French far right attack choice of mixed-race girl for Joan of Arc role

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian and agencies

French far right attack choice of mixed-race girl for Joan of Arc role

Incitement to racial hatred inquiry launched into abuse over selection for Orléans festival

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, and agencies
Fri 23 Feb 2018 10.57 GMT

A French state prosecutor has opened an inquiry into incitement to racial hatred after the selection of a mixed-race teenager to play the folk heroine Joan of Arc in annual festivities in Orléans was met with racist abuse from far-right users of social media.

Mathilde Edey Gamassou, 17, was chosen from 250 girls on Monday to play Joan in a spring festival marking the Catholic warrior saint's breaking of the English siege of Orléans in 1429.

Gamassou, whose father is from Benin and whose mother is Polish, is to ride a horse through the central city dressed in armour for the celebration, which dates back nearly six centuries.

The announcement was met with a stream of posts on Twitter and far-right websites, branding her selection an exercise in “diversity propaganda” and an attempt to rewrite history.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/23/french-far-right-targets-mixed-race-teen-playing-joan-of-arc