Le bruit et l'odeur

"Le Bruit et l'Odeur" refers to a speech given in 1991 by the mayor of Paris and later French president Jacques Chirac; it translates to "the noise and the smell".

Related Topics:
Paris - French - Jacques Chirac

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In this speech, Chirac contrasts the situation of older generations of immigrants (coming from Spain, Portugal or Poland) to what he considers the current "overdose" of immigration, mostly from Muslims and Blacks. He deplores the situation of working-class French who have trouble making ends meet and see next door some immigrant family, with a man, 3 or 4 spouses and a host of children, living off welfare and not working — and generating noises and smell.

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He then explains that in such conditions, the French worker, without being a racist, is bound to become mad — an explanation of the successes of Jean-Marie Le Pen, campaigning on anti-immigrant platform.

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