Déconfinement continued…
I guess I could start by saying I’ve found it hard to know what to say about anything recently. The words of the poet W. B. Yeats come frequently to my mind about “the center not holding…” It does feel like the world as we have known it is coming apart at the seams, which is unsettling (to say the least).
But also, in some ways this is a good thing. Because I think most of us would be ready to admit that the world could be better managed than we (that is, we humans) have done so far. And while not everyone admits it yet, the young people of the world are urging us, with ever-increasing urgency, to wake up and realize that if we don’t do something pretty fast about dismantling our current way of doing things, and work together to safeguard our ability to live on this planet, we are doomed. (I know: that sounds melodramatic. Unfortunately, it is also true.)
So, although I had thought my next post would be about Macron’s speech to the nation on June 14, in which he announced the next steps toward a resumption of “normal” life in France–normal life lived with “the virus” that is–just as he found it necessary to address other concerns as well in his speech, things he had not anticipated talking about, I am finding it hard to know which overwhelming concern to comment on. And (an even bigger problem), what to say about it.
I did find much of what Macron had to say on June 14 somewhat comforting, and as usual his (for the most part) calm and intelligent way of expressing himself, as well as his clear concern for the common good are reassuring. France has done a pretty good job of flattening the COVID curve. Lots of people (though not enough) are wearing masks. People have stopped shaking hands, and there is no more faireing la bise (I find the latter sad, but also necessary). The numbers of cases are going down, and the government is working hard to figure out what to do next to avoid a resurgence of the disease.
But Macron was not able to focus only on the coronovirus in his speech this time, because the rising tide of (very justifiable) anger about police brutality that started in my hometown in Minnesota has swept the world, including France. And that has brought about a whole new set of concerns.
Of course it is not just contemporary racism and police brutality that is the problem. It’s the whole ugly history of colonialism, imperialism, that is being confronted.
I guess it is about time, isn’t it?
France has plenty of guilt when it comes to the ugly legacy of colonialism, that is for sure, and much of it has not yet been fully acknowledged. But the thing is, every country has racism; and the particular shape and form it takes is different in each country. These local differences seem to give people an opportunity (well, an excuse, really) to point fingers at other countries and say how much worse they are “there” than “here” (wherever “here” is).
The problem is, pointing fingers at others doesn’t solve anything. (Also, it isn’t really true. Racism is just plain bad. Let’s not lose sight of that central fact, in arguing about the details…)
What is needed is not more finger-pointing, but less avoiding the truth. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” James Baldwin said, and he begged (and begged and begged) his countrymen to face the truth about our ugly racism, before it destroys us. (He always emphasized that racism hurts everyone: the innocent, and the guilty; blacks and whites; those who see the ugliness, and those who are blind to it.) And he was right about all that
So. I don’t know what to say about the state of the world. It is not good. (How’s that for concision and indisputability?)
I am deeply sad about what happened to George Floyd, and of course to all the literally thousands (no, millions) of black men and women who have suffered similar fates due to the racial hatred that to me is among other things, really just so damn hard to understand. 
