Black minister compared to a monkey, again

PARIS - France 24

French Justice minister Christiane Taubira leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, November 13, 2013. REUTERS photo

Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, France’s most prominent black politician, is not the sort of woman who needs defending. But when she was publicly subjected to a racist slur for the third time in barely a month on Wednesday, it sparked howls of outrage and renewed soul-searching across the country.

The latest racist attack on Taubira appeared on the cover of the far right weekly magazine, Minute, which featured a photograph of the 61-year-old black politician with the title, “Crafty as a monkey, Taubira gets her banana back”.

In French, the phrase, “to get your banana back” also means putting a smile back on your face.

The word-play was not appreciated across large swathes of French society – particularly because it was the third time the French politician has been compared to a monkey in recent weeks.