DECRYPTION
At the call of the Traite "Truth for Adama" committee, new demonstrations are expected on Saturday, notably in Paris, against racism and police violence. In a context where the anti-racist movements call in particular to unbolt all the figures who have directly or indirectly participated in the colonial past of France, these demonstrations are closely followed by the government.
>> READ ALSO - Coronavirus: do the demonstrations on Saturday pose a health risk?
This week, in private, Emmanuel Macron was moved by the desire of certain activists to bring down statues: "Erasing our history does not solve the problems." At the Élysée, in any case, we oppose "these degradations" a necessary "memory look".
"Insurgency speech"
At the National Assembly, the statue of Colbert, a great thinker of the French state but also editor of the "Code Noir" for the colonies, was the target of anti-racist associations. Which leads this close to the head of state to be alarmed: "How far are we going in the historical purification of our past?" The question is sensitive and the discomfort remains palpable in the ministries. "People use skin color to make it a political project," says an adviser.
Jean-Rémi Baudot / Europe 1 credits
It is precisely this politicization that worries. The Ministry of the Interior, not far from the presidential palace, remains particularly vigilant: "I want to rediscover the Adama Traoré Committee, but they are playing politics. They are carrying out an insurrection speech", points out do we place Beauvau.
Will Macron talk about it on Sunday?
For the executive, these events would benefit from "a media magnifying glass effect" and above all advocate communitarianism. "The far left is attacking the French imagination and the fundamentals of the Republic," criticizes a close friend of the president. A minister also denounces a "cuckoo strategy": "We have seen what the ultra-left has done with 'yellow vests'."
Will the question be addressed by Emmanuel Macron Sunday evening, during his address to the French? For the time being, the Élysée refuses to confirm it, but an adviser is alarmed: "It is a powder keg. We must quickly find the words to not have two France face to face."