In societal struggles that do not progress, let us focus on discrimination in hiring. In France, this subject remains taboo within companies, yet it is there, well established.
"We are still at the same stage, with racial discrimination existing but difficult to prove", says Saphia Aït Ouarabi, vice-president of SOS Racisme, a French association created in 1984, whose aim is the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and more generally all forms of discrimination.
This is not new, during a job interview our physical characteristics are unfortunately still today obstacles to a career. An observation that very often sees the legal pole of SOS Racism. "We have often heard complaints of possible discrimination in hiring, we must accompany the victims so that they bring us evidence"explains the activist."We frequently see complaints of possible hiring discrimination. We must accompany the victims so that they bring us evidence.", she adds. A necessity to put some companies face to face with their fault.
The vice-president reminds us that a study, released at the beginning of the year, commissioned by the government and carried out by the CNRS shows that racial discrimination in hiring is not a fantasy, or even a minority phenomenon. "This discrimination is excessively focused on the supposed or real origin of individuals, their family name, their skin color, etc.", she confirms.
And what about when you are a woman with origins in front of a recruiter … "For black, Arab and Asian women, discrimination will accumulate," says Saphia Aït Ouarabi. She tells us about the different prejudices of HR compared to women of color who are still ruling today: their pseudo 'over-fertility' and 'hypersexuality'. There is also a huge fight on the side of maternity leave, which is not the same as that of fathers.
"We must question society on the subject of fatherhood in the home. The societal impact is huge. This leave is the same fight as the revaluation of wages for women", says the young woman.
The latter clearly expresses the fact that citizens are not on an equal footing and insists on the consequences of this racial discrimination: "it breaks life trajectories".
According to Saphia Aït Ouarabi, discrimination is in large private companies, in general, because they have fairly light policies on the ambitions of diversity. "CAC40 boards have only one percent diversity. This is serious, because beyond the problem of representativeness, there are mechanisms which prevent any progress. The battle against gender discrimination is long and some politicians are hiding behind this fight not to tackle a subject that is even more taboo, that of racial discrimination. We are on a very taboo phenomenon. ", she admits.
Quotas, a solution?
In the solutions to be provided, the term quota very often comes up. But for Saphia Aït Ouarabi, it's no. "Quotas is to impose a diversity rate, but it is complicated, because in France, we are not in an official ethnicization of relationships between people. It bothers me a lot as a French citizen these quotas and positive discrimination. I don't want to live in a color blind society. I want to respect my color or my origin."
On affirmative action, more precisely, this solution to all problems is certainly not viable, according to the activist, because it is not in the long term. She believes that when we talk about racial discrimination we have to go further and bigger.
Anonymous CVs and activism
During our meeting with Saphia Aït Ouarabi, we are talking about the application of anonymous CVs. "Following the riots of 2005, we proposed the anonymous CV, it was adopted, but never applied. Training against racial and anti-Semitic discrimination, there are in companies, but they are still not mandatory", she tells us.
Whether it be governments of the left or the right, all solutions have been brushed aside, according to the passionate about equality. "We are entitled to promises and at the time of the mandate we no longer exist", comments the representative of SOS Racisme.
The taboo around racial discrimination results in the survival of prejudice. Saphia Aït Ouarabi confirms that the only way to get things done is mobilization / activism. "We cannot imagine a society where we cannot tackle different subjects without citizens being on an equal footing. To stop discrimination in hiring, change must be immediate."she concludes.