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In the late 1990s the public authorities and more generally the French society began to recog-nize the existence of discrimination linked to origins and often called « racial ». Some of the most obvious signs of this change, which contrasts with the rhetoric and ideology that denied this reality, are recalled here. Previously unconnected, the issues of racism and inequality are now considered linked, which has consequences on the representation of the world and the conception of public policies. Three levels of critical thinking on the anthropological stakes of this innovation can be stated : from the point of view of objectivation procedures there is a risk of essentialization of the categories used; under the angle of the process of subjectivation, the tension between the civic person and the suffering person encourages a victimization of individuals; and finally, in terms of action, the judicialization of the fight against discrimination tends to be accomplished to the detriment of an historical and social approach of the racist bases of inequality.