Opening ceremonies to Olympic Games are an opportunity for nations to tell a positive story to the world and to themselves. In 2012, Danny Boyle’s virtuoso portrait of a vibrant, multicultural Britain did just that. Sadly, a far less uplifting narrative has been taking shape across the channel, ahead of this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
A vicious outpouring of bile from far-right politicians has followed unconfirmed rumours that Aya Nakamura, a black French-Malian pop star, may be chosen to sing at the Paris Games. On the banks of the Seine, a racist banner was unfurled by far-right activists that read: “No way Aya; this is Paris, not the Bamako market.” Last week, Marine Le Pen weighed in, denying Ms Nakamura’s fitness for the Olympics role and ridiculing her lyrics, which deploy the argot typical of the working-class Parisian suburb where she grew up. “I’m going to talk to you about her outfit, her vulgarity, the fact that she doesn’t sing French,” Ms Le Pen said on national radio. “She doesn’t sing foreign either. She sings we don’t know what.”
