Nadège Abomangoli, vice-president of France’s National Assembly and an MP, has filed a complaint for racist and sexist hatred after receiving an anonymous letter questioning her legitimacy as a black woman in office – the latest in a string of such incidents targeting left-wing lawmakers of colour.
Abomangoli, who is an MP with the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, has filed a complaint with the Paris public prosecutor, her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani has said.
The complaint was made on the grounds of “insulting a person holding public authority, or alternatively, a public insult of a racist and sexist nature”, Ardakani said in a statement.
The letter arrived on 11 July at Abomangoli’s parliamentary office in the Palais Bourbon. It included what Ardakani described as “outrageous, openly racist and sexist remarks” aimed at her “in the exercise of her duties as Vice-President of the National Assembly and MP for the 10th constituency of Seine-Saint-Denis”.
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According to the statement, the letter said: “First black woman vice-president – I get shivers of discomfort. Decolonialism does not make you legitimate” and “I am a white man. My surname Jourdain is far more deserving of your position than you are.” Another part read: “A black woman has no business in this role. Leave. You don’t belong here. Or anywhere.”
Such remarks, Ardakani said, “deny Ms Abomangoli the legitimacy to hold one of the highest institutional offices – that of Vice-President of the National Assembly – under a mandate granted by the French electorate, solely on the basis of her skin colour and gender”. She said the letter was “an attack on her dignity and the respect due to her office”.
The comments, she added, are “laden with xenophobic and misogynistic stereotypes” and are “unquestionably intended to denigrate and stigmatise the vice-president – both for who she is and what she represents”.
'Broader and repeated pattern'
Abomangoli is not the only left-wing MP of colour to face such abuse. Ardakani said the message reflects “a broader and repeated pattern” of targeting black and minority lawmakers in France.
LFI MPs Carlos Martens Bilongo and Aly Diouara have both reported frequent racist threats since being elected.
On Tuesday, Diouara’s lawyer announced that seven people will go on trial in December at the Paris criminal court. The trial follows a complaint Diouara filed after being harassed online following his election.
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In November 2022, a far-right MP from the National Rally party was suspended from parliament for 15 days after making racist remark about Bilongo during a legislative session.
In 2020, the ultra-conservative magazine Valeurs Actuelles published a fictional story portraying black MP Danièle Obono as a slave. The magazine later apologised but denied the accusation of racism, saying the article was “a work of fiction ... but never nasty”.
The story drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, including President Emmanuel Macron.
In 2013, a far-right French newspaper caused uproar with a headline comparing the then-justice minister Christiane Taubira to a monkey. Taubira, who was born in French Guiana, chose not to file a legal complaint, but the incident led to protests against racism.
(with newswires)
