Francophobia: enough is enough!

It’s common to hear insults directed at the French in our Swiss cantons. Admittedly, half the time, a certain annoyance at the behavior of French tourists who display disrespect, arrogance, or even chauvinism is entirely justified. But an insult is never justified.

And this barrage of insults is all the more reprehensible because it is, in fact, xenophobia: «frouze,» «shitty French,» «stupid French,» or simply «French»—pronounced with enough contempt to make it clear what’s meant—all reflect a hatred of the French as a group. The French are «idiots» precisely because because he is French.

Euro 2016 particularly highlighted what I increasingly see as a sad reality: French-speaking Switzerland is Francophobic. However, it is inappropriate to view this phenomenon as racism in the strict sense of the word, as journalist Marie Maurisse does. It is more a matter of latent xenophobia, which fluctuates in intensity from time to time.

That hatred Sébastien Oreiller mentioned in the article still remains «Shaqiri, the crying cat» from our latest issue. This hatred seems to stem from deep-seated resentments held by certain Swiss people who are as uneducated as they are full of paradoxical judgments, especially when their rejection of the French turns into an outright rejection of France.

Because Switzerland can’t hold a candle to the greatness of this nation to which we owe almost everything—except our economy: our language, our literature, our cuisine, part of our political and media traditions, and the music we listen to. Too bad France lost the final… I know a lot of very nice French people and want to stand up for them! Generalization will always be the worst of intellectual crimes.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com