A bitter row over the difficulties of debating racism in France has erupted after a high-profile feminist and anti-racism campaigner was forced off a government advisory body, prompting the resignation of the director and scores of members. Journalist Rokhaya Diallo has repeatedly spoken out against what she calls institutional racism in France, notably police stop and search practices against non-white young men.

Diallo, 39, was one of 30 people appointed last week to France’s national digital council, the CNNum, an independent commission of digital experts. The voluntary panel was to advise the centrist president Emmanuel Macron’s government on a new, more inclusive digital policy. The appointments were approved by the digital minister Mounir Mahjoubi – one of the few faces of ethnic diversity in government – as well as the prime minister. But the government then bowed to complaints about Diallo’s presence.(theguardian)…[+]