In this article, we would like to examine the political and historical debates apropos of ‘Day of Commemoration of the Slavery Trade, Slavery and Abolition of Slavery’. First, through the controversy that arose in the process of designating the date for the abolition of slavery, it will be revealed that there are cracks in the history of the abolition of slavery between France and overseas. The Law of May 21, 2001 (loi du 21 mai 2001), also known as the Law of Tobira (loi Taubira), which later became the basis for the anniversary of the abolition of slavery, was compared with other laws of memory (lois mémorielles) and faced political and historical controversy.
In the 2000s, the anniversary legally enacted by the French parliament was a hot topic. Historians were forced to intervene as the French, who belong to minority groups such as overseas residents, Jews, Armenians, and Algerians, urged the parliament to enact their memory law, enough to be called the “memory war” (guerre des mémoires). The colonial history has ended, but French assimilationism has not yet been practically implemented due to the economic and political alienation of the Antilles. It is no exaggeration to say that the Tobira Law and the anniversary of the abolition of slavery are an extension of the French assimilationist line to recognize the past and history of the Antilles at the national history.