French magazine depicts Black lawmaker as slave; issues apology

A French magazine,Valeurs Actuelles, depicted a French lawmaker as a slave. The magazine has, now, issued an apology after the depiction was criticised by several French government officials.

The lawmaker in the image wasDanielle Obono from the far-left partyDefiant France, and the magazine mainly caters to the far-right audience.

Obono took to Twitter to condemn the depiction and said, "It seems 'That We-Can-Could-Nothing-Say' #BienPensance . Fortunately, we can still write racist sh**in a tea towel illustrated by the images of a black African French MP repainted as a slave ...The extreme right, odious, stupid and cruel. In short, equal to itself."(translated from French)

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Il paraît 'Qu'on-Peut-Pu-Rien-Dire' #BienPensance. Heureusement on peut encore écrire de la merde raciste dans un torchon illustrée par les images d'une députée française noire africaine repeinte en esclave...
L'extrême-droite, odieuse, bête et cruelle. Bref, égale à elle-même. pic.twitter.com/EupKSXZ207 — Députée Obono (@Deputee_Obono) August 28, 2020

Deputy Editor Tagdual Denis, on the other hand, claimed that the image was not intended to hurt Obono and it was surely not a try to gain attention. However, he did add that he regrets the image the magazine is being painted in on social media since the picture came out. "What I regret is that we are always accused of racism ... we are politically incorrect, it''s in our DNA."

Prime Minister Jean Castex from the conservative Republicans party tweeted: “This revolting publication calls for unambiguous condemnation. ... The fight against racism will always transcend our differences.”

The junior minister for equality and the only Black member of the French government, Elisabeth Moreno, who has rarely been on the same page as Obono also offered support to her on this matter and tweeted, "I don''t share Danielle Obono''s ideas, but today I offer her all my support.”