NCJ Number
115679
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The 1988 elections in the United States will determine whether the successful tactics of French racists can be applied by the white supremacist movement in the United States.
Abstract
French fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen, a candidate for the French presidency, campaigned on a racist platform aimed at denying French citizenship to people of African descent, including those born in France, and expelling them from France. Le Pen received about 14.7 percent of the vote in the primary, winning 20 percent of the vote in the working-class suburbs of Paris and more than 25 percent of the vote in Marseilles, Nice, and other cities with large immigrant populations. Le Pen's success forced other candidates to adopt many of his racist campaign themes. The support for his views is the most recent manifestation of the growing strength of the Front National, which was founded in 1972 as an amalgamation of neo-Nazi sects and far-right groupings. The large racist vote has also coincided with an increase in racist violence, with incidents directed against Jewish people, Gypsies, and immigrants among others. White supremacists in the United States have closely watched the efforts of the Front National. Nevertheless, anti-racists in Europe have campaigned to expose the Front National and combat the racist violence. Photographs.