France releases video to honour Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech – featuring only white children

• The video was finally deleted by the National Education Ministry today 

The French government has been pilloried for releasing a video honouring Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ civil rights march – using white children only.

Youngsters who have clearly never experienced discrimination because of dark skin in their lives appear in the short film, all speaking English. One uses the ‘Blah Blah Blah’ expression used by environmentalist Greta Thunberg, who is also white and from Sweden.

The video was finally deleted by the National Education Ministry today, after critics described it as ‘a late April Fool’s joke’, and ‘a gimmick completely lacking in diversity’. 

The main aim of the film was to mark the 60th anniversary of August 28, 1963 – the day when more than 250,000 Americans took part in the historic March on Washington D.C. for Jobs and Freedom.

Some 3000 journalists were present, when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Boy in the French government’s video to mark the 60th anniversary of August 28, 1963 – the day when more than 250,000 Americans took part in the historic March on Washington D.C. for Jobs and Freedom

Girl in the tribute video. The video was finally deleted by the National Education Ministry today, after critics described it as ‘a late April Fool’s joke’, and ‘a gimmick completely lacking in diversity’

Girls in the tribute video. After posting the film on X (which used to be called Twitter), the Ministry had to admit that only white children had won a competition ‘dedicated to the creative practice of English’

France – which considers itself to be the home of human rights – was determined to get its young people marking the day.

But, after posting the film on X (which used to be called Twitter), the Ministry had to admit that only white children had won a competition ‘dedicated to the creative practice of English’.

This meant that only white children could appear in the video about black civil rights.

Gabriel Attal, France’s new Education Minister, said: ‘The students in this video are the 2023 winners of the ‘The More I Say’ competition, which encourages the creative practice of English in middle schools.

‘To honour the memory of Martin Luther King on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his famous speech delivered on August 28, 1963, they were invited to give a short speech inspired by that of Martin Luther King, starting with ‘I Have a Dream’.’

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech to huge crowd gathered for the Mall during the march on Washington D.C. for Jobs and Freedom

The civil rights march for Jobs and Freedom in Washington D.C, on August 28, 1963

France is regularly criticised for its mistreatment of ethnic minority groups, including those from black African and Caribbean backgrounds.

Mr Attal has just been widely criticised for banning children in state schools from wearing the Abaya – a robe associated with Muslims.

Loubna Regui, president of the ELF-Muslim Students of France, said such a move targeted immigrants and was ‘inherently racist’.

And Clementine Autain, of the France Insoumise party, criticised ‘the clothes police’ and France’s ‘obsessional rejection of Muslims’.

There was widespread rioting across France earlier this summer following the shooting dead of a French-Algerian teenager by a Paris policeman. The death was described as symptomatic of the racist manner in which France’s forces of law-and-order treat youngsters who do not have white skin.

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