4 ms·
Colonialism and Identity in French Africa and African France
- deogeo 7y ago> For one thing, it’s illegal in France to gather data about ethnicity. Well that was unexpected. Good way to deny ammunition to xenophobes, I guess. > Probably in an an effort to divide to conquer, the numerous (Arabic speaking) Algerian Jews had all been granted citizenship in the 1880s. Wikipedia seems to disagree - it gives the reason as "The decision to extend citizenship to Algerian Jews was a result of pressures from prominent members of the liberal, intellectual French Jewish community, which considered the North African Jews to be "backward" and wanted to bring them into modernity." [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Algeria#French_Algeria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Algeria...
- brandonlc 7y agoInteresting, thanks. Whether it was divide-and-conquer or bringing "them into modernity," it still boggles my mind how questions about citizenship were framed in the late 19th century.