“To remain silent, to abstain from the next elections, is to endorse hatred”

TThe Lilian Thuram Foundation against racism and for equality calls on all citizens to mobilize to prevent parties that advocate exclusion, inequalities and violence from taking power. The far right invites us to break ties by stigmatizing Muslims, migrants and people with dual nationality, thereby depriving them of an essential good that each of us must defend: freedom.

Imagine being forbidden to be yourself! How can one look at oneself and accept the idea of ​​a party promoting violence against others because of their religion, skin color, sexuality or supposed origin? As we know, the core business of the National Rally has always been anti-Semitism, even if it claims to have moved beyond it.

Today, the most open hatred is against Muslims. But hatred breeds hatred, and inevitably each of us will end up suffering as a result. History has shown us that hatred first affects the poorest and gradually spreads to the whole of society. The only way to protect ourselves is to recreate links and build real solidarity policies.

The far right stands with the rich, not the poor

Historically, racist ideology has been a decoy to pit the poorest against the poorest. Let us recall that in the early days of slavery, slaves were both white and black, and they rebelled against the economic system that mistreated them. To crush these revolts, masters granted advantages to white slaves, claiming that only black slaves would be slaves for life.

At the same time, in France, poor white people were exploited and mistreated. Today, in 2024, the National Rally is reactivating this category of white people by saying that white people must come first. This explains why among the voters of the National Rally are previously stigmatized people, Italians, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, etc., who have now “become” White.

When will we understand that the real problem is the fair distribution of wealth? When will we understand that the extreme right is not on the side of the poor, but on the side of the rich? When will this trap stop working? Racism is a firewall that prevents the thinking of those who should be revolting for more equality, more justice and more social justice.

The floodgates of violence are already opening. As always, some will say “I didn’t know”. We cannot be neutral in the face of hatred. We cannot tolerate it. To remain silent, to abstain in the next elections, is to endorse it. Let’s resist and fight hatred. We must stick together. We cannot collaborate with hatred.