The factors that led to the law are more complex and cannot be reduced only to prejudice against Muslims. The French principle of laïcité is deeply embedded in modern French identity and reflects an overall tendency to privatize all forms of religious expression. Moreover, there is a longer history of the government fighting to exclude religious expression and symbols from public schools, dating back to the late nineteenth century and the Third Republic's campaign to rid schools of significant Roman Catholic influence.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 613