If this is “the” surprise and most symbolic appointment of the new government, the historian Pap Ndiaye who arrived at the head of the Ministry of Education and Youth finds himself under the fire of criticism coming straight from the extreme right. This specialist in the social history of the United States, professor at Sciences Po Paris, was appointed Friday, May 20 within the new government team, replacing Jean-Michel Blanquer in his post. Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour felt that this was proof of Emmanuel Macron’s desire to “deconstruct” the history of France.
For Marine Le Pen, disappointed candidate of the National Rally (RN) for the presidential election, her arrival rue de Grenelle is “the last stone in the deconstruction of our country, its values and its future”she said on Friday. on Twitterbefore estimating, Saturday, in front of the cameras, that the appointment of Mr. Ndiaye, who according to her, “defends indigenism, racialism at the head of national education, is a terrifying choice ».
While the emeritus historian is targeted by the entire far right, Mme Le Pen defended herself against any racism: “I don’t really care about his skin color. What interests me is what he said, wrote and did (…). If that’s the ideology we’re going to impose on our children, it’s a real disaster. »
Elisabeth Borne defends “the competence, energy and determination” of her minister
RN acting president Jordan Bardella has qualified M. Ndiaye de “racialist and anti-cop activist”, when Eric Zemmour felt that“Emmanuel Macron said that the history of France had to be deconstructed. Pap Ndiaye will take care of it”in a tweet posted Friday. “He participated in meetings prohibited to whites, he is a real indigenous intellectual, a real woke”, added the leader of Reconquest! on CNews.
From her first speech after the announcement of her government, Friday at 8 p.m. on TF1, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stepped up to defend her Minister of Education. “It’s perfectly caricatural, which doesn’t surprise me from the people you mentioned”she said in reference to the comments of Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.
“Pap Ndiaye is a very committed Republican, someone who believes in the values of the Republic and that is obviously what he will carry as Minister of National Education”she pleaded.
A message that the new head of government once again brought to the cameras on Saturday, on the sidelines of a campaign trip to Calvados, where she is a candidate for the legislative elections. She assured that the Ministry of Education “The goal is equal opportunity. We still have a lot of progress to make [à ce sujet]. » « This is his roadmap and I have no doubt that he will do it with skill, with energy, with determination. she said about Pap Ndiaye.
A profile that breaks with that of Mr. Blanquer
If the appointment rue de Grenelle of this intellectual, of French mother and Senegalese father, is all the more remarkable, it is because his personality seems to break with that of his predecessor, Jean-Michel Blanquer, long considered a strong link in macronie, before its star has faded in recent months.
The now ex-minister of education, who launched his own think tank around secularism, called Laboratoire de la République, in the fall of 2021, spearheaded himself against “wokism” and “Islamo-leftism”. A high-profile fight that earned him praise from the right, but also the indignation of the left and the exasperation of part of the teaching body, regretting that the minister did not focus on his files instead.
In June 2021, after his appointment as head of the Palais de la Porte Dorée – which includes the Museum of History and Immigration -, Pap Ndiaye, for his part, declared to the Monde “share most causes” qualified activists « woke », “like feminism, the fight for the protection of the environment or anti-racism”while emphasizing: “But I do not approve of the moralizing or sectarian speeches of some of them”believing that it was “probably a question of generation ».
M. Ndiaye, “is an extremely respected personality, a very great academic”underlined Jean-Louis Bourlanges, deputy of the MoDem on Franceinfo, Saturday, May 21, before estimating about his appointment: “But we are still moving from a demanding political culture in terms of secularism to a very different political culture. »
“I would not like the fundamental values of secularism and freedom of thought not to be defended with the same energy”, argued the elected majority.
Simple past of the English verb to wakewhich means in French “to wake up”, the word woke has taken on a truly ideological meaning in the African-American vernacular to refer to being aware of and mobilizing about the injustices suffered by ethnic, sexual, religious minorities, or all forms of discrimination.