Two days before the first round of the early legislative elections, Lilian Thuram speaks out. The 1998 world champion was the guest of France Inter’s 13/14 news this Friday afternoon. A human rights activist and figure in the fight against racism, he encouraged people to vote “against the extreme right.”
“You just have to look at the news. You will see that, in fact, people who have this violence in them are expressing it freely today, and it is extremely dangerous,” believes the 52-year-old former defender. “So imagine tomorrow when they are in power! I think we have to take things very, very seriously.”
“Some media are normalizing the RN’s discourse”
“I am not Muslim, but I can say openly that there is very powerful anti-Muslim racism on the part of the National Front. I’m not homosexual, it’s the same thing. That is to say that there are extremely homophobic speeches. Today, unfortunately, we are in a society where we are sometimes indifferent to others. I always told my children that we do not collaborate with hatred. Whatever it costs, we resist hatred,” he added.
“You only have to look at the news to see that violence is freely expressed… Imagine tomorrow, when they are in power!”
Lilian Thuram denounces the “anti-Muslim hatred” and the “racism of the National Front”. #le1314inter pic.twitter.com/vW9eXLH52W
— France Inter (@franceinter) June 28, 2024
After denouncing “the role of certain media which normalize racist discourse” and “the role of certain politicians who legitimize the discourse of the National Front”, the man with 142 capes in the blue jersey was questioned about the position taken by his son Marcus. The Inter Milan striker (26 years old) invited French citizens to “fight every day so that the RN does not pass” at a press conference a week and a half ago.
“Don’t be silent”
“I haven’t talked about it with him, but it’s the result of an education,” Lilian Thuram said. “I’ve always tried to educate my two boys (his second son, Khephren Thuram, is also a French international) on the fact that you have to take care of others, respect others. It’s very important. You can’t be indifferent.”
“I have always told my children: ‘We do not collaborate with hatred, we resist hatred, whatever the cost’,” says Lilian Thuram. “We must not be silent, we must not act as if we do not know,” he says. #le1314inter pic.twitter.com/RMaI2rrkas
— France Inter (@franceinter) June 28, 2024
Creator of the Lilian Thuram-Education Against Racism foundation, the native of Pointe-à-Pitre also commented on the publication of a potential press release written by the players of the France team on the subject of political news.
“It is the players who must make this decision and there is the Federation. The only thing I say is that each of us must be aware. Very often, people end up saying: I didn’t know. I have always educated my children by telling them about a sentence from Albert Einstein which says: The world is going badly, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who let it happen and watch. The idea is not to be silent, not to act as if we don’t know. »
