French press review 27 September 2018

French rapper's "Hang the Whiteman" video causes revulsion and calls for  crackdown against growing racism. And tears for Angela Merkel abandoned by her very own political bastion.

 A controversial video by French rapper Nick Conrad titled "Hang the Whiteman" sparked a flurry of reactions from today's papers.  This is after shocked members of the government called for a judiciary investigation of the young musician.

Le Parisien has a transcription of the 9-minute video shot in the predominantly migrant neighborhood of Saint Denis outside Paris.  Nick Conrad can be seen casually lighting a cigar, as the body of a hung white man swings from a rope in the background. Then, Conrad is seen sticking a gun into the mouth of another Whiteman and shooting him as he laid tied up in the trunk of a car.

Le Journal de la Haute Marne rubbishes Conrad's argument that he wanted the video and the lyrics to be read the other way round so that his white fans can understand the lives of black racism victims.

Charente Libre says such reckless exhibition of hatred and trivialization of racism is unacceptable.

The paper also condemns the random promotion of politically incorrect ideas by some politicians and talk show hosts making rounds at French TV stations to show their hostility towards French citizens originating from other continents by describing their names as an insult to France's Christian heritage.

And talking about migrants L'Humanité salutes an initiative by the communist mayor of the Parisian city of Montreuil to move 1500 poorly-lodged immigrants into empty flats belonging to the Adult Professional Training Agency AFPA.

The Communist daily argues that through the operation, Mayor Patrice Bessac  broke the wall of silence about the scandalous living conditions of immigrants while showcasing a form of humanism unlnown to rich man's President Emmanuel Macron.

According to l'Humanité, the splendid action also breaks the infernal cycle in which acts of xenophobic have thrived across Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s defiance in her political bastion is the front page splash in today’s Le Figaro. This is after the German Chancellor's key ally Volker Kauder lost his post as the Centre-right party's parliamentary chief.

Kauder who held the post for 13 years was beaten by a relatively unknown challenger Ralph Brinkhaus, in a vote that underlined strong headwinds faced by Germany's veteran leader.

Le Figardescribes the vote as a slap in the face of the most powerful woman in Europe adding that she had never looked so fragile since her re-election in September 2017 for a 4th consecutive term.

The publication blames Merkel’s down fall on her fateful decision in 2015 to keep Germany’s borders open to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers at the height of Europe's migrant crisis.

For le Figaro, the writing is already on the wall.