Liberté, égalité et fraternité - but only for some The violence appears to be the loudest wake-up call for France's ruling class, within which Mr Chirac has long thrived, and which has long lectured others on the success of its social model. Irritation in the French press about the news coverage the riots have received abroad also reflects how humbling they have been been for the chattering classes. While much of the violence is happening only a few miles from the Elysée presidential palace, Mr Chirac and his ministers have until now preferred to ignore the growing social unrest rather than accept that France's integration model has failed. This head-in-the-sand attitude is summed up by the president's refusal to allow Insee, the state statistics arm, to ask people about their ethnic origins in surveys and censuses, thus preventing anyone knowing how segregated French society has become. Instead, Mr Chirac clings to the idea that all French citizens are equal under the republic's revolutionary ideal: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. In practice, this means immigrants are expected to adapt to France rather than the other way round. This policy worked reasonably well when Italians, Armenians, east European Jews, Spaniards and Portuguese arrived during various periods of the 19th and 20th centuries and assimilated easily. But the model has broken down for more recent waves of immigrants from former French colonies in north and sub-Saharan Africa. Many found themselves excluded from mainstream society, living in outer-city ghettoes. Their children, most of whom were born in France, find themselves in ghettoised schools and with little chance of gainful employment. Previous immigrants, too, could easily adapt to France's insistence on a strict division between church and state. But Muslim immigrants in particular, who make up 10 per cent of France's population, have had a more difficult time adapting to a secular state - they felt singled out two years ago when the government banned the wearing of headscarves in schools.
The violence appears to be the loudest wake-up call for France's ruling class, within which Mr Chirac has long thrived, and which has long lectured others on the success of its social model. Irritation in the French press about the news coverage the riots have received abroad also reflects how humbling they have been been for the chattering classes.
While much of the violence is happening only a few miles from the Elysée presidential palace, Mr Chirac and his ministers have until now preferred to ignore the growing social unrest rather than accept that France's integration model has failed.
This head-in-the-sand attitude is summed up by the president's refusal to allow Insee, the state statistics arm, to ask people about their ethnic origins in surveys and censuses, thus preventing anyone knowing how segregated French society has become.
Instead, Mr Chirac clings to the idea that all French citizens are equal under the republic's revolutionary ideal: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. In practice, this means immigrants are expected to adapt to France rather than the other way round.
This policy worked reasonably well when Italians, Armenians, east European Jews, Spaniards and Portuguese arrived during various periods of the 19th and 20th centuries and assimilated easily.
But the model has broken down for more recent waves of immigrants from former French colonies in north and sub-Saharan Africa. Many found themselves excluded from mainstream society, living in outer-city ghettoes. Their children, most of whom were born in France, find themselves in ghettoised schools and with little chance of gainful employment.
Previous immigrants, too, could easily adapt to France's insistence on a strict division between church and state. But Muslim immigrants in particular, who make up 10 per cent of France's population, have had a more difficult time adapting to a secular state - they felt singled out two years ago when the government banned the wearing of headscarves in schools.
First, to be pedant, it's liberté, égalité, fraternité, no "et" inserted.
Irritation in the French press about the news coverage the riots have received abroad also reflects how humbling they have been been for the chattering classes.
Yeah right, irritation is because the elites have been humbled (if only!) and not because the coverage has been sensationalist and driven by schadenfreude or French-bashing (and I am not even talking about the rightwing "Intifada" commentary). A surprising number of comments on dKos to my "aunt" diary basically accused me of rationalisation, denial or worse, just for giving a different point of view to the main viewpoint currently developed.
the president's refusal to allow Insee, the state statistics arm, to ask people about their ethnic origins in surveys and censuses
Amazing ignorance by that journalist. It's the law! Criticise the law, but not the authorities for respecting the law! Unbelievable.
all French citizens are equal under the republic's revolutionary ideal: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. In practice, this means immigrants are expected to adapt to France rather than the other way round.
WTF? France is supposed to adapt to immigrants? What's that supposed to mean, exactly? The issue is that France is not treating French kids as French kids but as somewhat inconvenient visitors. They Don't want France to change, but to accept them.
But the model has broken down for more recent waves of immigrants from former French colonies in north and sub-Saharan Africa
Again, what unbelievable ignorance. Assimilated easily? Has this journalist not heard of the affaire Dreyfus? The fascist movements in the 30s? The hate against each of these successive waves of immigrants?
Previous immigrants, too, could easily adapt to France's insistence on a strict division between church and state.
Italian and Polish catholics? Really? That was not easy then.
I'll stand by my point. It's too early to tell if France will successfully integrate North Africans or not, but I am not at all pessimistic that we're on our way and we will. We only see the non-integrated minority, not the invisible integrated majority. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
If France is to successfully integrate 20% of a population that is Black, African, and Islamic, it will become a more Black, African, and Islamic country.
LIBERTÉ? French Muslims banned from wearing headscarves in school. ÉGALITÉ? France's non-whites twice as likely to be unemployed. FRATERNITÉ? French government admits integration policies have failed. RÉALITÉ: Riots erupt for eleventh night. Riots erupted in France last night for the 11th day after a weekend in which cars were set alight in central Paris and the clashes spread to poor districts in towns across the nation.
Is this France's intifada? Do the riots have wider significance for the West? Talk of an intifada is absurdly misleading. Firstly, the rioters are far from being all Muslim (although more than half are from Islamic backgrounds). Second, they have no sense of political or religious identity and no political demands. Their allegiance is to their quartier and their gang. Their main demand, so far as can be established, is to be left alone by police and the Interior Minister, Nicolas Sark-ozy, to continue with their life of low-level violence and drugs trading. The wider significance is therefore not politico-religious but a warning of what happens if problems of deprivation and violence are allowed to fester.
Talk of an intifada is absurdly misleading. Firstly, the rioters are far from being all Muslim (although more than half are from Islamic backgrounds). Second, they have no sense of political or religious identity and no political demands. Their allegiance is to their quartier and their gang. Their main demand, so far as can be established, is to be left alone by police and the Interior Minister, Nicolas Sark-ozy, to continue with their life of low-level violence and drugs trading. The wider significance is therefore not politico-religious but a warning of what happens if problems of deprivation and violence are allowed to fester.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/7/9123/76404
As always, I kindly request your recommendations as a way to promote eurotrib. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
