“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah is defending his joke about the “African-ness” of France’s victorious World Cup soccer team after the French ambassador accused him of “legitimizing” racist ideologies.
French Ambassador to the U.S. Gerard Araud wrote a letter to Noah on Wednesday, saying the comedian denied the players’ “Frenchness” when Noah said Africa deserved credit for the team’s 4-2 victory over Croatia.
Noah defend his statement in a video released on Twitter Wednesday.
“When I’m saying ‘African,’ I’m not saying it to exclude them from their French-ness — I’m saying it to include them in my African-ness. I’m saying, ‘I see you, my French brother of African descent,’ ” Noah says in the video.
Noah was born in South Africa.
The majority of the French national team have immigrant parents, Araud acknowledged in his letter. All but two of the 23 players were born in France, but all are French citizens.
“Unlike the United States of America, France does not refer to its citizens based on their race, religion or origin,” Araud wrote. “For us, there is no hyphenated identity, the roots are an individual reality. By calling them an African team, it seems that you are denying their Frenchness.”
“This, even in jest, legitimizes the ideology which claims whiteness as the only definition of being French,” he added.
Noah said he will continue to praise the athletes for being African “because I believe they are of Africa.”
“They can be French, because I believe they can both at the same time,” Noah said. “And if French people are saying they can’t be, then I think they have a problem and not me.”