TF1 Faces Backlash Over Racist Term in TV Show Description, Sparking Online Outrage

TF1 rebroadcast an episode entitled "Yasmina" on Sunday. But the description of the episode mentioned a "banlieue beurette", a sexist and racist term that is controversial. "It’s a vernacular term that only makes sense here (in France). Because it refers to a French imaginary, an Orientalist vision dating back to the Middle Ages," explains Nacira Guénif-Souilamas, sociologist, anthropologist and lecturer at Paris VIII.

On Monday, the word "beurette" was the subject of debate during Pascal Praud’s "L’heure des pros" program on Cnews. For publicist Jacques Séguéla, "the word beurette is poetic. We can always see racism everywhere, but it’s poetic." "It’s a descriptive term; it’s not pejorative. It was invented by themselves," comments Elisabeth Lévy in turn.