Diversity Macht Frei
February 21, 2018
Every year Orléans hosts a Joan of Arc festival (Fêtes johanniques) in which a local schoolgirl plays the part of Joan of Arc. This year the new Joan is Mathilde Edey Gamassou, whose father is from Benin and whose mother is Polish.
Asked whether it was important that a mixed-race person had been chosen, she replied:
“I’m mixed-race, so what? The young girl who embodies Joan of Arc can be white or mixed-race, it doesn’t matter. As long as she is French.”