Slavery: La Rochelle, Attal salutes “the spirit of resistance”

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal lays a wreath in front of the statue of Clarisse, a slave and nurse freed in 1793 by Haitian artist Woodly Caymitte, aka Filipo, during a ceremony to commemorate the abolition of slavery , in La Rochelle, in the west of France, on May 10, 2024. CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Gabriel Attal chaired the ceremony commemorating the abolition of slavery in La Rochelle on Friday, announcing a “major national exhibition” in 2026 and saluting the “spirit of resistance” of former slaves.

With slavery, “it is the boundaries of humanity that are reached, exceeded”. “This story is part of the History of the world, of Europe, of France. It was written in Versailles, in Paris, in the ports of La Rochelle, Nantes, Bordeaux,” declared the Prime minister during a speech.

“For too long, a veil has been thrown over this past.” “Recognizing this is not weakening, on the contrary, it is growing,” he also declared. “As long as there was slavery, there was resistance” and “on this May 10, it is also this spirit of resistance that I want to salute”.

This annual ceremony took place for the first time in mainland France outside Paris, in La Rochelle.

Previously, the “Clarisse” statue by the Haitian artist Filipo was unveiled, on Allée Aimé-Césaire, named after a slave bought in Santo Domingo and freed by the city’s general council in 1793.

The Prime Minister said he hoped that a “major national exhibition on the memory of slavery could be held in 2026, for the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the law on the recognition of slavery as a crime against Humanity. “.

He also announced the upcoming creation of a specific label for places of memory of slavery, requested by communities. “Everyone will know, everyone will see, by walking our streets and our towns, the places where the history of slavery was written. Everyone will be able to remember better, to understand better”

Slavery: in La Rochelle, Attal salutes

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal during his visit to the port of La Rochelle on May 10, 2024 / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

“Because we look History in the face, because we want to make it known, we will continue to fight the battle for education,” also declared the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister of Education Nicole Belloubet.

Mr. Attal’s predecessor in Matignon (2012-2014), former mayor of Nantes and president of the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery, Jean-Marc Ayrault had previously mentioned Haiti, in the presence of the Haitian ambassador to France, Joshua Pierre Dahomey.

“Next year will mark the 200th anniversary of the indemnity from which Haiti has never recovered,” he declared, in reference to the royal order of April 17, 1825, which imposed on Haiti, a new state independent, to pay 150 million gold francs to compensate “the former French colonists of Saint-Domingue”.

“This is why many of us hope that this bicentenary will be the occasion for a great gesture of fraternity from France towards the Haitian people. This approach is just, because it would repair one of the greatest injustices of History”, insisted Jean-Marc Ayrault, relaying a call from the mayor of La Rochelle, Jean-François Fountaine.

Gabriel Attal testified to France’s “solidarity” and “support” for “the Haitian people.” “In all the work that will be carried out, in all the work that will allow us even more to look our history in the face and draw consequences, France will hold its place.”

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