[UGAalum94]

I'm with you both that the racism and colonial attitudes of the traditional European French cause the majority of the problem.

But don't you think the religion of the minority group also contributes to some self-ghettoizing behavior? Some of the tension that may have its roots in economic issues seems to manifest itself as a rejection of the secularism and unifying culture of the French state, which then compounds the problem.

ETA: I don't mean in the L'Oreal case. That's pretty straight up discrimination based on race and ethnicity, and the descriptions from the people who had to hire for the campaign make it pretty open and shut.

I wonder, though, when you do actually have a particular product generally aimed at one ethnicity, like say products designed especially for African American hair, like the Cream of Nature line for example, would it be racist to reject white models? L'Oreal wasn't dealing specifically with a line for the pigment challenged, so there's no way it applies in that case, but it's kind of interesting to think about.