Nabila Ramdani: Racism in France is a 'latent problem'

Is France becoming a "racist" country?

This week both Christiane Taubira, the justice minister who was born in French Guiana, and the black news anchor Harry Roselmack have written about their fears that racism is rife.

Ms Taubira said she had been taunted by children waving banana skins, and compared to a monkey by a National Front mayoral candidate.

Speaking to the Today programme, Nabila Ramdani, a French-Algerian journalist, said: "Racism in France is a latent problem.

"France's colonial legacy is still very strong, and successive governments have sadly made sure that immigrant communities have been largely kept in housing projects on the edge of major cities."

Christine Ockrent, a seasoned French TV presenter, believes the justice minister's position has made her a target.

She said: "The fact that Christiane Taubira is so prominent, and she has one of the key jobs in the government, adds to the sort of blatant racism blurs, which indeed the gay marriage demonstrations have given way to."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 8 November 2013.