Blacks were able to achieve notable positions in early 19th Century French society, despite the on-and-off legality of slavery in the French empire. Two that come to mind just from my own study of the history of fencing:

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas - He was born of an aristocratic father and a Haitian slave woman. He received a military education, and rose to the rank of general in the Revolutionary Army, despite using his slave mother's name, rather than the aristocratic name of his father. His son, Alexandre became one of the most famed authors in French history.

Jean-Louis - Haitian born, he became one of the greatest fencing masters of the revolutionary period. He fought in several remarkable deadly duels, including one famous 15-vs-15 encounter between the fencing masters of the French and Italian armies. Jean-Louis was first up for the French, and single-handledly killed 3 of the Italians and wounded 10 others, before the last two Italians decided to throw in the towel. None of the other French masters even got to fight.

Annette Gordon - Reed ' Pulitzer Prize - winning book The Hemmingses of Monticello had some insight on slave relations in France at that time. France was virulently anti-slave, and any slave who wanted freedom simply had to declare it and the law would support them. Many Americans didn't want to travel to France with their servants for fear they would declare their independence.

Because of a lack of documentation about Thomas Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemmings and his chidlren with her, Gordon-Reed has to resort to a certain amount of speculation, which she tries to do based on the known facts. One of the ways she determined that Jefferson must have treated his slave children well, as well as family, was that he allowed one of his sons to live in Paris and study to be a chef for five years. At any moment in time his son could have declared his freedom, but he never did, and eventually returned home to Monticello.