violences urbaines...je souviens

As you might imagine, I've been following the coverage of the rioting in France closely over the past several days. The whole situation reminds me of April 1992, when my South Central L.A. neighborhood erupted in rioting that spread across the city.

The civil unrest in Los Angeles was sparked by the acquittal of four police officers charged with using excessive force against (i.e. beating) African-American motorist, Rodney King. (Note: The media called the whole court drama, "the Rodney King Trial," when, in fact, it was the four white police officers on trial, not the victim. But that's a discussion worthy of its own post.)

The current unrest in France began in response to the deaths of two teenagers in the immigrant suburb, Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris. The youths (who were of North African descent) were accidentally electrocuted while hiding in a power substation. They thought they were being chased by police, although the authorities deny they were chasing the boys.

Obviously, the situation in France differs considerably from what transpired 13 years ago in California. Most striking is the length and scope of the current unrest. We're now into the 10th day of rioting in France, with arson reported throughout the country and as far south as Nice. In 1992, the violence lasted for three days and was largely confined to the City of Los Angeles.

But the similarities between LA 1992 and Paris 2005 are, nonetheless, noteworthy:

1) In both cases, the violence results in response to a perceived injustice against a minority male.

2) Just as in Los Angeles in 1992, the government in France has been slow to react and to restore order. Just today, President Chirac called his ministers together for a special session to devise a plan for dealing with the violence. It took three days for the National Guard to be dispatched to South Central L.A. in 1992. (Note: Amazingly, on the first night of rioting in L.A., Police Chief Daryl Gates continued with his plans and attended a fundraiser banquet in Beverly Hills! French Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, has some Gates-ish qualities, if you ask me.)

3) The epicenter of the violence, in both cases, is in a minority community that has been marginalized for years...frustrated by poverty, unemployment, low academic achievement, crime and hopelessness that seem to pass over everyone else in the country but them. Add to this simmering discontent the tensions associated with racial and ethnic de facto segregation, and you have a recipe for disaster.

What cannot be denied in either case is that the perpetrators of the violence are overwhelmingly young men of color...in Los Angeles, they were predominantly African American and Latino; in France, they are largely the children of North African, Muslim immigrants.

Why is this important to note? Two reasons:

1) Their identities are linked to their social position which, in turn, is linked to their disenchantment with the government. They are "the other," and they have not been effectively intergrated into society. (I'm reminded of someone commenting on the rioting in LA, exclaiming that the rioters were "burning down their own neighborhood." My response...if you don't feel like you're apart of anything, then it isn't your neighborhood, now is it?)

2) Their participation in the violence contributes to and perpetuates stereotypes about the character of people sharing their identity (e.g. "thugs," "terrorists"). Are we at all surprised that the government in France has been looking for any links between these youths and Islamic extremists? (I'm again reminded of how many folks in the US tried to equate the rioters in Los Angeles with gang-bangers and drug-lords.)

In no way do I condone the violence in 1992 or what we're witnessing today in France. In fact, if I was in Paris right now, I'd probably march with the residents of the affected communities, demanding an end to the violence. Yet, while many are asking "Où est les parents de ces jeunes?," I ask instead, where has society been for these youth?

Even in the social democracy of France, we find that an entire segment of the population feels left out, living in poverty on the periphery of Parisian wealth...literally. When I visited France last year and rode into Paris on the train, I passed through these neighborhoods and was shocked at how much I was reminded of home. Graffitied housing projects lined the railway...it was as if I was passing through Nickerson Gardens projects in Watts on my way to Beverly Hills!

As an educator of marginalized youth and as an academic obsessed with racial/ethnic coalition and conflict, I would encourage the French to seek answers to the following questions: How do we quickly and effectively incorporate minorities into the political and social life of our country? How do we re-enagage disaffected youth? How do we combat the poverty that depressess whole communities in our midst? How can we provide everyone with an equal opportunity for success--a success that can actually be realized--regardless of the social position into which they were born?

If there is anything the French can learn from the 1992 L.A. unrest, it is that the government's response cannot end with a zero-tolerance approach to violence. Rebuilding South Central took years, and the work to strengthen it continues. But true collaboration with and incorporation of the neighborhood into the larger Los Angeles community has been key to preventing further unrest.

My hope is that once the fires have all been extinguished, les Français can move forward from this to address social ills that have been allowed to fester in les banlieues for so long. My fear is that this will open the door to politically-opportunistic xenophobes who would seek to repress these communities even further.