Why France matters

By the time this column goes to print, it will have been two weeks since violent protest demonstrations began in Clichy-sous-Bois, a Paris suburb. The spark that caused the riots was nominally the death of two young men on an electrical substation, but since then, the burnt hulks of cars and injured civilians have become symbols of the North African Muslim underclass living in France. People across France and around the world are asking, "How do we stop the riots?" But before the last of the fires is extinguished, they will also be asking "Why?"\nAs much as French politicians repeat the cliché that violence is not the answer, there can be no doubt that racial fissures, which have long existed in France, have harshly and violently asked the question. For years, France has derisively refused the American model of multiculturalism with universalism -- that is, all people who enter France are assimilated and become French. Under this theory, all inequalities should be equalized, but like most theories, (including American multicultural diversity) it has flaws, and these flaws have never been more present than when scores of North African youths torch Peugeots. \nOK, it's easy to poke fun at France. I study the language and culture, and I still ridicule the French all the time. The berets, the arrogance, the throaty laugh -- it's all too good a target. And especially after international opinion shamed America for its racism supposedly exposed by the Katrina response, there is some bit of American self-righteousness that makes me want to point and laugh at the French again. To blow this off as another example of those "crazy French," however, would be unfortunate and an altogether trivial response. \nFor years, France has simply shrugged off implications of racism by pointing to its welfare systems and its various tools to level the playing field. In doing so, the bulk of white Français have refused to believe that those who have been pushed into a racial underclass have anyone to blame but themselves. Alas, the benign neglect with which the French government has treated its citizens is as damaging as institutionalized racism because it uses the guise of race-blind treatment to ignore the needs of its neediest citizens.\nPeace is not simply the absence of conflict. In fact, I would argue that peace is an active noun, like "struggle," a discourse of our problems in a legitimate sphere. By acting as if such problems had simply evaporated, the French government's dream of socialism ignored the volcano bubbling underneath its feet. This is no time for America to get haughty, however. It was only four years ago that Cincinnati burned, and any race riot apologists who think this "wake-up call" will be good for France in the long term need only turn their eyes to Newark, N.J., and Detroit to see the kind of attention you get after extensive riots. \nIt might be easy to talk about "how far we've come" in race relations, but even beginning the cycle of benign neglect that lay the tinder for the French riots would undo any progress we've made. Sometimes it might feel like we are done confronting racial problems. But if the French riots teach us one thing, let it be this: No matter who we are or where we come from or how much we think we've accomplished to erase our prejudice, we are never done.