Educators Warn of Rising Racist Rhetoric in French Schools Ahead of Elections

Amina, a teacher of eco-management in a vocational high school in Seine-et-Marne for twenty-four years, confirms this reality. The Franco-Moroccan is saddened to see her students making racist remarks in recent years. "This year, one of my students told me: ’You’re not French, go back home!’ This kind of discourse is becoming commonplace," she told France Info. The teacher says she has made the same observation among the teachers. "There are more and more colleagues who embrace the ideas of the National Front, like national preference," she assures.

The Franco-Moroccan expressed her fears in the face of the rise of the far right: "The discourse of hatred, I saw it explode since the attacks of 2015. The amalgamation was established and I had the impression that we no longer had the same values, nor the same struggles." Like her, Virginie, a teacher in a rural college in Corrèze, is also concerned about the trivialization of hatred and the future of the school in the event of a victory of the National Rally (RN) in the early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. "Having the RN in government, that questions me. And it questions me that teachers can accept that!" she affirms.

"It’s a bit incompatible to be a teacher and to vote for the RN, because if you think about it, it’s shooting yourself in the foot, because you would lose a mix of students," comments Alexis, a teacher for two years in Seine-Saint-Denis. He will add: "’You’re a problem student or in difficulty, go elsewhere, we don’t want you anymore’, that will be solved like that, there will be no other solution..." "I think that being in a profession where you are constantly in contact with children, in front of diversity, it is complicated to vote for such discriminatory and violent ideas!" develops for her part Anna, a teacher in CE2 in Paris.

The young woman does not see herself continuing to practice this profession under a far-right government. "I will never apply laws that go against fundamental values for me, such as respect for others, non-discrimination of individuals, acceptance of all students as they are," she explains, specifying that as a teacher, she "does not look at the different nationalities of the students, what matters to me is to teach!" Like her, several teachers plan to leave their jobs and even France if the RN comes to power.