Les vingt ans de la loi Taubira

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to assess the law passed in its final reading on May 10, 2001, also known as the Taubira law, which declared the slave trade and slavery in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to be a crime against humanity. This law, which went almost unnoticed at that time, subsequently provoked important shifts in public policies as well as in the views of French citizens who claim to belong to the history of the slave trade and slavery. In the first place, a Committee for the Memory of Slavery was created, a commemoration date for this history was declared, as well as the requirement to teach it in schools, and also memorials, among others. In the second aspect, the Taubira law has allowed citizens to assert themselves and legitimately claim their place in society. However this article also examines the obstacles, particularly the ideological ones, that remain to ensure the full acceptance of the history of the slave trade and slavery in France.

Keywords

• Taubira
• slavery
• act
• post-slavery
• reparations
• commemorations