Obama big in France
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/17/arts/17abroad.php
It Seems that Senator Obama's nomination has created a stupor, especially in France
"A new black consciousness is emerging in France, lately hastened by, of all things, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. An article in Le Monde a few days ago described how Obama is "stirring up high hopes" among blacks here. Even seeing the word "noir" ("black") in a French newspaper was an occasion for surprise until recently.
This black consciousness is reflected not just in daily conversation, but also in a dawning culture of books and music by young French blacks like Youssoupha, a cheerful, toothy 28-year-old, who was sent here from Congo by his parents to get an education at 10, raised by an aunt who worked in a school cafeteria in a poor suburb, and told by guidance counselors that he shouldn't be too ambitious. Instead, he earned a master's degree from the Sorbonne.
When he sat down to talk the other morning, the first two words out of his mouth were Barack Obama. "The idea behind not categorizing people by race is obviously good; we want to believe in the republican ideal," he said. "But in reality we're blind in France, not colorblind but information blind, and just saying people are equal doesn't make them equal." "
It Seems that Senator Obama's nomination has created a stupor, especially in France
"A new black consciousness is emerging in France, lately hastened by, of all things, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. An article in Le Monde a few days ago described how Obama is "stirring up high hopes" among blacks here. Even seeing the word "noir" ("black") in a French newspaper was an occasion for surprise until recently.
This black consciousness is reflected not just in daily conversation, but also in a dawning culture of books and music by young French blacks like Youssoupha, a cheerful, toothy 28-year-old, who was sent here from Congo by his parents to get an education at 10, raised by an aunt who worked in a school cafeteria in a poor suburb, and told by guidance counselors that he shouldn't be too ambitious. Instead, he earned a master's degree from the Sorbonne.
When he sat down to talk the other morning, the first two words out of his mouth were Barack Obama. "The idea behind not categorizing people by race is obviously good; we want to believe in the republican ideal," he said. "But in reality we're blind in France, not colorblind but information blind, and just saying people are equal doesn't make them equal." "