French Elections 2022
I attended a wedding this weekend, and inevitably the conversation turned to the upcoming French elections. The race is between Emmanuel Macron, who is pro-European and believes in globalization, versus Marine Le Pen, who is a populist and wants to protect Frances culture via tightening laws about immigration and fighting back on EU restrictions. Although it may seem shocking to some, it shows how the French people have had enough of their country being imposed upon by certain immigrant values and religions. Also, the imposition of EU standards which even can impose restrictions on certain local products such as cheese! Sacre bleu!
While at the wedding reception, I found myself sitting in the middle of a group of people passionately discussing the need to get Macron out of office. In other words, they would be voting for Marine Le Pen. It was interesting to hear the banter as it was definitely a step outside of the ex-pat world where I live.
My sister-in-law's husband, the ring leader and a retired military person, was firmly against Macron, he couldn't say enough about how important it was that Le Pen was elected. So what was the biggest reason? Immigration and they are furious about it.
For some background, my in-laws are Pied Noir. If you don't know what that is, it means someone who is a French National but grew up in Algeria. Because of this, my entire French family has a lot of memories and connections with Africa. Not only did my parents-in-law grow up in Algeria, but the oldest of my husband's siblings were born there and have very clear memories of having to escape on a boat during the Algerian war for independence. My sister-in-law, who was around eight years old at the time (1962), tells of being scared, hearing bombs going off, and feeling lucky to have made it onto the boat that would take them back to France. When they arrived in Marseille, there was no warm welcome. She told me that when they arrived in France, the French did not want them there, and they actually slept in the train station until they could figure out where to go. My mother-in-law was pregnant with baby number 3, and they headed up to Nancy, in the northeast of France, to be with her family. The baby was born, and they somehow ended up going to the Jura. Here, they would stay for a short while before my father-in-law found work in Gabon, where my husband would be born in 1965. The situation between France and Algeria left many people scrambling for jobs and looking for a place to settle. Lives were shattered, friends were lost, and these people were doing everything they could to re-create their livelihood.
The "Pieds Noirs" were returning home at such a speed that it was difficult to manage. They are French citizens but were not treated as such upon their return. By being forced to leave what was their home, they fled in fear and, at the same time lost everything they had worked hard for in Algeria. My husband's siblings were very young, but they remember it well. I could see the pain on both my brother and sister-in-laws faces as they recounted the terrifying experience they had lived through. They were very young, but they remember it well. Both said that it is something they only recently started talking about again and only with each other.
This is a short recap of what the conversation was like at the wedding, and it also explains the resentment they have towards the immigration situation in France today. They were treated poorly and shown little respect or help, whereas the people coming into France today are basically given a golden ticket to France. They have free healthcare, housing, and education. They give little back and don't consider themselves French.
What am I trying to say? I guess I realized this weekend that there is so much more to this election and its issues that go deep for some people. I felt fortunate to be able to sit and listen to a conversation about why it was important to vote for Le Pen. Do I agree? Not really, but I think it is always important to listen to both sides. I believe that the reasons behind it are valid, but unfortunately, extremism in any direction is where the danger lies.