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PARIS (CN) — In a symbolic vote on Thursday, the deputies present in France’s National Assembly unanimously repealed the Code Noir, the country’s 17th century texts regulating slavery.
Roughly a year ago, then-Prime Minister François Bayrou was stupefied during a parliamentary session when he learned the code remained on the books.
“Thanks to [deputy Laurent Panifous’] question, I have discovered this legal reality, of which I was completely unaware,” Bayrou said. “I pledge, on behalf of the government, that a bill abolishing the Code Noir will be presented to Parliament, and I hope, passed unanimously.”
The vote to rescind the legal framework was 254-0. The Senate is now expected to follow the lower chamber’s lead.
Max Mathiasin, the representative from Guadeloupe who proposed the bill, said the move was “a step forward, a tribute to men, women and children put into slavery.”
President Emmanuel Macron also backed the bill on May 21, while commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Taubira Law that recognized slavery as a crime against humanity — and made France the first country in the world to do so. He also floated the idea of reparations but was vague.
“How to repair … is a question that must not be refused,” he said. “It’s also a question on which we must not make false promises.”
But experts are raising alarm bells over the significance of the Code Noir, meaning Black Code, and Macron’s statements. The code hasn’t been applied since slavery was abolished in 1848, so removing it will not have any concrete impact.
“The question of what France could do to make amends for some of this iniquitous, scandalous debt is something very concrete, very material, and Macron does not for a single moment venture onto that ground,” Paulin Ismard, a professor at Aix-Marseille University specialized in the comparative history of slave societies, said. “I mean, it no longer has any legal effect, but it’s a cheap way to clear one’s conscience.”
France’s Code Noir was established in 1685 under Louis XIV and Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister who penned it. It reduced enslaved people to “moveable property” and stipulated various rules; they were to be baptized by the Catholic Church, slavery was inherited maternally, and masters did not have the right to mutilate or kill.
There were various punishments for running away, ranging from cutting off ears to branding people with a fleur-de-lis on one shoulder, and even the death penalty.
Frédéric Regent, a scientific adviser to the forthcoming Trocadéro Memorial for the Victims of Slavery, explained although the historical timeline corresponds roughly with that of what is now present-day U.S. — where the first slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619 under English rule — there were stark differences. In places like Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), enslaved people made up a majority of the population, reaching 80 to 90% of inhabitants.
He points to many citizens of France’s former colonies who are living precariously without enough support.
“So, this topic is here today, in my opinion, because the French overseas territories are in a very bad situation; very high unemployment, a lot of drug trafficking, a very high rate of single-parent households, and a much lower level of education, and inequalities have reproduced themselves over time,” he said. “And so people are angry about this situation, given that we are in a period where things are getting worse, with the very high inflation that has occurred in recent years — so life was already expensive, but prices have risen even further.”
During his speech on May 21, Macron said the country could “never fully repair this crime, because it is impossible,” and “you will never one day be able to put a number on it, or find words that would bring this history to a close.”
However, Ismard wouldn’t necessarily agree. In Haiti, for example, he pointed to the “considerable sum” of debt that “hindered the island’s development for about a century.” The figure dates back to 1825, when — after gaining its independence by revolt — the newly formed nation agreed to pay 150 million francs in property claims to France, including for formerly enslaved people.
Haiti was forced to take out loans and pay heavy interest. Economists and specialists have tracked the lasting impacts of the payments on the country’s development; a 2022 analysis put the payout at $560 million, adjusted for inflation.
“On one hand, we can be pleased because [Macron] explicitly spoke of reparations, and it is truly the first time that public authorities in France have used this term,” he said. “But at the same time, while using this term, they have greatly diluted its meaning, since they speak of reparations somewhat indiscriminately, and there is no concrete content.”
Besides believing that repealing the Code Noir may even have unintended consequences — like leading people to believe these rules were still in effect — Regent said reparations can take many forms. He believes the most effective plan would be to address deep-rooted issues.
“This is something that is very complicated because there are two types of reparations; there are individual reparations, which would be trying to locate the descendants of former slaves and giving them money,” he said. “Afterwards, there can indeed be a restorative policy — such as memorials, talking about teaching slavery, and research — but I think the main thing is to try to resolve the inequalities that persist on the ground … It’s about putting mechanisms in place that prevent the cultural and social reproduction that has been taking place for four centuries.”
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