Month of memories of slavery and 20 years of the Taubira law

The month of memories 2021 begins on April 27 and ends on June 10. It includes the National Day of Remembrance of the Slavery Trade and their Abolition, celebrated on May 10.

This year, the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Taubira law. It is also an opportunity for her to co-organize with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Parc de la Villette, the Napoleon and Slavery exhibition. It will be held from May 19 to September 19, 2021 at the Grande Halle de la Villette. The space dedicated to « Bonaparte and slavery » is a world first. It deals with the reestablishment of slavery by a country that had abolished it. Visitors will be able to discover pieces exhibited to the public for the first time.

What is the Slavery Memory Foundation?

Prior to the creation of the foundation, the 2001 law established the Committee for the History and Memory of Slavery. President Chirac launched in 2006, a reflection on the creation of an institution concerning the memory of slavery. In 2016, François Hollande took up the idea.

In September 2015, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Overseas Territories and the CNMHE organized a national school competition « The Flame of Equality ». From 2016, the Interministerial Delegation for the Fight against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-LGBT Hate (DILCRAH) is supporting this competition.

The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery was born in November 2019. It acts for the general interest and national cohesion, transmits the history of slavery and talks about its legacies. It benefits from the support of institutional partners and associative representatives. The support committee is chaired by Christiane Taubira, former Keeper of the Seals. Jean-Marc Ayrault, former Prime Minister is the president. It is also the time to

The month of memories

The month of memories is an annual national event. This year, it begins on April 27, date of abolition in 1848, and ends on June 10, date of abolition in Guyana. It allows to honor people who have suffered slavery and to celebrate their struggle. It is also a way to fight against racism, discrimination and all modern forms of slavery.

National Day of Remembrance

May 10 is the national day of the memories of the slave trade and their abolition.

On this occasion, the President of the Republic presides over a ceremony, Jardin du Luxembourg. He is accompanied by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin; the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti; the Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer; the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot; by the Minister responsible for equality between women and men, Elisabeth Moreno

The ceremony began with the reading of 3 excerpts from the work of the students of the winning classes of the national « Flame of Equality » competition.

Actress Yasmina Ho-You-Fat then read an excerpt from Ms. Christiane Taubira’s Speech to the National Assembly on February 18, 1999.

An air of traditional Guadeloupe music, « Elwa or ka vwayajé », preceded the laying of wreaths and then the minute of silence.

La Marseillaise performed by the winners of the « Voix des Outre-mer » competition closed the ceremony.

Taubira Law

The Taubira law is 20 years old. The 81 deputies present today voted unanimously. In 2001, France became the first country to recognize slavery as a crime against humanity.

In 1999, the former Keeper of the Seals and Member of Parliament for Guyana, Christiane Taubira, presented the law bearing her name in the Chamber. The previous year, on May 23, 1998, a silent march commemorated the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. It brought together 40,000 people in Paris to honor the memory of the victims. Article 1 describes its content.

« The French Republic recognizes that the transatlantic slave trade as well as the slave trade in the Indian Ocean on the one hand, and slavery on the other hand, perpetrated from the fifteenth century, in the Americas and the Caribbean, in the ocean Indians and in Europe against the African, Amerindian, Malagasy and Indian populations constitute a crime against humanity « .

Important dates

On May 10, 2001, the French government passed the law « tending to the recognition of trafficking and slavery as a crime against humanity », on par with the Shoah and other genocides of the twentieth century. He promulgated it on May 21, 2001.

President Jacques Chirac decides to establish a Day of « Memories of the slave trade, slavery and their abolition ». The anniversary date of the vote on the law by the Senate is chosen, ie May 10. This initiative follows, 3 years later, the establishment by UNESCO of an « International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition » on 23 August.

August 23 is the anniversary of a great slave revolt against French colonists in 1791, in Santo Domingo. Black and freed slaves claimed freedom and equal rights with white citizens.

On June 19, 2020, still in the same vein, following the death of George Floyd in the United States, the European Parliament votes in Strasbourg a resolution condemning the Western trafficking « against black and colored people ». The commemoration of the European Day Against Trafficking will be on December 2.

And now?

Since the law was passed 20 years ago, we have witnessed a campaign of “political and memorial” reparation, which has become increasingly important over time. France’s attitude is very different from that of the United States. As President Macron said: “France, it does not debunk statues.” With the Taubira law, we thought we would turn the page of 150 years of denial and silence on these facts, responsible for the untimely death of thousands of men and women in the French overseas colonies.

This is why the slave trade and slavery have an important place in school and research programs.

The Foundation for the Memory of Slavery and the Memorial ACTe (Caribbean Center of Expressions and Memory of the Slavery and Slavery) were founded in Paris and Pointe-à-Pitre.

Commemorative places

In the capital several streets, parks or gardens bear the name of Caribbean heroes. The last being the Toussaint Louverture garden in the 2nd arrondissement.

Toussaint Louverture was a Franco-Haitian general at the head of the armies of St Domingue. A great abolitionist figure, his fight led to the independence of the island in 1804. St Domingue was the first republic in the world resulting from a slave revolt.

Other names linked to the slave trade are associated such as Dugommier, Guadeloupe planter; Richepanse, Napoleon’s general sent to Guadeloupe to crush the revolt; The Chevalier St George or the Dumas family have also associated their names. luxembourg and slavery

On May 10, 2007, President Chirac, and the newly elected president four days earlier, Nicolas Sarkozy, together inaugurated the monument created by Fabrice Hyber « The cry, the written », to commemorate slavery in the garden of the Palais du Luxembourg. This sculpture of 3 bronze rings has 2 sides. The lower ring symbolizes the roots, the middle one the still current possibility of slavery, the upper one, open, its abolition.

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