The elite Paris Institute of Political Studies, also known as Sciences Po Paris, is experiencing a growing rise in racist, de-colonial, and anti-White ideologies. Many conferences, research papers, and courses are under the influence and supervision of small but aggressive ideological militant groups. Although discussions on this topic are mostly on the edge of the French media mainstream, the traditional Le Figaro daily now warns of the situation.
Science Po Paris is a prestigious university with several branches in other cities where the future French political and economic elite studies.
“In recent months, we have crossed a very worrying milestone,” said one of the Sciences Po students, who does not hide his concerns but prefers anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Like many of his friends, he sees the growing rise of racist and anti-White ideologies.
“At the time of the coronavirus pandemic, the only connection we have with our school is via the internet. And almost every two weeks, we encounter a new controversy created by one of these small groups,” the young man told Le Figaro.
According to him, there is a risk that various organizations promoting one of the mentioned ideologies will use the lockdown to increase their control over the famous Paris school. They repeatedly provoke controversy, sometimes through an approved reading list, sometimes by calling for compulsory courses on “critical race theory” and White privileges. The declared goal is to make young “non-racial” (White) students, who, according to ultra-left groups, “maintain racism at school, aware of their racist attitude.”
“We want to inspire a real change in the way the school deals with racial issues. We would also like to call for a critical reflection on the problems of racism rooted in French society given the country’s colonial history and the social construct of the race that emerged from it,” said students from one such ideological group to Le Figaro.
Although this activism is not new, “more and more students and teachers have been advocating this kind of ideas in recent years,” said Antonin Ferreira, Republican Party general secretary at Sciences Po and a student official at the university.
Many students complain about the cancellation or disruption of lectures due to the actions of these ultra-left activists. In 2019, for example, the conference of well-known philosopher Alain Finkielkraut was interrupted by the association “Sciences Po en Lutte – Institut Clément Méric,” which even required the intervention of the police.
The power of these small ultra-left groups is so enormous that the National Union of Students of France (UNEF), which is traditionally left-wing, has started dealing with this issue.
“We have tried to work with them in the past, but that is not possible,” Thomas Le Corre, UNEF president at Science Po, told Le Figaro.
“How can you work with people who tell you that you’re White, so you can’t participate in a discussion?” he added.
Title image: Banners reading “Students against Macron’s dictatorship, Here are raised those who select, block the elites school, Macron, your school is blocked” on the windows of a blocked entry at the Institute of Political Studies(IEP) or Sciences Po, in Paris, France, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. French students intensified blockades of universities over the government’s reform. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
