Mama Diakité is a French citizen, raised in the suburbs of Paris by two immigrant parents, not far from where a 17-year-old boy was shot by the police during a traffic stop last week.
As cars burned and barricades went up in her neighborhood over the shooting, she got word from the country’s top administrative court that she could not play the most popular sport in France — soccer — while wearing her hijab.
On Thursday, the Conseil d’Etat upheld the French Football Federation’s ban on wearing any obvious religious symbols, in keeping with the country’s bedrock principle of laïcité, or secularism.
The decision inspired a storm of feelings in Ms. Diakité — shock, anger, disappointment.
One involved a fatal traffic stop that French officials have condemned; the other involved a charged debate on the visibility of Islam in French society.
Persons:
Diakité, “, ”
Organizations:
French Football
Locations:
French, Paris, France