A secret on the books was a French colonial-era law that treated human beings as property, which was in effect for almost two hundred years following the official abolition of slavery. The National Assembly on Thursday passed a “code noir” (black code) act, signed by King Louis XIV in 1685, unanimously.

Slavery was abolished in 1848 but the 60-article code, which stated that enslaved people were “movable property”, decreed mutilation for anyone who escaped, and invalidated their testimony, was never formally abolished.

Lawmaker Max Mathiasin of Guadeloupe, who introduced the repeal, said the reading of the text was a “cold reading” of the text of laws by human beings against human beings. The vote to him and others restores the humanity of his ancestors who were enslaved, and makes the country look at its unfulfilled Republican promises. 

The Legacy of Colonialism and the Push for Reparations

Although officials have admitted that their failure to act on the code for over 200 years has been an “act of wrongdoing,” they avoided an actual apology. Critics say the repeal is symbolic but serves to highlight the country’s ongoing issues with its colonial past and the legacy of systemic racial inequalities.

In contrast with other empires, France incorporated its oldest colonies as overseas departments in 1946: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Réunion. Although in this condition, these territories have poverty and unemployment levels much higher than those on the mainland. According to advocates, a “colonial continuity” and less than equal treatment are evident from the mere existence of a separate Ministry for the Overseas Territories, which is being operated under the guise of departmentalization.

A debate that had been raised before the repeal is now back – reparations. The Code Noir is the origin of the concept of the “colonial exception,” which the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery believes was the long-standing doctrine of the Republic’s founding rights being put on hold for its subjects.

For a long time, the French indentured Haiti to a very high monetary price for its independence in 1804, which was not paid until 1947. In addition, France has recently abstained in a UN General Assembly vote on the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and it is considered the worst crime against humanity, which has raised doubts. Such symbolic repeals without concrete measures to dismantle the modern racial and economic inequalities are, for many descendants and activists, empty.