In 2020, the Mémoires et Partages association asked the mayor of this town in the Basque country to rename this district, and that of a street which bears the same name. She then refused. The Pau administrative court ruled in his favor. The neighborhood will keep its name.
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In 2020, the Bordeaux association Mémoires et Partages asked the mayor of Biarritz, Maïder Arosteguy, to introduce on the agenda of the municipal council the repeal of two deliberations, those fixing the name “La Négresse” for a district close to the station, in 1861, and a second introducing a new “rue de la negresse” in 1986.
Also listen: Christine Chivallon, anthropologistThe withdrawal of the name of the “La Négresse” district in Biarritz in question
The administrative court of Pau justifies its decision by “ the semantic evolution of the term “. Translation: when the name was given to this district and this street in Biarritz, the term “ was not considered derogatory “. The court even summoned the story. The name was given by Napoleonic soldiers around 1812 in reference to a woman who served in an inn. And for the court, there is therefore a “ memorial perspective, a tribute, and local history “. “ The mayor of Biarritz did not commit a legal error in refusing this request “, ruled the court.
Except that this request made by the Mémoires et Partages association, which works on the legacy of colonization, the slave trade, slavery and racism, is justified precisely because it considers this name as derogatory, racist, which violates human dignity.
The association therefore announces that it will appeal this decision. “ It’s astonishing, this term is much more than derogatory, it is racist. No one can dispute that a racist name is not an attack on dignity. », Reacted the association’s lawyer, Me William Bourdonpointing to a decision “ timid » of the administrative court of Paul « who did not take responsibility “.
She plans to continue her action, this time focusing on Vinci Autoroute, to have the toll barrier at the entrance to Biarritz renamed, which also bears the name “La Négresse”.
(with AFP)