Talk:Pied-Noir

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Contents

[edit] Edits

I edited the first sentence of the article, who claimed that Pied Noir was the name given to the French colonist. Actually, it's a bit more complicated : More than half the pied-noir population was of other European descent (from Italy, Malta, Spain), mainly in the Oran area. Moreover, the word colonist is a bit POV and unacurate : As explained in the article, most of the Pied Noir were urban. If I agree to use the word colonist in order to speak about the Pied Noir of the Mitjida area and the German of Sout Dakota, I think this word is a bit odd for the Dock worker of bab-el-Oued or the German shoemaker of Little Germany, New York.--83.112.227.28 01:29, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

Funny I was told in France that the term "pied noir" was an ironic way of saying that the European population in N Africa were not "totally white" (whatever that means). Your explanation suggesting a way to distinguish them from the local population by the shoos is politically correct and very funny but completely non sense because pied-noir was a term used in France not in N Africa and everybody in France knows is meant as a racial insult towards the colonial population returning to France. I doubt anybody would have difficulty telling apart a French colonialist from the local population in N Africa.

Excuse us to came here when your project have more important issues to solve. We come from the Seychelles community in EU, way back in 1979 when we visited Paris to seek support from former Leading Pied Noirs who run French muntinational company,(among them the Grand Moulin des Paris)the big banks, politicians and generals - very many we discussed the Seychelles revolution and exile threw it bluntly in our face as far as France was concern we were "ruddy pied noirs". It was we the so called "pied noirs Seychelles that made it possible, in pute in the Polish strike - Solidarnos had just started, later our involvement to help change COMECON, the Berlin Wall, German Reunification and changes in USSR the terrible lies and cover up. Our special contribution to change OAU to African Union. The special role as "pied Noir from Seychelles contribution to the EU, Commission, enlargement politic, and EU economy. We have colaborated in very many important issues with the late President Francois Mitterand,(Includng the channal Tunnal prject £4.5 billions not finished £15 billions, our contribution to save the almost bankrupt project this year, refinance, structure, the Greater Pas des Calais Economic project, the Med Region Economic project and the Alpine Region Economic project) It was we the "Pied noir Seychelles" who tried to save France face the "Mini Telsystem" important role and contribution in the CERN, the French man and Tim Brenner Lee to write the WWW, the big bust up with us over German Reunification - France loss of power in EU and the world. The high parties in EU, USA that refused that we write who we are what we have done.{Not to mention the archaic/fraternal establishment in France and Britain} Not to forget our contribution to help build Britain and its economy way back in 1981 under Lady Tacther when it was called the "sick man of EU" We finally managed to put our community portal together - may be ought to have called "Pied Noir Seychelles" . We have started a wikipedia project to explain the world who we are, come from and going - we are getting a lot of difficulty, the community do not want to participate - they want the benefit and the positive outcome only. Some of the reason fo the Gulf War and other regional wars - because of the "pied noirs Seychelles" Please visit our project and recommand it. Check out with Premier Blair our contribution to make poverty history in Africa - $800 billions debt write off (G8 Scotland)for Afican Union. Note: The involvement of our community in the Knight Templar issues way back in 1981 -date, contribution to Vatican work to publish the book on the Knight Templar Trial and disbanding. Those from the Templar their contribution in the SIROP project. We have made a contribution also about the death of Colonel Bernard Dennard death 14/10/07. ( Had we not made that unique inpute in Poland, the COMECON would not have change very likely a Nuclear war and President Sarkosy not the president of French Republic. ) [[1]] Grandlarousse 18:31, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Relation to Algerian immigrants

How is the relationship among Pied-noirs and Algerian immigrants in Metropolitan France?

there is good relationship between the pied noir (I am a pied noir descent) and algerian immigrants.When they meet each other they talk about Algeria not the algerian war.

My mother is pied-noir. I wont be as affirmative as the previous people. Some algerians are always blaming France for what happened. However, they don't recognize war crimes of FLN and ask french people to be repentent in the same time. It makes any discussion about the independance war sort of taboo.

[edit] Sephardic

The Sephardic Jews arrived to find a large Jewish community already in place and the two communities combined over time.

[edit] Just wondering - a possible link?

I just noticed that under the Ottoman sultans dhimmis were required to wear black shoes - could this have something to do with the terms origins?

