| French Riots | 2005-11-08 17:47 16 comments |
 by Flemming FunchA bunch of people have written to ask if we're ok, so I've better write something. I suppose these things always look a little worse when one watch them on TV from far away, and one doesn't quite know what is going on, and which areas are affected. In case you somehow missed it, riots started in Paris suburbs a couple of weeks ago, after a couple of youths electrocuted themselves by hiding in a power station, thinking the police were after them. And that apparently set off a lot of latent anger in certain immigrant communities. Well, the actual damage seems to mostly have been done by teenagers who grabbed the opportunity to vent a bit. OK, a lot. My daughter's boyfriend is a schoolteacher in one of those suburbs in Paris, and it has been quite a mess, with many inconveniences. I would have thought it would be very unlikely here in quiet peaceful Toulouse, but no. A bunch of cars were put on fire Sunday, and a bus yesterday. All mainly in the Reynerie and Mirail areas. Which is not far from here, a mile or two, but yet is quite a different area. Mirail is where the main university is, and Reynerie is close by, and they are what generally is considered the bad neighborhoods here. Where many immigrants live in large apartment complexes, where the streets are more dirty, and where there generally is a different vibe than in other areas. Coming from the U.S. it seems kind of surprising that anybody has anything to riot about here. This is a very extensive wellfare state, where there's all sorts of public programs for helping you out in many ways. Free education and healthcare, social security, employment assistance, financial aid for many different things. OK, it is all very bureaucratic, but it isn't terribly hard to find somebody who actually cares about you. But then again, there's a lot of unemployment. The French system is very competitive, and one usually needs the right education, the right diploma, the right certification, etc. The French natives bring up their kids to know the ropes, I suppose, and many are still unemployed. But when we're talking about immigrants who don't integrate very well, like, to a considerable degree the large muslim population. 10% of the French population are muslims, mostly from North Africa. So, the problem is then mainly with their kids, who might not really have learned to play well in the French system, so they'll see an even higher unemployment rate, and they live in ghettos and things look grim, I suppose. So, combined with a right-wing interior minister who's kind of confrontational, often saying something inflammatory on TV, and various social programs that have been cut recently, I guess there's more to be dissatisfied with. Not that it seems like that riot is particularly focused on anything in particular. But the politicians are bending over backwards to try to address what they think might be the matter. Judging by the sirens and helicopters that just went by headed towards Mirail, there's some kind of trouble tonight too. Or they might possibly just be enforcing a curfew, I don't know. Here's where I'm missing the live news coverage of L.A. There would be non-stop coverage on most of the channels there. Here there are just the normal scheduled newscasts. |