requiem for black france - great article about french soccer

frederic38

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http://www.castefootball.us/archives/requiem-for-black-france/

this is the most significant part i think:

"Rather than attempt to deal with the insurmountable problems of France's ethnically divided society, French governments have preferred to make showy gestures of support for social equality. Promoting sport among France's ethnic communities has the double benefit of being reasonably cheap and high profile as the 1998 World Cup win showed. Sports facilities can be built as glowing symbols of the government's commitment to social equality, while young Blacks and North Africans can be encouraged to take up sports, with any success having an immediate political utility. Naturally no similar effort is made on behalf of Whites, as White sporting success would merely serve to remind non-Whites in poor neighbourhoods of their chronic failure.

While this approach may produce short term results both politically and sporting, it also has serious drawbacks. As the riots of 2005 clearly showed it does nothing to deal with the deep sense of resentment that France's ethnic population feels. In sporting terms, it neglects that part of the population with the highest potential, namely the Whites. If France had not concentrated its soccer resources on making political gestures to minorities, the current crop of White players who are now emerging would have been even better prepared for their role than they are now."
 

Liverlips

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Yes, very good points made here. It is good to see France's national side getting a bit more white and less black.

The World Cup wins of all-white Italy and Spain in recent years probably has a lot to do with lessening the laughable policy of black supremacy in French soccer.
 

frederic38

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yes, the comparison with the all-white spanish team helped
barcelona has also been more popular than the french national team here, with the white star messi and small skilled white players
 
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