[edit] Color codes on the map

Someone pelase explain what the colors are meant to represent on the map!

[edit] 1962 massacre in Oran

Is the kidnapping of thousands referred to in the second paragraph under "Exodus" the same as this massacre? [2] There are a lot of web pages referring to this, but with the date July 5 instead of July 6-7. Rbraunwa 02:07, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Never mind, I figured this out (just found the separate article).
Rbraunwa 12:32, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Forgetting the rest of N Africa?

Pied noir refers to all Europeans (specifically Jews) in the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco). It is a huge mistake to excluse Tunisian and Algerian pied noirs from this article? Side note - there is a large pied noir population in Los Angeles also - a famous Tunisian pied noir is BCBG's Max Azria.

[edit] Morocco and Tunisia

Is there an article about European settlers in Morocco and Tunisia?

[edit] Sephardics are not pieds-noirs!

The article says "It also includes the Algerian Jewish population". I would like a source to confirm this.

From my perspective (Both my parents are North African Jews), the only Pieds-Noirs are the ones who colonized North Africa. Most Jews are not. A Pied-Noir is in most cases a French who moved to North Africa when France colonized it. Most Jews were there before that happened. The French version of wikipedia says "les séfarades ne sont pas des pieds-noirs".

Can we then correct the English version? They contradict each other.

I'm working on finding sources for this article, as it was tagged to need sources and I am having trouble finding any source to support the definition of pieds-noirs as including Jews who had lived in Algeria before French colonization. Does anyone have a source to confirm this? Lazulilasher (talk) 20:03, 19 December 2007 (UTC)


La Déchirure historique des Juifs d’Algérie http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/056/html/page31.html

Juifs en Algérie avant la conquête française (1830) http://www.alger-roi.net/Alger/colonisation/textes/juifs_algerie_avant_gamt5.htm

Les noms de famille des sépharades http://www.modia.org/infos/israel/nomsefarad.html

Bibliothèque algérienne - Gravures, livres et autographes. COLLECTION GERARD SANGNIER - DROUOT-RICHELIEU mardi 10 décembre 2002. PIASA – PARIS http://www.argusdubibliophile.com/bibliotheque-algerienne.htm

Frania W. (talk) 06:28, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Copy editing, and references

Hi, I just added references to this article and some more information in a number of sections (notably the History section). Lazulilasher (talk) 02:06, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] LOCE request

A request has been made for this article to be copyedited by the League of Copyeditors. Please add the code:
}}{{LOCE|{{{s}}}|class=articletype|title=Pied-Noir|date=~~~~~
to the bottom of the requests page, replacing articletype by the classification of this article.

[edit] Notable pied-noir section

Hi, I removed this section as it was like a list and was listed on the article's peer review. However, it's still listed here. Lazulilasher (talk) 00:16, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Review

GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose): b (MoS):
    There are a few places where the prose is unclear, and these have been marked.
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars etc.:
  6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
    Two of the images used in this article have insufficient fair-use justifications: Image:Pied-noir-barricade.png, Image:Harkis-anciens-combattants-pied-noirs-joint-protest-algiers.png. This must corrected before the article can be promoted to GA.
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:
    jackturner3 (talk) 20:00, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Wow, those clarify tags are really neat. I didn't even know that they existed....Lazulilasher (talk) 04:39, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

I still don't like the way the first paragraph of "The Jewish Community" reads becuase it bounces all around history without real thought to the flow of history insofar as the description of how Jews came to be in Algeria. I would sersiouly rewrite that. Additionally, the article seems top-heavy with images now; it would be best to disperse some of these more evenly to make up for the loss of the two images that did not have fair-use rationales. However, neither of these points should severly hamper the article from being promoted to GA. -- jackturner3 (talk) 20:00, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of Term, removal

Hi, I don't use a pen name to name myself : I am Olivier Cazeaux, a French Algerian proud of his roots. What is your genuine name, Lazulilasher ? Would you be afraid to give it ? How can you deny what I write ? What could justify you or anybody have the right to use a pejorative word to name a community ? If I tell that my own parents didn't know this term (my father was an engineer) in 1962, would you dare assert I'm a liar ? I cried at the age of four when French metropolitans told I was a "pied noir". I asked my mother why : my feet are pink, not black. All men of my family fought during all the wars ; my father's older brother was killed in 1944 in Normandy (Patton Army) at the age of 20. He was a French, fully French, not a "pied noir". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.251.87.227 (talk) 22:35, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi, please note that I just removed this [3] from the article. It seemed slightly POV, however if you feel differently, please feel free to mention and we can discuss. Lazulilasher (talk) 18:59, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FAC

