Recently, Erika Moulet, has left an important and widely-read weekly column in Le Monde that tackles nationality and identity. She has refused to consider the ethnic minority status of people like the Chinese, Indian, North Africans or Europeans for the column she wrote for. This led to outrage on the part of many readers who claimed that the author was anti-ethnic and Nationalist. What’s more, she has refused to acknowledge her own ethnicity or Nationality when it comes to the question of whether or not she considers herself a racist. Indeed, her own words suggest that Nationality doesn’t matter much to her.
The problem is that Erika Moulet refuses to consider the possibility of her having been born of racial or national interest. Her argument that her own nationality or ethnicity does not matter to her seems strange coming from someone who holds that the fate of a person and their family members depend largely on their race or nationality. Furthermore, while Nationality may not be everything to a person (it depends on your culture, race and nationality), it should not be something that should be used as a reason why somebody should be punished for acts of hate. Just because you were born into a certain culture or nationality doesn’t mean you are burdened with feelings of guilt or intolerance towards others.
Erika is free to love her Black American partner, Jason Lewis, as long as he is also African-American. However, it would be inappropriate for Erika to publicly declare her love for a white man, especially one who does not look like her ethnicity or nationality. Also, while Jason Lewis may not have African ancestry, his surname clearly fits in with African descent. The same can be said for Erika’s height difference: she is taller than Jason Lewis. While Erika has chosen to ignore her racial heritage in order to marry a man who shares her nationality and ethnic background, she has also discriminated against him based on his physical appearance.