The Black Code, a decree approved by King Louis XIV in 1685 to provide a legal framework for slavery, has finally been repealed in France. By 254 votes in favor and none against, the National Assembly gave the green light to end this historical anomaly, 178 years after the abolition of slavery.
"No vote can repair centuries of destroyed lives," declared Deputy Steevy Gustave from Martinique. "We are not descendants of slaves, but of men who were born free and were reduced to the worst through slavery."
"As a great-grandson of people who were enslaved, I have never been able to fully read these texts and admit what humans did to other humans," proclaimed Max Mathiasin, deputy for the French territory of Guadeloupe. "This is finally a way to restore humanity and recognize the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity that are the foundation of our Republic."
"Slavery was abolished in 1848, but these texts remained in the shadow of our law," warned President Emmanuel Macron. "The Black Code should never have survived the abolition of slavery. The silence or even the indifference with which it has been maintained for centuries has become a form of offense."
In the 60 articles of the Code Noir, slaves were designated as "movable property" that could be acquired by a master in the same way as property. The text restricted the activities of people of color, prohibited any religion other than Catholicism, and determined punishments, from ear amputations to death penalties, for infractions committed by slaves.
Interestingly, the architect of the Black Code, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, is immortalized in a statue in the grounds of the National Assembly. It is estimated that France was the third nation by the volume of slaves, behind Great Britain and Portugal, with 1.4 million Africans transported to sugar plantations in its colonies. The repeal of the text is expected to reopen the debate on reparations for slavery.