Poll: 30% of French consider themselves racist

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Some 30 percent of French people consider themselves at least somewhat racist, according to a report submitted to the government Tuesday, prompting concerns that racism is becoming socially acceptable. The figure was up from 25% a year ago, according to an annual poll on France's attitudes toward racism commissioned by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. The poll took on extra significance this year, following riots in depressed suburbs between police and youths from largely immigrant families. It also comes amid heightened concerns about anti-Semitism in France after the brutal kidnapping and killing of a young Jewish man south of Paris in January. While the report noted that racist and anti-Semitic crimes decreased overall in 2005, it said anti-racist sentiment also appeared to be on the decline.