2023-10-16 09:10:44
At the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, October 15, 2023. YOHANNE LAMOULERE FOR “THE WORLD”
The wind picked up in the early morning. As if to refresh memories. Was it necessary? Because here, no one has forgotten their service rendered to the nation. Sunday October 15, at the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, nearly 300 people from all neighborhoods came to kiss, surround and say thank you to these “engaged anonymous people”. And celebrate their event, the March for Equality and Against Racism.
Forty years ago to the day, on October 15, 1983, eight children from Minguettes – the despised town of Vénissieux near Lyon –, a priest, a pastor and activists (seventeen in total), left Marseille to join the capital on foot. More than 1,200 kilometers to denounce police violence, hatred of others, and to tell everyone they met: “We’re not asking for the Moon, we’re asking to live, that’s all! » Message heard: on December 3, these marchers were welcomed by 100,000 people in Paris, then at the Elysée by François Mitterrand.
See also: On October 15, 1983, the March for Equality made the crisis in the suburbs visible
Forty years later, the memories of this epic still burn within them. During this day of commemoration of the March, they are all there or almost: from the initiators (Djamel Atallah or Father Christian Delorme) to the fellow travelers. “Everything goes back”whispers one of them, Hanifa Taguelmint, 61 years old.
“Create a fairer society”
Time for Benoît Payan’s speech. The mayor of Marseille (various left) mentions “march of the oppressed” and, with solemnity, adds: “So today I want to say it: the Republic cannot, can no longer, must no longer, allow the fertile ground of racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of Muslims and discrimination to flourish within it. » He ends by announcing that Marseille will have “an avenue of the March for equality and against racism”.
Applause. “It’s an avenue, not a dead end”, smiles Father Delorme, 73, who did not expect such an engaging speech. And in front of the assembly, he says that he would have liked the President of the Republic to speak like this. The death of Nahel M., killed by a police officer at the end of June, and especially the extreme violence in the Middle East torment people’s minds. It is necessary, according to Mr. Delorme, “fight against all racism” pour “create a fairer and therefore peaceful society”. He, like others, thinks that the March can be the “landmark” to be continued in a country which risks further fracture.
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While their action has certainly opened doors, the marchers emphasize that discrimination has not disappeared. “We’re sorry, we haven’t finished the fight”launches Hanifa Taguelmint, who asks young people to continue the civic and political fight.
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