The Black, Muslim mayor who embodies changes in the new France

"“The portrait? It was already like that when I arrived. I didn't take it down; I simply didn't put it back on the wall,” explains Bally Bagayoko, the newly elected mayor of Saint-Denis. Bagayoko, 52, the son of a family of Malian origin, won the municipal elections in March in the first round with 50.77% of the vote. It was historic. The first Black and Muslim mayor of a city with over 100,000 inhabitants."

"“We expected it. We knew there would be attacks. The first accusation came from the outgoing mayor, who said that we were a candidacy supported by drug traffickers. But the racist offensive continued with emails, with threats. Also with music he says.” Bally Bagayoko describes daily hate messages received by the mayor’s office, including anonymous calls that leave the phone off the hook and sometimes play the melody Beaux Dimanches."

"A wave of racism followed the election, with conservative media outlets calling him a monkey and spreading lies. The lies included claims that Bagayoko said Saint-Denis was a city of Black people instead of kings, exploiting a French sound confusion between “noirs” and “rois.” The mayor’s office receives hate messages daily, including anonymous calls and threats, and sometimes music."

"From the window of the new mayor's office, painted electric blue, one can see the basilica where the remains of the monarchs of France rest. But also the narrow streets of Saint-Denis, population 115,000, where the air is thick with the aroma of halal shops, and women in headscarves walk among mosques. The city is described as multicultural, located in the country’s poorest department and the one with the highest proportion of immigrants, one-third of the population."

Bally Bagayoko, newly elected mayor of Saint-Denis, won municipal elections in March with 50.77% of the vote. His office contains a portrait of Emmanuel Macron leaning against a wall, with a handwritten sign reading “Here begins the new France.” Saint-Denis is described as a multicultural city with halal shops, mosques, and women wearing headscarves, located in a poorer department with a high immigrant proportion. Bagayoko’s arrival is portrayed as shaking France, while he stays calm and keeps the portrait as it was when he arrived. He reports receiving daily hate messages, including anonymous calls and threats, and says racist attacks also included music and accusations from conservative media and the outgoing mayor.

Read at english.elpais.com