French black group turns to Obama lookalike for help
French black group turns to Obama lookalike for help
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he's goT the look: Michael Lamar turned heads in Paris because of his startling resemblance to US president-elect Barack Obama. Pics/ap |
A French black group is parading a Barack Obama-lookalike at the parliament in a campaign to highlight its concerns about alleged racial profiling by police in France.
American actor Michael Lamar met lawmakers at the National Assembly for Monday's start of a media blitz by the Representative Council of Black Associations.
For years, the group, known by the acronym CRAN, has raised questions about a country that has championed a colourblind standard that sees all citizens as just French, regardless of ethnic origins and where collecting racial data is banned.
The group wants a meeting with Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie to discuss a survey it commissioned last year that showed "visible minorities" say they get stopped more often by police than other people.
Playing along after meeting Lamar, Green party lawmaker Yves Cochet said, "The presence at our side of Mr Obama is the sign that France should become as generous and egalitarian as the US can be."
Lamar, who lives in Philadelphia in the US, was taken to a police station and other parts of Paris, while CRAN filmed the reactions of passers-by for an upcoming publicity spot.
The videos were also planned "to prompt dialogue on issues that expose the backwardness of our country and its decision-makers when public opinion is concerned," the group said.
Interior Ministry spokesm-an Gerard Gachet said French police do not stop people based on ethnic backgrounds, and it would be "unthinkable" that such a policy could ever be put in place.
