The vote comes on the heels of a three week rebellion by oppressed youths in France's poor suburbs -- many immigrants from former French colonies in North Africa.

The law, which was passed quietly earlier in the year, requires school textbooks to address France's so-called "positive role" in the countries which it colonized. It stipulates that "school programs recognize in particular the positive character of the French overseas presence, notably in North Africa."

One would be hard pressed to find much of a "positive role" in areas that France invaded and controlled with brute force while oppressing and enslaving the people and pilfering the natural resources. The legacy of colonialism -- and the continuance of neocolonialism -- is a major part of the poverty in places like Africa to this day!

The president of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has called the law revisionist and equal to "mental blindness," while the country’s Parliament said it set a "grave precedent."

France invaded Algeria 1830, and due to the people's fierce and heroic resistance it wasn't able to completely conquer it for another 70 years. The French government uprooted much of the population by confiscating communally held land and handing it over to European settlers. During this period of domination, Algeria's social fabric was ripped to shreds as health levels and literacy dropped massively.

Finally, in 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) launched the guerrilla Algerian War of Independence; and, after 8 years of urban and rural warfare, successfully pushed the French out in 1962 (soon after extending education, which was virtually nonexistent in colonial times nationwide and greatly improving healthcare).

In another effort to whitewash history, France refused to call the conflict a "war," instead referring to it as "operations to maintain order" until 1999!

Lawmakers from the right-wing UMP party passed the law in February when only a handful of deputies were in attendance. It has been increasingly criticized since history teachers and historians denounced it in recent months.