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The Guardian view on Aya Nakamura: gifted, black and French | Editorial
Editorial: A racist backlash to rumours that the pop star may sing at the Paris Olympics should be resisted
A vicious outpouring of bile from far-right politicians has followed unconfirmed rumours that Aya Nakamura, a black French-Malian pop star, may be chosen to sing at the Paris Games. On the banks of the Seine, a racist banner was unfurled by far-right activists that read: “No way Aya; this is Paris, not the Bamako market.” Last week, Marine Le Pen weighed in, denying Ms Nakamura’s fitness for the Olympics role and ridiculing her lyrics, which deploy the argot typical of the working-class Parisian suburb where she grew up. Notoriously, in the 2000s, Ms Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, criticised the number of black footballers in one of the most successful national sides in French history.
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