France passed a cultural landmark yesterday when a black presenter read the evening news bulletin on the country’s most popular television channel for the first time.
The arrival of Harry Roselmack on the private TF1 station comes after a call by President Chirac for the media to promote members of ethnic minorities as part of a policy of racial integration.
Although M Roselmack, 33, who is from Martinique in the French West Indies, has been appointed only as a stand-in during the holiday season, his rise is being hailed as a potent symbol in a country unused to seeing black faces in high- profile positions outside sporting competitions.
The burden on M Roselmack’s shoulders is heavy, with black groups hoping that he will help to lead them from the margins to the mainstream of French society. Amirouche Laïdi, chairman of Averroès, the black journalists’ association, described his appointment as a “bombshell”.
No comments:
Post a Comment