It’s never easy to be the new kid on the block. Many of us have had that experience, and no one likes to be the odd man—or woman—out. I’ve been there. Perhaps you have too and if not you, a friend, a relative, or an ancestor. Think of immigrants come to Schuylkill County to work in the mines over a century ago. They were outsiders who struggled and persisted, and today their descendants would not consider themselves anything but true-blue Americans.
What would the United States or France be without immigration? Throughout their history, both countries have alternated between opening their doors wide and slamming them shut, fearful of that “new kid” who, given an inch, might take a mile. These days, more doors are shut than open, and everywhere in the world, people tend to “like” those who are most like themselves.
There are exceptions—happily, there always are—among the new kids and the old. One of them is Rachel Keke, a newcomer to the French National Assembly, elected in June 2022. Here is a woman who, in simple, clear language, has a message for us all.
Like me, Rachel Keke is a naturalized French citizen. She was born in 1974 in Ivory Coast. When she was 12, her mother died. When she was 16, she went to work and has been working ever since. In 1999, at a time of civil unrest in her native country, she fled to France. She began working in an uncle’s hair salon. In 2003, she took a job as a cleaning woman, working for a subcontractor in a big hotel overlooking the Paris beltway.
At that time, she was also a mother with young children she was raising on her own, employed in a profession dominated by women who rarely get the respect they deserve. Scheduled to work at irregular hours at all times of day, Rachel Keke could not always be there to get her children off to school or welcome them when they came home.
For years, Rachel Keke worked part-time for different employers who subcontracted with the group Accor, which owns hotels around the world (for example, Accor owns and manages the Plaza Hotel in NYC, where one night in a basic room costs $1,105, more than Rachel and her colleagues earned in a month). Though she regularly requested full-time employment in an industry where part-time workers are paid according to the number of rooms cleaned, she had to wait 15 years to get it. When she did, she was promoted to team supervisor. In 2019 she and her colleagues went on strike, initiating what was to become the longest strike ever in the French hotel industry.
These women, many earning less than 1,000 euros a month, wanted better salaries, but they also wanted to see the hardships and dangers of their job recognized. Backache, tendinitis, carpal tunnel, these were their daily lot. Sexual harassment and racism, a regular part of the jobTheir movement, which began in July 2019 and ended in victory in May 2021, overlapped with the covid pandemic. During the worst of it, stock clerks, cashiers, cleaning women, that invisible workforce so many take for granted, had suddenly become more important to the smooth running of society than bankers, lawyers, or millionaire CEO’s.
During the pandemic, this group of 28 cleaning women continued to fight for their dignity. They chose two spokeswomen, Sylvie Kimissa and Rachel Keke, whose determination caught the attention of people all over France. Taking on a giant, they fought for—and won—higher wages, increased benefits, and more reasonable working conditions, which meant more time to do each room and longer breaks to sit down for a meal.
In 2022, Rachel Keke participated in the campaign of presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of Union Populaire, which in May 2022 became NUPES, Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale. She spoke at the inaugural meeting and once again stirred the crowd to action, this time to encourage Keke to run for a seat in the French National Assembly in June 2022. She was quickly invested in the district where she lives, and in the first round of legislative elections came in in first place.
The second round proved more difficult. She was up against another immigrant, Roxana Maracineanu, who emigrated with her parents from Romania to France when she was a child. Olympic medalist, she became France’s first world-champion swimmer at the 1998 World Aquatic Championships in Perth, Australia. During Emmanuel Macron’s first term as President, she was Minister of Athletics. In the June 2022 elections, she lost to Rachel Keke by about half a percentage point (50.30% for Keke; 49.70% for Maracineanu).
Today Rachel Keke is one of 577 members of the French National Assembly. She is one of 214 women and of 32 members belonging to what the French call “la diversité.” France does not tolerate terms such as “Franco-African,” “Franco-Arab” or “Franco-Asian” to refer to its citizens. We’re all supposed to be equally French. “Diversité” lumps together all backgrounds that are not white European. Keke is also one of two former cleaning women in the National Assembly, the other being Lisette Pollet, a member of Rassemblement national, France’s far-right party.
Rachel Keke has been on the job for a few months and the new assembly is only beginning its legislative work. It’s much too early to judge her record, but not too early to criticize. She’s looked down on for her lack of education in a country like France, where diplomas are everything. She’s been mocked for showing up at political meetings in an African boubou (at the National Assembly, she makes it a point of honor to dress in skirt or slacks and jacket). And some wonder how a cleaning woman, even one with lots of heart and guts, can have what it takes to write laws.
Racism, sexism and the scorn of the rich for the poor, Rachel Keke has been victim of them all—except that she’s not a victim. She takes these remarks in stride, gives them the importance they deserve (none), and gets on with her new job.
“That’s the way the world is,” says Rachel Keke. “You have to take people the way they are.”
Words of wisdom for us all.
