Muslims, North Africans and Sub-Saharans. As if they were a burden on society. But nobody says that it is Mouloud from 93 who pays for the retirement of Jeannine du Var who votes Zemmour! » For neighborhood residents, television legitimizes racist speech and fuels sentiment “permanent humiliation”, underlines Nadir Kahia, president of the Banlieue Plus association.

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