Is France splitting into two separate social entities, black and white? How can France overcome this division? Will minorities be the cause of the next revolution?
Sixty years after the creation of the overseas departments (which were supposed to dissolve the differences between the overseas territories and metropolitan France) discrimination persists for the French-born children of parents from French Guiana, the Caribbean and Reunion Island. An increasing number of these children have been asserting their black identity, as revealed by the creation of a Council representing black associations, in November 2005.
Does this phenomenon reflect the Americanisation of French society? Should it be feared? How can France integrate the different heritages that constitute it?
In this book, François Durpaire, a specialist on the United States, answers these questions and provides a comparison between American multiculturalism and French communitarianism which surpasses the usual clichés and oversimplifications. How did the United States succeed in reconciling blacks and whites after the terrible urban riots of the late 1960s? How can France go beyond the colour fracture and build a black-and-white cosmopolitan nation that is adapted to its time?

François Durpaire, teaches North American history at the University of Paris-I-Panthéon-Sorbonne. He holds an agrégation and doctorate in history.