French National Assembly deputies voted unanimously to repeal the "black decree" and all related texts regulating slavery in former colonies [1, 2].
The move represents a significant step in France's ongoing effort to confront its colonial history and the legal frameworks that once institutionalized human bondage. By scrubbing these texts from the legal record, the government seeks to align its legislative history with modern democratic values.
The decree in question originated in the 17th century [1]. It served as a primary legal instrument for regulating the treatment and status of enslaved people within the French colonial empire. For centuries, the text remained a symbol of the systemic brutality inherent in the colonial administration.
President Emmanuel Macron supported the measure, saying that the long silence surrounding the decree no longer aligns with the principles of the French Republic [1, 2]. The decision to repeal the text comes as part of a broader push to address the legacy of slavery and its lasting impact on French society and its overseas territories.
Members of Parliament in Paris reached a total consensus on the vote, ensuring that the repeal passed without opposition [1, 2]. This unanimity underscores a rare moment of political agreement across the assembly regarding the necessity of erasing colonial-era slavery laws from the national books.
The repeal includes not only the primary decree, but also all subsequent texts that were used to enforce or modify those slavery regulations [1, 2]. This comprehensive approach is intended to leave no legal remnants of the colonial slave codes in the current French legal framework.
“French National Assembly deputies voted unanimously to repeal the 'black decree'.”
The repeal of the 'black decree' is a symbolic legislative act that acknowledges the incompatibility of colonial slave codes with the French Republic's values. While the decree was already obsolete in practice, its formal removal from the legal record serves as a political gesture of reconciliation and a public admission of the state's role in institutionalizing slavery.
