Where are you from?

Abstract

Where are you from? is a common question that is asked daily in Europe. A case of France helps to shed light on the definition of in-group and out-group identities. The French republican project is a quest for a color-blind society, offering the promise of assimilation or integration. However, there is a gap between de jure and de facto integration. Melanin is a naturally occurring, brown pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes causing skin colour, tanning. Melanin is here extended to all other visible and audible features that make somebody identified as different. Melanin leads to the Where are you from? question. This question is not asked of those characterized by traditional features (white skin colour, French speakers, etc.). Showing links between this current debate and the Where are you from? question, I propose that research dedicated to this question could shed light on ongoing European social evolution and its dynamics.