Paris Is Burning

No this post isn't about the documentary made in the 1980's on the New York City ballroom subculture at that time, this is about the riots that have consumed the city of Paris over the past couple of weeks. The rioting started on October 27th when 2 young boys were electrocuted trying to hide from French police. This set off a race and cultural fueled riot like France hasn't seen in years. Most of the articles I read state that the riots are a result of years of attempted racial assimilationism and lack of addressing issues of poverty and cultural pluralism in Paris. The riots primarily consist of the young people who live in the poor suburbs of Paris. Hundreds of cars and buildings have been torched, people hurt and killed and significant damage has been inflicted on the people of that region.

It amazes me to this day that many countries don't deal effectively with the issues of racism and poverty. This is primarily what these riots are about in Paris, according to media reports. Over the years Paris has become more culturally diverse, though their government has not recognized this diversity and addressed the racial discriminations that almost inevitably come along with racial mixing, especially when those ethnically diverse people come from other countries. The young people who are rioting complain of difficulty finding jobs if they have a Middle Eastern sounding last name or look. Wow, this sounds familiar! Difficulty finding jobs because you have an ethnic sounding name or look (if you get that far in the process) is an issue that has plagued Blacks in America for years. In America, we have very similar issues that need to be addressed around racism, poverty and the need to deal with these things more effectively (maybe we'll get to improving these things after the war).

It's sad to see the rioting going on there, as rioting is not usually the answer and in the process people die and lots of destruction occurs. A journalist in Toronto named Michael Coren, went as far as to suggest that Rap culture in America may have a part in the urban decay of Paris, as they apparently have seen an increase in gang activity and violence among their young people. In his article in the TorontoSun.com, he shares his views on why Paris is seeing this violent outburst among their young: "They're products of neglect, racism, unemployment and French cultural arrogance. They're also often lazy, anti-social and brutish. The culture they revere -- free-market neo-cons take note -- is less that of bin Laden than of 50 Cent. Gangster rap rather than Arab rebellion. "

What?!?!? Is he insinuating that Black's are plaguing Europe with our violent hip hop culture and demoralized values? I think this is a rather deep statement and one that shouldn't go without comment. Blacks, particularly young Black men take the rap for a lot of negative aspects of American society. Those who view young Blacks this way often don't take into account the magnitude of a plethora of issues that contribute to the degradation of Black society such as racism, lack of economic resources, and poverty to name a few. Do we really need to take the blame for destroying European society too? I'm not sure what Mr. Coren meant by his statement, but I'm not willing to allow him to use Blacks in America as a scapegoat for the French government's neglect of their racial minority citizens.

I hope that the riots will stop and that France's government will seriously look to find ways that all citizen's of their great country can live and prosper, regardless of race. If they can achieve that, maybe they can be a model for the United States, because it may only be a matter of time before we see our own rebellion by the poor and disenfranchised. In America the poor and disenfranchised are becoming more and more angry about their poverty and disenfranchisment, which has the ability to spill over into violence as their only means of rebellion. They certainly don't have economic fighting power, which is true power, so they may choose to take the next best option: violence. I don't think we need to wait until it becomes a crisis before we look at seriously addressing the issues of racsim, class and poverty here in America. Let us draw upon our previous experiences as a country as well as learn vicariously through what is happening in Paris.