Race, racism and coloniality in Bordeaux : Perceptions and experiences of 15 local women racialized as non-white

Abstract

This study focuses on the city of Bordeaux, a city mostly known today for its wine industry but with a strong colonial legacy as it was the second main slave trade harbor in France. Thus, Bordeaux illustrates the erasure of race, racism and coloniality in race-evasive and so-called post-racial French and European (urban and discursive) spaces. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 women racialized as non-white and living in Bordeaux, this article sheds light on some of the ways in which the participants perceived and experienced race, racism and coloniality to materialize in Bordeaux. Analyzed using tenets of thematic analysis, the findings are organized around two themes: (1) disrupting raceless discourses and whiteness and (2) drawing geographical and historical continuities. The findings help identify concrete ramifications of race, racism and coloniality in urban spaces and point to ways of developing racial literacy in and through cities.