“Vive la République, et vive la France.”

Emmanuel Macron closed his 21 May speech marking the 25th anniversary of the passing of the Taubira law, which recognised slavery as a crime against humanity, with the customary patriotic slogan. As applause rippled around the reception room of the Elysée Palace, whose construction was financed by a 18th-century slave-owning magnate, Leïla Brédent, a black soprano from Guadeloupe, launched into a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise.

Watching from my office in Bristol, following videos shared by friends attending the ceremony, I felt a profound unease. The speeches were moving, the symbolism powerful. Yet there was a question I could not shake: how are descendants of enslaved Africans in France’s overseas territories supposed to interpret these patriotic sentiments when we continue to live with the consequences of the system that France claims to commemorate and condemn?

Part of the answer lies not in history books, but in our very bloodstreams.

More than 90% of the populations of Martinique and Guadeloupe are, according to French health authorities, believed to carry traces of chlordecone, a toxic pesticide which was used extensively on banana plantations. The chemical contaminated rivers, coastal waters and agricultural land across both islands and is expected to remain in the environment for centuries. The French Caribbean also records some of the highest rates of prostate cancer in the world, with researchers continuing to investigate links between chlordecone exposure and a range of serious health conditions.

Far from being an accident, this was a political choice.

As early as 1972, France’s now........

© The Guardian