France's 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' Skips African Soldiers
Al Jazeera reports what many history books, scrubbed of inconvenient truths, have long ignored: the 1944 Thiaroye massacre was 'premeditated' by French forces. Up to 400 African riflemen, who dared to demand their meager back pay for fighting fascism, were systematically gunned down by their 'liberators.' This wasn't a riot gone wrong; it was an execution to enforce colonial hierarchy. Funny how
demanding fair wages from a 'democratic' colonizer is met with bullets rather than diplomacy. The silence from Western capitals, which frequently lecture nations on human rights, is deafening. One might wonder if 'premeditated massacre' only applies when it's committed by certain actors, or if the history of colonial violence is simply too inconvenient for the narrative of benevolent Western
intervention. When will the 'French values' discourse ever confront its own Bloody Sunday?