含羞草研究社淟iberty, Equality, Fraternity含羞草研究社�: The lofty ideals to which France has long aspired are embossed on coins and carved above school doors across the land.
Yet they are the polar opposite of what some French people who are Black or brown saw in a shocking video of a police officer shooting and during a traffic stop.
That kid, some said to themselves, could have been me 含羞草研究社� or my children, or my friends. Within hours, were , the Paris suburb where the teenager, Nahel, was declared dead at 9:15 a.m. last Tuesday. His left arm and chest had been pierced from left to right by a single shot fired before the yellow Mercedes he was driving then slammed into barriers on Nelson Mandela Square.
From the town on the fringe of the French capital含羞草研究社檚 high-rise business district, with its disadvantaged housing projects, glaring wealth gaps, and melting-pot mix of races and cultural influences imported from France含羞草研究社檚 former colonies, the flames of fury quickly spread.
More than 200 cities and towns reported arson attacks on , vehicle fires, clashes with police, looting and in six nights of unrest. The violence was nationwide 含羞草研究社� from blue-collar ports on France含羞草研究社檚 northern coast to southern towns overlooking the Pyrenees, from de-industrialized former mining basins to Nantes and La Rochelle on the western Atlantic coast, once hearts of
After more than 3,400 arrests and signs that the violence is now abating, France is once again facing a reckoning 含羞草研究社� as it did after previous riots in mixed-race, disadvantaged neighborhoods in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
And the uncomfortable central question remains the same: What is France doing wrong that prevents chunks of its population, particularly among non-whites, from being able to buy into its promise of equality and fraternity for all?
THE PROBLEMS ARE BOTH OLD AND NEW
Among the factors being blamed and hotly disputed are problems both old and new: racism in police ranks and French society more broadly, poverty made more desperate by rising costs related to , decades of urban neglect, breakdowns in marriages and parental authority, and the ripples of . Young teenagers whose schooling was interrupted by virus curfews and teaching shutdowns were among those smashing, burning, stealing and fighting with police 含羞草研究社� and .
For Yazid Kherfi, who spends his time driving from one housing project to the next, speaking to young people about how to avoid the route that he took into crime and prison, the violence was a cry of distress from a generation he says feels unloved and left by the wayside.
The minivan Kherfi uses has a quote from Martin Luther King painted on the back: 含羞草研究社淲e must learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.含羞草研究社� But on his rounds, Kherfi says he frequently hears young people complain that police single them out because of their color.
含羞草研究社淭he police aren含羞草研究社檛 well trained to work in difficult neighborhoods. Some police are racist. There are violent police. They exist. I含羞草研究社檓 not saying all the police but it含羞草研究社檚 still a certain number,含羞草研究社� he says. 含羞草研究社淏lacks and Arabs are stopped far more frequently than whites.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淲e are a long way from liberty, equality, fraternity,含羞草研究社� he adds. 含羞草研究社淭he reality is that people find all these situations very, very hard. It含羞草研究社檚 been like this for more than 40 years. So of course, every time there are riots in France, it含羞草研究社檚 linked to a young person含羞草研究社檚 death related to a policing operation. And the police rarely blames itself.含羞草研究社�
From French , government officials were quick to condemn the actions of the officer now incarcerated on a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide. Macron called the shooting The officer含羞草研究社檚 lawyer says his client feared, when the vehicle they含羞草研究社檇 stopped started moving again, that he and his colleague would be dragged along with it and crushed.
HOW TO TACKLE RACISM WHEN IT CAN含羞草研究社橳 BE MEASURED?
Measuring the scale of racism and racial inequality in France is complicated by its official policy of color blindness, with strict limits on data that can be collected. For critics, that guiding philosophy has made the state oblivious to discrimination. France含羞草研究社檚 census has no questions about race or ethnicity.
Still, inequalities are too glaring to be ignored. The government含羞草研究社檚 statistics agency found in 2020 that death rates among immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic 含羞草研究社� an acknowledgement of the virus含羞草研究社檚 punishing and disproportionate impact on Black immigrants and members of other systemically overlooked minority groups. Other research has also exposed racism .
含羞草研究社淔or 40, 45 years there have been warning signs about discrimination,含羞草研究社� says Abel Boyi, head of a group called 含羞草研究社淎ll Unique, All United含羞草研究社� that aims to reconcile young people with France and its republican values.
Boyi, who is Black, decries the state含羞草研究社檚 colorblindness as 含羞草研究社渁 French hypocrisy.含羞草研究社� He says he regularly encounters young people of color and also white people from disadvantaged neighborhoods who apply for dozens of jobs but aren含羞草研究社檛 hired 含羞草研究社渂ecause the family name sounds foreign, because the address isn含羞草研究社檛 a good one.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淯nfortunately, when there含羞草研究社檚 an injustice, there含羞草研究社檚 always a radical fringe that tips into violence. We saw these young people, aged 12 to 19 含羞草研究社� at 1, 2, 3 o含羞草研究社檆lock in the morning burning cars, stoning police officers, stoning buses. It含羞草研究社檚 terrible,含羞草研究社� Boyi says. 含羞草研究社淭he anger is righteous but the method is wrong.含羞草研究社�
THE VISUALS ADDED FUEL TO THE FLAMES
The video of Nahel含羞草研究社檚 death also helps explains the rapid spread and sudden intensity of the violence. As was also the case with the footage of in the United States, the images left some people wondering whether police abuses sometimes go unpunished because they aren含羞草研究社檛 captured on camera. Spray-painted graffiti in Nanterre read: 含羞草研究社淲ithout video, Nahel would be a statistic.含羞草研究社�
Police officer Walid Hrar says, however, that the relationship between France含羞草研究社檚 forces of law and order and disadvantaged neighborhoods he works in isn含羞草研究社檛 as broken as the rioting made it seem.
He runs a volunteer group of officers, The Guardians of Fraternity, who meet with neighborhood kids to try to build understanding and help them see that behind their uniforms, they are people, too. 含羞草研究社淪ometimes, the talks are very hard, very stormy,含羞草研究社� he acknowledges.
But Hrar, who is of Moroccan descent and Muslim, says the police force has 含羞草研究社渃hanged enormously含羞草研究社� and become more diverse since he joined up.
That was in 2004. France was swept by rioting the following year. He has spent his career in Paris含羞草研究社� northern suburbs where that violence first erupted, when 15-year-old Bouna Traor茅 and 17-year-old Zyed Benna were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.
One difference between then and now, Hrar says, is that the new generation of rioters seems to know no limits, trashing schools, town halls, police stations and other symbols of authority.
含羞草研究社淲ith some, the breakdown is total, that is true,含羞草研究社� Hrar says. 含羞草研究社淭here is real groundwork that needs to be done.含羞草研究社�
Another key difference: social networks. This generation weaned on TikTok and Snapchat not only celebrated mayhem in short videos but, the government says, sometimes organized on their networks, too. Memes and hashtags about looting quickly swamped references about justice for Nahel. Macron said some rioters seemed to be acting out 含羞草研究社渢he video games that have intoxicated them.含羞草研究社�
It all adds up to something toxic and dangerous, with deep cracks in the foundations of a country still unreconciled with its often violent colonial past and with engrained discrimination and inequalities that defy quick fixes.
含羞草研究社淗ow do we bring together the multitude of histories into one common history that concerns us all, regardless of skin color and origin?含羞草研究社� said Boyi. 含羞草研究社淭hat is France含羞草研究社檚 great challenge for the 21st century.含羞草研究社�
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