For Samuel Paty’s sister, “we will have to do a lot more” for school and freedom of expression

Le Figaro Nice

Since his brother’s assassination, his words have been rare. Mickaëlle Paty, sister of Samuel Paty, the history and geography professor murdered by an Islamic terrorist, on October 16, 2020, a few meters from his college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, decided to speak on Monday in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes). She was present alongside the mayor and president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), David Lisnard, to inaugurate a square in the name of her late brother, in front of the Carnot high school.

“I have always shown great discretionshe admitted. But we reach such a level of attack towards our teachers that it was important that I be a little more omnipresent. Mickaëlle Paty spoke for the last time during a notable speech at the AMF congress last November. She also did it in the Senate in October. Three years after the death of Samuel Paty, “continuing to pay tribute to him continues to make the pulse of democracy beat and a little more mine”she explained in an incisive speech in front of a hundred people.

Mickaëlle Paty did not fail to have a moving thought for Dominique Bernard, another professor murdered by a terrorist, last October 13 in Arras. A new drama which “should never have happened“. She was still concerned about the freedom of expression of teachers and respect for secularism in the country’s establishments. “I’ve been ringing the alarm bell for a while now. Failing to see a certain improvement, I wanted to show that I will continue to defend this fight.she explained after the ceremony to the press, adding that there was “an intimate degree in this fight”. “Saving the school and all our teachers is, for me, a bit like saving my brother”she insisted, not without emotion.

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“Transvestite accommodations”

Pay attention to the latest measures on the school announced by President Emmanuel Macron, Mickaëlle Paty was skeptical about the effectiveness of doubling the hours of moral and civic education. “I consider that this will not be enough to have a counter-discourse to bring to our children, who, on the outside, do not have a republican discourse at allshe judged. We will undoubtedly have to do a lot more to try to make people understand the benefit of keeping our freedom of expression, full and complete.”

The president had indicated that civic education would be “refounded” relying on “the great founding texts of the nation”. He also announced a strengthening of artistic and cultural education, with theater classes at the next school year and the return of art history. “The measures must above all be applied concretely and followed up. We string together a whole bunch of reforms without ever evaluating them,” nuanced Mickaëlle Paty. In her speech, she also castigated “so-called reasonable accommodations served in all sauces and disguised under the guise of pacifism” who for her, “exacerbate the divide and injustice”.

Samuel Paty’s sister also recalled the importance of the unwavering support of rectorates in the face of self-censorship and the fear that certain professors may feel. In this sense, she again mentioned her proposal made during her hearing in the Senate. For courses that “can lead to controversy”she thinks relevant “the use of outside people, specialists, to be two abreast in front of a class”.

“We need to find other axesshe insisted, so as not to always leave it to the school to respond to all our social problems.” Behind death “absurd” by Samuel Paty, the Cannes city councilor called for “a start”. “If we refuse to hold our heads high, we betray republican universalism, which is a treasure”, praised David Lisnard. A plaque in the name of the former teacher and a drawing just above representing him now stand in front of the entrance to the Cannes high school. Like this square, around sixty streets and places in France bear the name of Samuel Paty.