FAC withdrawn by nominator --ROGER DAVIES talk 05:04, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling / capitalization - this move should have been discussed

This spelling (capital N noir) does not seem to correspond to the spelling rules of French, nor the general wikipedia approach, nor the way it is usually (to my knowledge) spelled in English - which is like it is in French. Happy to discuss here, but a change like this should have been raised on talk page first. I propose it be moved back.--Gregalton (talk) 14:44, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Yes, you are 100% correct. I didn't know anyone else was looking at the article! I am moving it back now. How happy I am to see another post. Anyway, I'm going to move the page back. Honestly, it has been very difficult to decide which direction to follow--Pied-Noir or Pied-noir....Do you happen to know the objective answer? Also, the article just recently was nomintaed for FA, but then the nomination was removed. One of the things noted was that their was too much text and often it was redundant. Since you seem to have an interest, would you mind sticking around for awhile and helping out? Thanks! Lazulilasher (talk) 14:50, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Ok! It's been moved back. Let me knwo what you think. Lazulilasher (talk) 14:52, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Also, here's the discussion from my talk, it should have been put here before, I apologize! Lazulilasher (talk) 15:37, 23 April 2008 (UTC)


Lazu: While you were touring France looking for a job (!) I went thru the Pied-Noir article, mostly editing the name itself. However, you will notice that the title is written "Pied-noir": the n of noir needs to be capitalized. I am unable to change it because nowhere do I find the title when I click on edit this page. As much as I have read on the Pieds-Noirs, and discussed it avec des amis pieds-noirs, no one can give the origin of the expression - they always heard/used it, c'est tout! I also re-read the book François d'Orléans, prince de Joinville (éditions France Empire, 1990), by French Admiral Jacques Guillon. Joinville (1818-1900) was king Louis-Philippe sixth child out of seven. As an officer in the French Royal Navy, he did a lot of va-et-vient in the Mediterranean Sea & visited ports of N. Africa, of which he gives interesting descriptions. However, when speaking of the French "colons", never does he use the word "pieds-noirs". Signing off for a few hours. Aurevoir! Frania W. (talk) 13:28, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Frania, I actually went through an FAC that I withdrew for the article and your exact point was mentioned. I will move the article today to "Pied-Noir" to make it correct. The origin of the term is murky--I've read numerous claims and cited a few in that article. Honestly, maybe we should just remove the section? Lazulilasher (talk) 13:32, 23 April 2008 (UTC) Ok, I removed the Origin of the Term portion for now. Also, I was instructed that the prose is too lengthy--so feel free to apply your editing scissors :) Lazulilasher (talk) 13:53, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Lazu, I checked your last change: I would keep the portion you just removed - even if the origin of the term is "murky", you did not create the murkiness, and by leaving the portion, we'll have more of a chance of someone helping with the matter. Bon couscous! Frania W. (talk) 15:20, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

If it can help in the discussion, please check the article in fr:wikipedia: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieds-Noirs
Frania W. (talk) 17:18, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Fair enough. I'll double check but I say mea culpa for now. (I admit I'm surprised, but I also appear to be wrong).--Gregalton (talk) 17:45, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Web search proves ambiguous. I'll check my becherelle. (Becherelle?)--Gregalton (talk) 17:49, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for coming back! To be honest, I've seen it both ways....I wonder what l'Academie says? Lazulilasher (talk) 18:01, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Ok, so to complicate matters, I'm getting that neither should be capitalized, like: Les américains.....Lazulilasher (talk) 18:15, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I believe "Pieds-noirs" would be the correct form, given that noir in this context is an adjective. See: Usage des majuscules Vrac (talk) 19:35, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Ya, that does seem to be the rule (majuscule only for the premiere mot, like Eglise catholoqie). Hmm...well the article is currently titled in that manner.....Lazulilasher (talk) 21:17, 23 April 2008 (UTC)


Although noir is an adjective, the rule Pied-Noir will fall under is that for a community of people, not that of a "foot that is black". Depending on the way pied-noir is used in French, it will either capitalize both P & N or neither. Talking about the people, it will be Pied-Noir (pl. Pieds-Noirs). Used as an adjective, it will be lower case: la cuisine pied-noir. I'll keep searching on the French side.

