Racist attack in Trappes: Pengo Bossio Wangi’s father hopes for “awareness” after the national tribute

The government plans to pay a national tribute to the victims of the racist attack perpetrated in Yvelines on October 23. Bolema Bossio Wangi, the father of the young man killed during this attack, hoped on Monday that it would be “an opportunity for real awareness and commitment against racism”.

“To the President of the Republic, who plans to pay a national tribute to the victims of this racist attack, we would like to remind you that such a tribute should not only be a moment of contemplation, it must also be an opportunity for real awareness and a commitment against racism and all forms of hatred,” declared Ambre Bossio Wangi, reading a statement from his father, too moved to speak.

“I’m afraid as a father of black children”

“Coming from African immigration, I grew up in France in the 80s and 90s, a period when attacks against North Africans or blacks were unfortunately common. And I did not believe that several decades later, my son Pengo Bossio Wangi would succumb at the hand of an individual driven by the same hatred,” he lamented, via his daughter, during a press conference in Paris.

“Today, in a France plagued by strong identity tensions, I am afraid as the father of black children,” he said. “But despite our anger and our pain, Pengo’s mother and I choose to trust in the justice of this country,” he added.

“France must always remain faithful to its values”

“If the death of our son should serve any purpose, it is to raise awareness of the racism that has plagued French society for decades, a racism fueled by certain media and political parties,” underlined Bolema Bossio Wangi.

“We love this country for the values ​​it carries and in which we deeply believe, such as fraternity,” he said, adding: “France must always remain faithful to its values, whatever the origins” and “the color of skin” of “its inhabitants”.