"France did all it could to suppress native languages in its colonies"

French imperialism

As a French-speaking African I am always mildly amused when I hear France clamoring for "cultural diversity," which to all intents and purposes amounts to mobilizing the world in a fight against Anglo-Saxon cultural and economic "imperialism."

The French seem to suffer from amnesia. France did all it could to suppress native languages in its colonies. I have personally suffered from this. And to this day, France tries to perpetuate the French language in its former colonies while attempting to enlist foot soldiers in the French war on Anglo-Saxon pre- eminence.

Still, and strangely enough, France seems to find it natural that its former colonies should join in the fight to "defend" its language against English.

We connect with each other based on our similarities, and we enrich each other based on our differences

Now, the question is: Why can't the French stop living in the past, come to terms with the reality of globalization and start learning English — and Chinese — like everybody else?