An additional link with some excerpts:

Ecriture du mot Pieds-Noirs choix, sens, usage

II y a des graphies diverses, des évolutions (des erreurs aussi). Le terme sera écrit comme il l'est dans les revues, le plus souvent par les Pieds-Noirs eux-mêmes, et dans les études qui leur sont consa­crées. Le nom prend des majuscules, Pieds-Noirs, dans la mesure où il représente une identité nationale transférentielle. Il sera donc écrit ainsi. Accords de l'adjectif le féminin est «attesté mais rare », d'après le « Larousse ». On note pieds-noirs quand c'est féminin, pieds-noirs ou pied-noir, quand c'est masculin singulier. Le féminin de l'adjectif, illogisme gram­matical, ne sera pas employé, sauf s'il est dans une publica­tion citée (rare).

Source : Pieds-Noirs, identité et culture Nota : Ce texte tiré de l’œuvre ci-dessus indiquée est diffusé à des fins de vulgarisation de la culture Pied-Noir'. Que les auteurs en soient remerciés.Votre serviteur un Pied-Noir d’Hussein-Dey se retrouve dans les propos de ce document.' http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:93HLUTBTV4QJ:www.algeriepyrenees.com/article-16643028.html+f%C3%A9minin+de+pied-noir&hl=fr&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us


Here is another link advertising a dictionary: Dictionnaire du français d'Algérie (français colonial, pataouète, français des Pieds-Noirs). http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Ly--My8F8W0J:www.dicoland.com/fr/pied-noir/dictionnaire-du-francais-d-algerie-francais-colonial-pataouete-francais-des-pieds-noirs-1317+orthographe+pied-noir&hl=fr&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

Frania W. (talk) 23:57, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a bunch of French people once. They were correcting me, so I bet them that no one at the table would be able to conjugate haïr correctly in l'imparfait agreeing with ils. It's ils haïssaient, according to my 501 French Verbs book. Nobody at the table could do it. I'm going to leave this one to you two grammaticians...I'm sure you'll figure it out...:) Lazulilasher (talk) 00:33, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Without telling them why, I have directed many of my French friends to this article. The first thing that hits them is the title with "noir" being lower case. I am not saying that the French should rule en:wiki, but that is their reaction. Frania W. (talk) 13:13, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for the work - I'm satisfied that this is as well documented as can be, and apologies if this turned into a tempest in a teapot. I don't remember seeing it this way, but my days of perusing Le monde and noting spelling oddities (between naps) have been regrettably limited.
If this is moved/fixed now, I don't see any reasonable basis for objection.--Gregalton (talk) 13:37, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Actually, I work for a French company, so naturally I tossed this around the office. It was definitely "No Consensus", I was even told, "We have no rules for such things" (I am assuming my colleague meant "I don't know the rules for such things"). Regardless, it seems that everyone is O.K. with moving. Thanks for all the input! And, please...stick around! We've got a lot of work to do on this article :) Thanks!! Lazulilasher (talk) 15:12, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Gregalton, I believe this has been a nice conversation throughout, not a "tempest in a teapot" & I see no reason for you to apologize. Articles in newspapers/magazines often have mistakes, typos & grammatical errors (even Le Monde). In this discussion, I have tried to explain the French grammar point, and I may live to be proven wrong (then it will be my turn to say mea culpa!); that's why I have asked some of my French friends to take a peek. The French often make a parallel between "Pied-Noir" and the "Black Feet" Indians, which they always capitalize because considered to be a "Nation". Would you lower case "black" or "feet" in "Black Feet"? Anyway, I shall go along with the decision Greg, Lazu & les autres come up with, and I believe that if/when we come up with a tight-proof argument, we'll all be willing to change. Frania W. (talk) 15:19, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
That makes me feel better that no-one can agree. Thanks to all the contributors - how refreshing to hear actual conversation/questions rather than bizarre guerre de redaction over trifles.
And of course, styles change - I'm one of those who prefers "Mme. le Juge" over "la Juge", even though the latter seems to have carried the day. Soit.--Gregalton (talk) 15:31, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Not too pile on the love-fest, but I agree with Frania--this was an interesting conversation. I learned a lot and even struck up conversations with people In Real Life about this. If we ever do hear the "official" version from the Authority we can always move again. That's reason 5,403 why Wikipedia is better than real-life: you can undo your mistakes :) Lazulilasher (talk) 16:27, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Someone I have worked with intensively in France is a chartiste = a graduate of the École des Chartes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Nationale_des_Chartes I have contacted him & put the question to him together with others on separate debates. He spends most of his time in the south of France as a "recluse" (writer), so it may take time before he returns to me. Although his answer can be of value only as an argument for the French, it will be interesting to know how the French do, or rather, should handle the expression. Frania W. (talk) 16:58, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
UNDENT: Ok, per this discussion I'm going to move the page to Pied-Noir.....thanks for everyone's input! Lazulilasher (talk) 02:12, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Next Steps

