A court in France rejected a request to rename the street “Negro” in Biarritz
[ad_1]
A court in France has rejected a request by human rights organization Memoires et Partages to rename an area and street in Biarritz called La Negresse (“The Negress”). The organization described the place name as “racist and sexist.”
The court concluded that the name cannot be considered an “attack on the principle of protecting human dignity,” despite the “semantic evolution of the term.” Based on data from local historians of Biarritz, soldiers of the Napoleonic era gave the nickname La Negresse to a woman who worked in a tavern in 1812-1813. The court views the title as a “memorial perspective and tribute to local history” without the intent to “depict a black slave or descendant of a slave in a derogatory, offensive or degrading manner.”
Lawyers for Memoires et Partages said they would appeal the court’s decision to the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative court.
[ad_2]
Source link
