Riots continue throughout France today, although reports indicate things may be slowing down. Religious and ethnic divisions, culminating in the electrocution of two Muslim citizens are blamed for the violence. Most blogs on the subject opine that unemployment is the real cause of the riots, with tensions simmering for quite a while in order to spark this kind of outrage. The same kind of situation is obviously brewing in the U.S., yet we continue to ignore it, shaking our heads instead at those “crazy French.” Some say that the U.S. learned a painful lesson after the Rodney King verdict, and that our country has come “a long way in those 13 years.” Has it?

American newscasters have been preaching that Europe needs to “take a lesson from America, which is a successful melting pot.” After reading Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation, I’m not so sure! (see my book review for details) According to Kozol’s book, America’s schools are full of the kind of economic and cultural injustice that has sparked the current violent rage in France. It is easy to blame it on one group or another, especially the poor. The poor have a reassuring tendency not to fight back.

Various journalists describe immigrants as disenfranchised and systematically rejected by French society. This is not a situation unique to France. Many articles note that “guest workers” are maltreated in all developing nations. There are many fearful suggestions to tighten borders, restrict immigrants, and curtail benefits to the poor. These “solutions” are really just more ways to punish the poor for being poor. This should not be about “protecting” our economies from the have-nots. It is an issue of treating all people with dignity. America, as well as France, needs to address these inequalities of opportunity if we are to truly claim to be “free” societies.

Economists criticize France’s “system of entitlements” (free schools, health care, subsidized food and housing) as attracting those who “don’t want to work.” This makes no sense. Why would a citizen of say, Nigeria, risk his/her life dealing with shady “immigration brokers” if he or she just wanted to be poor and not work? If someone was really that lazy, wouldn’t he/she just stay in Nigeria? Calling immigrants "lazy" seems pretty racist, and is another example of the profound discrimination that is a daily reality for many immigrants.