So, let's us start looking at the next step. The article was run through FAC, although I withdrew it because it needed a lot of work. Anyway, for those interested, there withdrawn nomination is [4]. So, I thought I'd get started by trying to remove extraneous words (some which inadvertently throw in POV). Let's see what we can do. I'm concerned about POV, because I worry I have inherent bias on this issue and am trying to write in a more neutral tone...let me know what you guys think....Lazulilasher (talk) 17:08, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Proposal: Also, because it was commented that the text is rather wordy--and Popular Culture sections and Notable People lists are generally frowned upon, I propose removal of those two sections. Also, I am considering cutting the "Origin" of the Pied-N/noir as well as 1.) the origin is mostly conjecture/anecdotal and 2.) I am having trouble finding a reliable source saying one thing or the other....any thoughts on cutting those 3 sections? Lazulilasher (talk) 18:05, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
Also, note that I placed a copy of the FAC nomination (withdrawn) on my userspace so that we can look at the comments and make notes on them but do not harm the actual archive. It is located here. Lazulilasher (talk) 19:01, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of term

Criticism about the two explanations included in the text

1. If the first were right, indigenous population would have used the term continually since the origins to 1962. But they've still have named Europeans "Roumis", making reference to Romans, who occuppied North Africa during centuries.

2. Another clue is the term metropolitan French people, especially in the Army, used to name Algerian Europeans to laugh at them: "Arbicot", when they name Muslims "Bicots".

3. The story of sailors have something true but only a couple of historiography papers may be taken into account: since most sailors working in the coal roams of ships sailing between Algeria and France were natives of Algeria, one has found in old logbooks it was question of "these black feet who soil the deck..."

4. The story of "colonists" who were supposed to wear polished shoes is amazing. Most, most people who settled in Algeria first were not colonists: a colonist is somebody who owns a property and exploit it. In 1956, the famous sociologist (left wing and former Resistance soldier) Germaine Tillon made a precise study of Algeria population: only 2% of Europeans were "colonists", much less than in metropolitan France. Most settlers were very poor people who came in Algeria as they could have gone to the USA as well. Therefore they were far to wear polished shoes...

5. In fact the only serious thesis comes from the news magazine "L'EXPRESS", very involved in favor of the independence. An article written in the mid fifties described sarcastically Europeans of Algeria as lazy rich people who were exploiting muslim natives ; and the author compared them with the Black Feet American Natives, supposed (according to famous cartoon author Hergé in his album Tintin in America) to take benefit lazily of oil laying under their lands, playing cards and drinking...

The term Pied-Noir was therefore imagined by some metropolitan French intellectuals to laugh at French of Algeria. Quick to retort, the Algiers Students Union took the term as a challenge. But nobody among the population used the term which was discovered once back to metropole in 1962. Europeans of Algeria named themselves Algerians like an American born in Texas would say Texan or they more simply used the City from which they were native: Algerois for Algiers, Oranais for Oran, Constantinois for Constantine ; like an American born in New York would say a NewYorker

It was and still is a very pejorative term as Neger for instance to name African Americans

[edit] Notable Pieds-Noirs

I just removed this section from the article per its Peer Review. The goal is to create a separate List article containing this information.

