Roughly a week into the Paris 2024 Olympics and already it’s been a brilliant spectacle. Simone Biles continues to be the greatest gymnast alive (and ever), a standout female athlete at the first games to have gender parity; St. Lucia won their first ever Olympic medal – a gold in the women’s 100m – and France’s Leon Marchand continues to redefine men’s swimming. Those are just a few of the amazing sights of the games. But some of the most striking images are the ones that aren’t there.
France, the host nation, is a modern, multi-ethnic and diverse nation. The outcry after the video of the Argentinian Football team singing a racist song proves it. They may come from different backgrounds, but they are French. Their blackness, their Islamic values; these things have no bearing on their status as citizens of the French Republic.
So it is incredibly jarring to constantly see in the build-up to the games the French Government repeatedly strike down any of their female athletes wearing a hijab at the games.
This isn’t for any medical or sporting reasons. Muslim athletes from other countries are allowed to wear it. So why doesn’t France? Why does a nation that defends its diversity in the face of a growing far-right consistently clamp down on the expression of Islamic values? It comes down to how France defines secularism.
The idea of modern secularism we have is due to the current and historical roles of the USA and Britain. The First Amendment of the US Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”. This is generally taken to mean that you are allowed to be religious, be not religious, and express those views whichever way you want to, provided that it does not infringe upon anyone else’s liberties or rights (granted that is still something of a work in progress). Secularism doesn’t mean an enforced atheism; rather the state should not take sides. Britain is seen as a modern secular state, but some campaigners argue that it isn’t, since representatives of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords. They argue that this isn’t true secularism since there is still a religious element in the legislature, even if they do not have a say in government policy.
French secularism – Laïcité – is different to the above Anglo-secularism. If Anglo-secularism is seen as “Freedom of Religion”, Laïcité can be translated as “Freedom from Religion”.
Where does this interpretation of secularism come from? The Revolution (because of course it does). The (first) French Revolution was an overthrowing of the old order: the Monarchy, the Gentry, and the Clergy. Many students of the Enlightenment believed that the effects of organised religion and the structures of the Catholic church were preventing the French people from advancing and realising their true potential. So, in their infinite wisdom, they decided to step in: they banned the Church. They declared that they had freed their fellow citizen from the chains of religion and superstition – “no one can be forced to respect dogmas or religious prescription”.
For the next 100 years or so, the French state fought with the Catholic church over the matter of Laïcité until the early 20th century, when the accepted viewing came into being. Very basically, you could not express your religious views in public. You could still be religious, and you could adhere to any religion you wanted to. You just had to keep it to yourself. To quote Franco-Tunisian writer, Hakim El Karoui, “France is open to everyone, but there is only one path, and that’s universalism.”
The French State believes that Laïcité is as essential to the Republic as liberté, égalité et fraternité. It’s taught to them in the school system at a very young age. And this way of thinking extends to the realm of sports. Unlike in England, France does not allow its Muslim footballers a pause in matches to break their fasts during Ramadan. And in a public space where they are representing the nation (like the Olympics), they do not allow their female athletes to wear a headscarf.
To be clear, it’s not just Islam that’s affected. Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Sikh leaders have all spoken out against the harshness of Laïcité. But I also don’t think that it’s a wild conspiracy to think that Muslims are being targeted by some of the newer laws. For one, most of the 21st-century updates to Laïcité were triggered in response to support for the Second Intifada and Islamist terrorist attacks. There is also a current of Islamophobia – Le Pen and the RN have promised to strengthen the laws surrounding Laïcité should they ever win power, and some previous lawmakers have explicitly targeted the hijab and ‘burkini’ in their justification for these new laws.
For what it’s worth, I am very uncomfortable with the whole situation. Laïcité does not fit into my idea of secularism. I went to schools that espoused secularist ideas, allowed people of all faiths to express their beliefs, and provided spaces for them to worship. You also learn so much more when people can express themselves. France argues that Laïcité frees Muslim women from the confines of a headscarf, but I know progressive and feminist women who choose to wear the headscarf for a multitude of reasons. A headscarf does not stop you from pinging a 40-yard pass, and it doesn’t stop you from running a marathon.
It may not feel like it at the moment, but secular societies do benefit from their diversity. The moment that stuck out to me during the opening ceremony was Axelle Saint-Cirel, the black singer belting out La Marseilles atop the Grand Palais. Tricolour held proudly, afro like a halo; a black Marianne leading the republic through the 21st Century. But so long as a hammer is used to preserve traditional French values, its credentials will be questioned and the nation will suffer for it.
SOURCES
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2007/12/03/religion-and-secularism-the-american-experience/
https://www.secularism.org.uk/what-is-secularism
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/france-god-religion-secularism/620528/
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