French assimilation policy aimed to spread French culture and define citizens as either French or foreign. This led to divisions in society and a sense of displacement for youth. As assimilation failed to integrate migrants, it distorted cultures and elevated far-right politics. Youth felt rejected by French society and created their own identities by adopting surrogate cultures from the UK and US. Assimilation policies have deeply divided French society along ethnic and religious lines.

2. French assimilation policy was designed to spread
French culture and language to other colonies –
natives of the colonies were considered French if
they accepted French culture and customs

3. Social Affairs Minister François Fillon

4. This leads to an US & Them mentality – which is further
reinforced by the French governments position to define
it’s citizen as either :
French or
Dichotomy: a division or contrast between two things that
are opposed or different

5. The cultural assimilation of ethnic groups
was designed to implant French culture on
the migrant groups
This began distorting the cultural heritage
of the migrants by forcing a change in
cultural view points
It also distorted the native French cultural
values and led to a rise in Right Wing,
Fascist ideologies

6. In the aftermath of this attack, French Interior Minister said:
“An extreme right (ideology) is at the heart of this. There is a
discourse of hate, and a climate that favours this discourse”
Assimilation has led to a climate of hatred that is being
manipulated by the French Right!
The feeling of displacement and alienation felt by the youth in
France is reflected in La Haine through:
• Mise-en-scene
• Motivation of the characters (Vinz in particular)

7. Trevor Phillips, Chair of commission for Racial
Equability UK states:
"Making a piece of cloth an issue of
national loyalty is to me ridiculous and
oppressive,"
In order to build a real community,
Trevor Phillips sees it as essential
"to underline the importance of
sharing some major common values
such as democracy, freedom of
speech and electoral
participation".

8. Assimilation has led to greater division in
French society and these scene represents
some of the impact of this
The police arrest the non-white characters
and abuse them
Vince is treated with more respect and viewed
as less suspicious
Why it this?

10. “There is something universal about it” – it
does not require ‘French-ness’ and is separate
from French society

11. Through our study we have reached the conclusion that
‘Assimilation’ has failed, or at best, ran in to many problems
Skinhead Hunters paints a picture of a France at
war with itself
Assimilation Policies have led to much of French
youth looking for SURROGATE CULTURES with which
to identify
Why do you think this is?
What has led to French youth looking to UK and
American culture for identification?

12. Assimilation attempts to FORCE people to change their
ideologies and their own sense of national identity
Young people have found themselves in the middle of a tug-of-
war, with France on one side, and family backgrounds that
encourage the adoption of their traditional views and
ideologies – both views are in direct opposition
The youth are expected to chose between two ideologies that are
equally un-relatable to them –
THEY MAKE THEIR OWN!

13. Watch the following clips and
consider why Kassovitz included
these sequence
How can we link these sequence to
the points put forward in the
‘Skinhead Hunters’ documentary?
What does this information tell us
about the position of Vinz, Hubert
and Said in French society?

14. Assimilation was designed to be a positive – French
citizens are viewed as individuals whose rights were
identical to those of all citizens, regardless of
ideological & ethnic back ground
However, over the past 70+ years this policy has led
to a greater division within society
Many migrants refused to give up their beliefs,
whilst many French see this as ‘diluting’ French
National Identity
This has led to clear divisions in French Society with
Religion and Ethnic background being significant
factors in how people view and treat one another

15. From Antifa: Skinhead Hunters we can see
that assimilation has failed
Many young French people feel rejected by
French society, despite being the children of
second and third generation French migrants
As a result, they push back against this
rejection and for their own identities
The have adopted many ‘Cultural Signifier’
from different cultures around the world and
have formed their own, new identify – outside
of, and independent of French Culture

16. “We are sick of their laws, so we
made our own!”
“Striking back was an act of
public safety”
Adopting US cultural signifiers
gave the Hunters a form of
expression that was their own
Many hunters joined up because it
gave them a sense of identity and
belonging
“There is something universal
about it” – it does not require
‘French-ness’ and is separate from
French society