France Ends 341-Year Slavery Law as Africa Pushes for Reparations | Firstpost Africa | N18G

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:01]French Parliament has unanimously repealed the Code Noir, the law that once legally classified enslaved black people as property.

[00:00:11]But across Africa, many are now asking, "If France abolished slavery in 1848, why did it take until 2026 to remove the law that helped build it?"

[00:00:25]On Thursday afternoon, a rare wave of emotion swept through the French National Assembly.

[00:00:30]Lawmakers voted 254 to zero to officially strike down the 1685 decree, originally signed by King Louis XIV.

[00:00:47]>> [applause] [cheering] >> But the repeal carefully avoided one issue that still divides France and much of Africa.

[00:00:59]Reparations for slavery and colonialism.

[00:01:02]Lawmakers removed the symbolic law, but stopped short of pushing for any financial or legal compensation.

[00:01:10]The Code Noir helped structure France's slave empire.

[00:01:14]France became one of Europe's largest slave trading powers.

[00:01:19]More than 1 million Africans were forcibly shipped across the Atlantic to French colonies.

[00:01:25]The law laid out how enslaved people could be bought, sold, punished, and controlled.

[00:01:33]Some articles authorized the mutilation for escaped slaves.

[00:01:38]Others declared that the testimony of an enslaved person had no legal value.

[00:01:44]The debate inside Parliament became highly emotional.

[00:01:48]Several lawmakers of the African descent were visibly moved.

[00:01:53]>> Je sais que >> Whatever the intensity of the debates, the possible contradictions, in the end when all is said and done, the Black Code, the one that spoke of cutting people's hamstrings, that stated that black people were movable property.

[00:02:07]Well, it has been repealed unanimously by the National Assembly, and that is what really matters.

[00:02:14]>> French President Emmanuel Macron backed the repeal.

[00:02:17]Now, last week he admitted that France's long silence over the Code Noir had become its own form of offense.

[00:02:25]But Macron stopped short of offering a formal apology.

[00:02:31]>> The silence, even indifference, that we have maintained for nearly two centuries regarding this Code Noir, is not an oversight, but has become a form of offense.

[00:02:40]>> While Macron acknowledged the mistakes of the past, he never mentioned anything about reparations.

[00:02:46]And this is where this story stops being just about history.

[00:02:51]Because across Africa, the debate has already moved far beyond symbolic gestures.

[00:02:57]Earlier this week in Ethiopia, the issue of historic justice also took center stage at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.

[00:03:06]African diplomats used African Day celebrations to push for greater global recognition of the legacy of slavery and colonialism.

[00:03:17]>> Ladies and gentlemen, Africa remains united in its advocacy for a fairer and more balanced multilateral system.

[00:03:25]Rectifying history also means acknowledging the atrocities committed during slavery and colonization.

[00:03:32]And such reparations are appropriate and legitimate.

[00:03:37]>> The African Union explicitly mentioned the landmark shift at the United Nations, spearheaded by Ghana in March.

[00:03:44]The UN General Assembly recently adopted a historic resolution formally declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.

[00:03:55]123 countries voted in favor.

[00:03:58]The United States, Israel, and Argentina voted against.

[00:04:03]All European Union states, including France, abstained.

[00:04:08]For many Africans, that abstention spoke louder than the symbolic vote in Paris.

[00:04:14]Because the real issue now is not whether slavery was wrong.

[00:04:18]That debate ended long ago.

[00:04:20]The real issue is whether former colonial powers are prepared to accept material responsibility for the wealth that was built through it.

[00:04:30]>> The the colonial powers, Portugal, Britain, France, and Germany, they have never been sincere to Africa.

[00:04:39]So, it is expected that they are going to criticize and oppose this resolution.

[00:04:44]Still today, Israel is receiving support from every other developed country in the world because of the Holocaust.

[00:04:52]But, here is Africa.

[00:04:54]Nothing. No support.

[00:04:57]We are still in shame.

[00:04:58]Africa is still in shame.

[00:05:00]>> They may not be able >> This debate is also unfolding as France's influence across Africa continues to shrink.

[00:05:09]In recent years, countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Senegal have pushed back against French political and military influence.

[00:05:20]Anti-French sentiment has surged across parts of Francophone Africa.

[00:05:26]And younger Africans are increasingly challenging the entire legacy of the France-Afrique.

[00:05:32]>> May this French population wake up, and may Macron know, along with his entire world order policy, that Africa is no longer his playground. Let the Sahel, especially, no longer be in France's crosshairs, because it will always result in failure after failure.

[00:05:49]>> right.

[00:05:50]>> President Macron recently conceded during an East Africa tour that Paris no longer views Africa as its backyard.

[00:05:59]But for the new generation of Africa, simply changing the vocabulary is no longer enough.

[00:06:07]Wiping a 341-year-old slave code from the ledger may settle a historic anomaly in Paris, but while the empire may have ended formally, the much bigger battle over colonial memory, reparations, and France's place in Africa is far from over.

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[00:07:49]>> Mhm.