Op-Ed: A Universal Approach to Racism is Key to Credibility

A universal approach to combating racism is essential for its credibility, argues Chadlia Keller, an elected official. She contends that a fight against racism perceived as selective or manipulated loses its legitimacy. Instead, a common framework that affirms dignity and equality for all, irrespective of a community's political influence, history, or connections to institutions, is necessary.

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A fight against racism perceived as selective or instrumentalized loses its credibility. Conversely, a common framework asserts that dignity and equality do not depend on the political weight of a community, its particular history, or the proximity of its representatives to institutions.

Keller criticizes current approaches where action plans against racism are based on definitions developed separately for each group and applied with different criteria. This fragmented method, she writes, creates hierarchies among victims, fosters competing historical narratives, yields incomparable statistics, and fuels instrumentalization that damages social cohesion.

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The action plan against racism – currently being developed by the Confederation's Anti-Racism Service – cannot be effective if it relies on definitions developed separately for each group and applied according to different criteria.

To counter this, Keller emphasizes the need for a simple principle: racism should be defined by its common mechanisms, not solely by the specific identity of the targeted group. This perspective suggests that focusing on shared experiences and systemic issues will build a more robust and unified movement against all forms of racism.

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It is therefore necessary to rely on a simple principle: racism must be defined by common mechanisms, and not exclusively by the particular identity of the targeted group.