The historian Pap Ndiaye has made a name for himself as a specialist on minorities. At the head of the Ministry of Education, he should bring President Macron the favor of left-wing voters. The right reacted to his appointment with outrage: they see the values of the republic threatened.
The new education minister, Pap Ndiaye, is a red rag for France’s rights.
Pap Ndiaye has little experience in politics. But the 56-year-old historian has already felt the harsh tones prevailing there. No other member of France’s new government has faced as much hostility as he has in recent days. The appointment of the son of a French mother to a Senegalese father and specialist in American social history and minorities as Minister of Education two weeks ago has enraged a section of France’s political class.
Right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, who failed in the second round of the presidential election, described Ndiaye’s appointment as a “terrible choice” thatDeconstruction of our country, its values and its future» contribute.
The conservative Éric Ciotti called the historian an advocate of “Islamogauchism,” a catchphrase that in France describes an alleged connection between left-wing currents and Islamism. Ciotti’s party colleague Francois-Xavier Bellamy explainedeven the left-wing extremist Jean-Luc Mélenchon would not have dared to appoint someone to the minister who accuses France of structural racism.
A mastermind, but not a provocateur
Ndiaye, who studied in the USA for several years, is considered a pioneer of the French anti-racism movement and advocates a critical examination of France’s own colonial history. In 2008 he published his essay «La condition noire», in which, inspired by American «black studies», he deals with the discrimination of dark-skinned people in France. Until his appointment as minister, he taught at the renowned Parisian university Sciences Po. In 2021, Emmanuel Macron also appointed him director of the Museum of Immigration in Paris.
Ndiaye’s critics from the nationalist and civil right accuse him of being a representative of the “woke culture” that emerged in the USA. They warn of a growing influence of identity-political ideas in French education and see the values of the republic in danger.
In fact, however, Ndiaye is neither an advocate of radical positions nor an activist. He is not known for provoking, but takes his views calmly and moderately. Although he sees them Given the existence of structural racism in France and spoke of racist practices within the police force. Unlike some radical activists, however, he did not accuse the country of state racism. This “would imply that the institutions of the state are at the service of a racist policy, which of course is not the case in France,” he told Le Monde in 2017.
Ndiaye keeps a certain distance from supporters of the Wokeness movement. “I share the majority of their concerns, such as feminism, the fight for environmental protection or anti-racism,” he said last year in an interview“but I don’t think much of the moralizing or sectarian discourses of some activists.”
Change of course in the Ministry of Education
The fact that Ndiaye’s appointment as minister has caused such a stir is also due to the fact that it represents a break with the previous course in the Ministry of Education. And that in the field of schools, which enjoys a special status in France as a pillar of the republic and the forge of the citizens.
Ndiaye’s predecessor Jean-Michel Blanquer had emerged as a strict advocate of the universalism rooted in France: the view that only belonging to the French nation counts and individual differences such as skin color or religion are ignored.
After the teacher Samuel Paty was murdered by an Islamist in autumn 2020 because he had shown cartoons of Mohammed in class, Blanquer was particularly aggressive in promoting strict secularism in schools. He declared war on left-wing identity politics and warned against left-wing Islamist tendencies at French universities. He also aroused resentment among the teachers.
Ndiaye has a different mindset. He is considered a supporter of positive discrimination. When a heated debate broke out last year about whether France’s universities were experiencing an advance of left-wing Islamists, he explained that the catchphrase “islamogauchisme” not based on any reality. Rather, it aims to stigmatize certain branches of science. Ndiaye positions himself on universalism more differentiated than its predecessor. However, he stressed that it was imperative to preserve it.
Teacher shortage as a major challenge
Upon taking office, Ndiaye dedicated his first words to the murdered teacher Samuel Paty. As a first act, he attended the school where Paty had taught. He described himself as a symbol of “meritocracy”, advancement through achievement, the pillar of which was the school. Ndiaye, who grew up in the Paris suburbs, studied at the prestigious ENS before moving to the United States. His father, who came from Senegal, was the first student from sub-Saharan Africa to graduate from the prestigious engineering school École national des ponts et chaussées. However, he separated from Ndiaye’s mother early on and went back to Senegal. Ndiaye says he did not experience discrimination even when he was young. It was only when he was studying in the USA that he realized that he was black.
The fact that President Macron Ndiaye appointed him head of the Ministry of Education is undoubtedly also due to electoral considerations. Before the parliamentary elections in mid-June, Macron is under pressure to address left-wing voters with his government team and thus contest votes for the Nupes electoral alliance of leftists, socialists, greens and communists.
The president also apparently hopes that Ndiaye will bring him the favor of the teachers. For example, for his school reform currently being tested in Marseille. It should give educators more freedom. It is disputed, however, that the school directors also have a say in the recruitment of teaching staff. On Thursday, Macron, who had traveled to the Mediterranean metropolis with Ndiaye, announced that he wanted to expand this to the whole country.
Teachers’ unions have responded with cautious optimism to Ndiaye’s appointment. Although this is a break, commented the largest union, they will not be satisfied with pure symbolism. Rather, it is important to find quick answers to urgent concerns such as the demanded increase in salaries. France’s schools are also suffering with an acute shortage of staff. Questions on which the new minister has not yet positioned himself in detail.