A French television documentary team traveled to Cullman this week to chronicle the election of James Fields, a black man local voters sent to the State House of Representatives earlier this year.
When Fields was elected in January, he became the first black person to represent Cullman County, which is more than 96 percent white and only 1 percent black, according to statistics from the Cullman Economic Development Agency.
Fields’ election made news across America — including the front page of the New York Times — and now the French news program “Compliment d’Enquete” is using his story to document how racism is fading in American politics. The story is especially noteworthy now that America has elected a mixed-race black man, Barack Obama, as president.
The television crew heard about Fields’ historic victory from the New York Times article, which also ran in a French newspaper.
“It was completely unexpected here (for Fields to be elected),” said Edouard Perrin, a reporter for the program.
Perrin said the TV show portrayed the South as a place of “bitter racial legacy” with an “unsavory history.”
“When the results were in last Wednesday, it was like wow. They (Americans) did something very historic,” said Perrin.
He described racial issues in France like those that were once common in America. He said there are many minorities in France who are discriminated against, especially in the top tier of government.
“You never see minorities in our government,” Perrin said.
When Obama won the election, Perrin said the people of France were thrilled.
“One word, relief,” he said. “Relief because people were very worried about Palin and the age of McCain. This is an opinion widely held in all of Europe.”
Perrin and an audio technician, Melanie Laporte, spent nearly a week in Cullman following Rep. Fields and talking with local residents. Perrin’s report is scheduled to air Sunday on France 2, the French national television network.
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