This paper examines the ongoing employment of laïcité (French secularism), from the colonial period until today. I argue that Laïcité is used as a barrier to equal status for Muslims under French rule. I ask the questions: what is the official national identity of France and who defines it? Can one be both a practicing Muslim and French? To what extent is the application of laïcité to Islam in France different from its application to other faiths, particularly Catholicism? What are the implications of laïcité acting as a core of the official national identity? To what extent is the identity racial? To answer these questions, the paper begins by outlining the development of citizenship laws regarding colonial populations, such as the 1865 Senatus Consulte that required Muslims to renounce their Muslim status to become French citizens. It then discusses citizenship policies at the eve of Algerian independence, which divided Algerians between those of European descent (settlers and Jewish Algerians) and those of Muslim descent. The Europeans retained their citizenship while the Muslims lost it. The paper proceeds to discuss contemporary debates about the compatibility, or lack thereof, of being both Muslim and French. Two such examples are the debates on banning headscarves in French schools and the formation of the ministry of immigration and national identity under Sarkozy. In this paper I demonstrate a continuity in French discourse and practice with respect to using the veneer of universal values to justify the marginalization and second-class status of Muslims in France. I argue that French intellectual history from the colonial period informs contemporary debates on and understandings of Muslims and their place in France. Laïcité is constructed as a foundational ‘universal’ value of France. It continues to function, in practice, as a barrier to access, for Muslims, to equal status in the French national community. They must be made laïque by the state in a neo-civilizing mission, which is half-heartedly undertaken, as in Algeria. Sources for the paper include laws and government reports such as the aforementioned Senatus Consulte and the Stasi commission report which recommended France’s headscarf ban. It also reviews official statements of the new ministry and debates in major French papers on the ministry and headscarf. This textual research is reinforced by field work conducted in Paris from December 2007 to January 2008, including interviews with activists, social workers, students and government officials.