In his first appearance this season on the radio show "Les Grandes Gueules" on Thursday, Sam Zirah addressed the controversy surrounding the expression "dirty white." The new RMC commentator acknowledged that it can be a racist insult, but argued that it cannot be equated with other forms of racism. This position was strongly contested by Marion Maréchal.
Sam Zirah begins, however, by acknowledging the racist nature of the expression. "If I am called a dirty Arab, it will of course be racist, if I am called a dirty black, it is racism, if I am called a dirty white, I hear it again as a form of racism," he explains.
"We cannot put all forms of racism on the same level."
The columnist then introduces a distinction. According to him, not all racist insults can be considered with the same historical and social gravity. "It was Black people who experienced colonization and slavery," he argues, adding that white people do not encounter the same difficulties, particularly in accessing employment, because of their skin color.
In other words, Sam Zirah does not deny the existence of racism targeting white people, but puts its scope into perspective by considering that it is not part of the same historical and social context as racism targeting certain minorities.
This ranking prompted a reaction from Marion Maréchal on X. The MEP reminded him that "all peoples and civilizations have, at different periods in history, suffered or practiced slavery and conquest." She specifically cited raids, Barbary piracy, and the Arab-Muslim and Ottoman conquests that affected European populations.
Marion Maréchal ultimately accuses Sam Zirah of giving in to an "ethno-masochistic reflex and a desire for repentance," arguing that this way of ranking different forms of racism leads to minimizing certain acts of violence against white people. She cites Crépol as a prime example, although his exact motives remain subject to judicial investigation.