[edit] Massu's threat

I think it needs to be made more clear who Massu was threatening and how he could have had so much control over events in Paris. Something concise (a sentence or two) probably needs to be said here about the shrinking French empire, the defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and its effect on French politics. This would put Massu and Algeria into a broader context that makes the threat more understandable. Finetooth (talk) 05:18, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Finetooth, you have come to the rescue as I was procrastinating on copy-editing this beast of an article. Please accept my gratitude. Ok, you have raised another point which I did not consider (the first point was "what has happened to the pieds-noirs since repatriation"). I have access to good library network, so I am attempting to find a good book. The article's original research was almost exclusively gleaned from piecing together information available on GoogleBooks.com (which only lets you see about 1-4 at a time due to copyright restraints). Lazulilasher (talk) 00:10, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of Term Criticism?

Hi, User:Brianboulton left me a note concerning a number of edits that keep appearing (added by an IP and then User:Mauvaisegrain. The edits regard criticisms surrounding the origin of the term. Although I feel that criticism may, in fact, be warranted, I am slightly concerned that some of the information appears to be Original Research. I have removed the edits already, twice, over the last month or so. Therefore, I do not want to remove again before we have a discussion. Other uses have removed the info, but, hopefully Mauvaisegrain will come here and speak to us. I tried to source some of the added info (in an earlier version there was a mention of an author), but only came up with references to the author, not an actual piece of research material. L'Express is mentioned, but I did not have access to archives. A number of the points do appear relatively valid, so I have asked Mauvaisegrain for sources.... Lazulilasher (talk) 23:52, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Please see extended discussion regarding this issue here. Lazulilasher (talk) 00:30, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Here is what I just removed from the article that Mauvaisegraine added earleir today. Ruhrfisch ><>°° 01:07, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Several explanations are to contest the term Pied Noir has been actually used during the 130 years when Algeria was a part of France.

1.If the term Pied Noir had actually very old origins, it would mean indigenous population would have used the term continually since the settlement to 1962. But in fact natives still have named Europeans "Roumis", making reference to Romans, who occuppied North Africa during centuries. There is no memory any Muslim has ever used this term "Pied Noir" before the Independence in 1962.

2. Another clue is the term metropolitan French people, especially in the Army, used to name Algerian Europeans to laugh at them: "Arbicot", when they name Muslims "Bicots". Ref : my grand-father, lieutenant in French Army in the early twenties.

3. The story of sailors have something true but only a couple of historiography papers may be taken into account: since most sailors working in the coal roams of ships sailing between Algeria and France were natives of Algeria, one has found in old logbooks it was question of "these black feet who soil the deck..."

4. The story of "colonists" who were supposed to wear polished shoes is amazing. Most, most people who settled in Algeria first were not colonists: a colonist is somebody who owns a property and exploits it. In 1956, the famous sociologist Germaine Tillon made a precise study of Algeria population: only 2% of Europeans were "colonists", much less than in metropolitan France. Most settlers were very poor people who came in Algeria as they could have gone to the USA as well. Therefore they were far to wear polished shoes...

5. In fact the only serious thesis comes from the news magazine "L'EXPRESS", very involved in favor of the independence. An article written in the mid fifties described sarcastically Europeans of Algeria as lazy rich people who were exploiting muslim natives ; and the author compared them with the Black Feet American Natives, supposed (according to famous cartoon author Hergé in his album Tintin in America) to take benefit lazily of oil laying under their lands, playing cards and drinking...

The term Pied-Noir was more seriously imagined by left wing metropolitan French intellectuals to laugh at French Algerians. Quick to retort to this denigration, the Algiers Students Union took the term as a challenge. Nevertheles almost nobody among the population used this term which was discovered once back to the metropole in 1962.

Europeans of Algeria named themselves Algerians like an American born in Texas would say Texan or they more simply used the City from which they were native: Algerois for Algiers, Oranais for Oran, Constantinois for Constantine ; like an American born in New York would name himself a NewYorker

It has to be knewn "Pied Noir" was and still is a very pejorative term as Neger for instance to name African Americans.

--Mauvaisegraine (talk) 21:09, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Ok, I finally got ahold of the big Le Robert Dictionnaire Historique de la langue francaise, which states that the first use of the term was 1901 referencing sailor's who worked in coal-rooms (causing black feet). Usually, these sailor's where Algerian, thus the term meant "Algerian" (pejoratively) until 1955 when it began to refer to French born in Algeria. According to Le Robert, the word has been the source of various "Fantaisistes" etymologies. Now that I finally have a good library, I also dug through the O.E.D. and found the English def, which refers first known usage in our tongue as The Times in 1962. Lazulilasher (talk) 21:50, 14 May 2008 (UTC)