French Minister says young Muslims need good manners

A French government minister drew angry reactions on Tuesday for saying that young Muslims should not speak slang or wear their caps back to front. Nadine Morano, junior minister for family and social unity, said she wanted a young Muslim to "love France when he lives here, to find a job, not speak slang and not wear his cap back to front".

The Socialist opposition and anti-racism campaigners criticised her comments, made at a discussion organised as part of a national debate on French identity that has been widely criticised as divisive.

Morano said her remarks had been "taken out of context".

"I was saying that with this caricature, and the stigmatisation that exists, I would advise them not only to wear their cap straight and not speak slang, but I explained also (they should) use the potential of their double culture," she said on Tuesday.
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Her comments on young Muslims referred to "verlan", French street slang formed by reversing the syllables of words.

Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamon said her comments were "very serious".

"That confirms the caricatured view that several members of the government have of the youth of this country, with improbable generalisations about young Muslims suspected of not looking for work," he said.

Campaign group SOS Racisme described her words as "another blunder" in the debate, which has sharpened sensitivities over France's Muslim majority - Europe's biggest - and been cast as a government attempt to win right-wing votes.
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