His election in Saint-Denis made history. The response that followed, harassing calls, dehumanizing letters, and TV commentary, revealed how far France still has to go.
Bally Bagayoko was elected mayor of Saint-Denis, one of the most prominent suburbs of Paris, in mid-March. He is 52 years old, born in France to Malian parents, and represents the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise. His win was part of a broader shift across France, where roughly ten mayors of African descent won or held office in the same election cycle.
Within days of his victory, the phones at Saint-Denis city hall started ringing with a different kind of call.
What city hall staff started hearing after Bagayoko’s win
Staff managing reception services reported a sharp increase in discriminatory calls almost immediately after the election results were announced. The calls included questions about whether schoolchildren were required to wear headscarves, and comments framing the city as belonging to a particular racial group. Kelly Kidou, who oversees reception at city hall, described the pattern as a marked escalation in openly racist remarks directed at the municipality.
The harassment extended beyond phone calls. Several Black elected officials across France, including parliamentary vice-president Nadège Abomangoli, received letters containing dehumanizing depictions of Black people. False claims also spread on social media asserting that Bagayoko had referred to Saint-Denis using racially charged language. What he had actually said, during a televised interview after his victory, was that Saint-Denis was the city of kings and of living people. The distortion of that statement traveled further than the correction.
The television moment that drew widespread condemnation
The backlash escalated further during a televised debate on CNews, a prominent French news channel. A host questioned whether Bagayoko was attempting to push certain limits, and a guest commentator responded with language evoking ape imagery and references to tribal leadership. The segment drew immediate condemnation from advocacy groups and political figures across the spectrum.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu responded publicly, warning against what he described as the normalization of racism and evil in public discourse. His statement was notable given how infrequently French political leaders address race in those direct terms. Media coverage described the cumulative attacks as xenophobic targeting of newly elected officials with immigrant backgrounds, a pattern that observers noted had grown more visible since the election.
How Saint-Denis is responding to the Bagayoko backlash
Inside the city itself, the response has been more unified than the external noise might suggest. Residents have described a growing sense of solidarity around Bagayoko‘s election and the attacks that followed. One local shop worker said the situation had produced a kind of communal resolve, a feeling of shared identity and purpose that had strengthened rather than fractured the neighborhood.
Community leaders have been more direct about naming what is happening. Mohammed Ouaddane, who heads a local cultural association, described the attacks as degrading and shockingly violent in their intent, arguing that they reflect a broader pattern of systemic discrimination against people of African descent in French public life. He framed Saint-Denis not as a cautionary story but as a testing ground for what a more pluralistic France could look like if it chose to build one.
What Bagayoko’s election actually represents
France has a complicated history with conversations about race and representation. The country’s official model of republican universalism discourages the formal recognition of racial or ethnic categories in public life, which has historically made it harder to address discrimination openly. Elections like Bagayoko’s, and the reactions they produce, are forcing that conversation into public view regardless.
The harassment directed at city hall staff is not abstract. It is a daily operational reality for the people answering those phones. The disinformation campaigns have real reach. The television commentary reached a national audience. None of it has undone the election result, and none of it has quieted Saint-Denis. What it has done is make visible a set of tensions that were already there, waiting for exactly this kind of moment to surface.