An important intellectual debate is currently playing out involving the French ambassador to the United States — and a late-night comedy host. Durin

Trevor Noah’s feud with France over race, identity, and Africa, explained

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2021-07-09 09:30:05

An important intellectual debate is currently playing out involving the French ambassador to the United States — and a late-night comedy host.

During a Monday monologue, Daily Show host Trevor Noah made a joke about France’s World Cup victory. Alluding to the fact that 80 percent of the French team’s players were of African descent, he quipped, “Africa won the World Cup.”

“I get it, they have to say it’s the French team,” said Noah, who is black and South African. “But look at those guys. You don’t get that tan by hanging out in the South of France, my friends.”

French Ambassador Gerard Araud took offense to the comments, and sent a letter to Noah on Wednesday afternoon outlining his complaints. “By calling them an African team, it seems you are denying their Frenchness,” Araud wrote. “This, even in jest, legitimizes the ideology which claims whiteness as the only definition of being French.”

That evening, Noah fired back in a web segment, defending his original joke and arguing that Araud was actually erasing the identity of his nation’s players. It’s a powerful monologue, despite Noah’s attempt to imitate a French accent at the beginning, and deserves to be watched in full:

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