Ethnic Diversity on French TV (or the lack of it)

The N.Y Times had a good analysis of the reasons for the lack of ethnic diversity on French television. As they said, things are changing though… but...:

[the] efforts to promote the visibility of minorities have lagged, in part because of the French ideal, enshrined in the Constitution, that all citizens are equal regardless of race or religion. The clause has long been interpreted as prohibiting affirmative action for ethnic minorities, even if such initiatives have been undertaken in less sensitive areas.

This is what we have been saying on this blog : the idealism the Republic myth has made it impossible to even address the issue. As we said earlier there is no ‘scientific’ tool to measure the visibility of minorities in France.

A journalist of Algerian descent in France added

"We've adopted a law to help women, a law to help the disabled," he said. "The only sector of society that we haven't dared touch is the ethnic-racial realm, which affects society most deeply.", adding that “the weight of centuries is against it [positive discrimination]”