French Black people or Black people in France (French: Noirs de France) are people who are of Black African ancestry or Afro-Caribbean.
Although it is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and race, a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958, various population estimates exist. One source states that there are 1.5 million black people in France, while another states 1.865 million, equivalent to just under 4 per cent of the population. An article in the New York Times stated that estimates vary between 3 million and 5 million. It is estimated that four out of five black people in France are of African immigrant origin, with the minority being chiefly of Caribbean ancestry.
Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of France's Black Associations (French: Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favour of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by other organizations and ruling politicians, often on the grounds that collecting such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harks back to Vichy-era identity documents. During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity. Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in November 2007.
There have been dozens of Afro-Caribbean or Afro-French MPs representing overseas electoral districts at the French National Assembly or at the French Senate, and several government members.
Aimé Césaire, mayor of Fort-de-France and deputy from Martinique for the PCF/Martinican Progressive Party.
Serge Letchimy, deputy for Martinique Socialist Party, Letchimy is also of partial Tamil descent.
Christiane Taubira, deputy from French Guiana, was the first Black candidate to a French presidential election, in 2002. In 2012, she became the Justice Minister.
Severiano de Heredia, president of the municipal council of Paris (1879-1880/ sort of mayor of Paris ), deputy for Paris (1881-1889), minister (1887)
Élie Bloncourt (1896-1978), second Black metropolitan deputy (1936-40, 1945-47), first Black metropolitan general councillor (1934-40, 1945-51)
Ernest Chénière (1945-), former deputy for Oise (1993-97)
Raphaël Élizé (fr) (1891-1945), first Black metropolitan mayor (1929-40)
Hélène Geoffroy, deputy for Rhône, mayor
Gaston Monnerville (1897-1991), first Black metropolitan senator (1946-1974), president of the French Senate (1947-68), mayor, president of Lot's general council
George Pau-Langevin, Paris deputy (2007-12), junior minister (2012-2014), Minister for Overseas (2014-)
Arthur Richards (1890-1972), general councillor in Bordeaux (1951-1964), deputy for Gironde (1958-67)
Rama Yade, former minister
Kofi Yamgnane, former minister, former MP, former mayor, former general councillor in Brittany
Frantz Fanon, Marxist, existentialist and anti-colonial author and activist. Renounced his French citizenship.
Louis-Georges Tin, president of the Representative Council of France's Black Associations and founder of the International Day Against Homophobia
Josephine Baker, dancer and singer
Mouss Diouf, actor
Miss Dominique, singer
Fabe, rapper
Hélène and Célia Faussart (Les Nubians), singing duo
Imany, singer
Hubert Kounde, actor
Lord Kossity, Dancehall musician
Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, comedian and anti-zionist activist
Fab Morvan, model and singer, half of Milli Vanilli
Audrey Pulvar, newscaster and journalist
Firmine Richard, actress
Harry Roselmack, newscaster
Omar Sy, actor
Olivier Coipel, comic book artist
Black M, rapper
MHD, rapper
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, general in the French Revolution and father of Alexandre Dumas
Thierry Dusautoir, rugby player
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, composer, conductor, and violinist
Noémie Lenoir, model
Chloé Mortaud, Miss France 2009
Anais Mali, model
Tony Parker, basketball player
Sonia Rolland, actress, Miss France 2000
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, tennis player
Flora Coquerel, Miss France 2014
Alicia Aylies, Miss France 2017
