The French Riots and the Broader Issues Raised

First of all, who am I to weigh in on the riots that have been raging in France and spreading throughout the country (at least according to the French and even American media) over the past twelve or thirteen days, depending on who's counting? I'm sitting here, thousands of miles away, numerous cultural differences away, and - let's face it - in a situation that is significantly different from that of many of the youths who are inciting and committing the violence (although apparently they feed off the media attention, so the media might also bear some responsibility for what's going on and especially for why it has only seemed to increase), except that I'm Black like many of them (which actually says a whole lot in terms of our situations). The only roving gang I've ever been a part of is a group of friends trick-or-treating on Halloween, and the worst we did was TP houses and cars, not throw Molotov cocktails at the police or set the cars on fire. But I think I have a pretty good idea of what's really going on beneath the surface, and I'm pretty sure that it's almost exactly what causes just about any kind of violence we see in the world from groups that are in fact marginalized and feel that they are marginalized. When I say "any kind," I mean it, seriously. In my yes-humble opinion, what's going on at the core is that the satisfaction of a basic human need is being withheld even after consistent pleas and clear evidence that those who need it most are getting it least.

I'm talking about the need for recognition.

I think there's so much pent-up anger and despair and frustration because the young men who have turned violent have not received the recognition, much less attention, they so desperately need. People try to pretend that they don't need it, that they can just get by because they have each other. Naw. We primates all need some kind of recognition. We primates all want to feel important, or at least that we matter to others and that they take our concerns, ideas, feelings, passions, etc. to heart, at the very least acknowledging them if not engaging them. It's a basic need - possibly unique to primates in its developed form (I don't know how I can keep talking about this when I've hardly even touched zoology and took my last biology class in my freshman year of high school, TEN YEARS ago. I think about that and my first reaction is "Damn, man!") but there nonetheless. The young men live on the margins of society, where they are shunted by the very government that has now preached "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" for centuries yet hypocritically doesn't even try to give them what they need. I know it's a little harsh of me to say this, but honestly, people don't do these things for no reason at all. They do it because they sometimes have to resort to extreme measures in order to be heard, the same way a spring that keeps winding up must eventually release its energy or pressure between tectonic plates eventually results in earthquakes. At the furthest extreme, it's almost like anything goes, even the lawless. The men give affirmation and recognition to each other by working together to make a statement - people uniting in a common cause, with each other's interests at heart (even though they might not see it that way), doing what they feel they must.

Now, let me emphasize that the need for recognition does NOT make what the men are doing effective, justifiable, or right. I fully believe that what they are doing is wrong and I wish the violence would stop. There's a good reason that it's against the law to torch cars and clash with police. What is particularly disappointing, though, is that the French government has arrogantly refused to take any responsibility for the problems that it can no longer ignore. Notice that I did not say "blame," nor do I believe that the government is to blame. The fact is that so many parties have contributed to the central problems that we're seeing, which go way past the violence itself. Even worse is that the government refused to acknowledge its responsibility before the violence erupted AND has steadfastly avoided such an acknowledgment DURING the violence. It took almost a week and a half of violence for President Jacques Chirac to make a public statement. The entire government seemed to not really be taking the violence seriously until it started to spread - of course, they addressed it, but they didn't give it the weight it probably deserved. Again, I'd say we're talking about much deeper problems than a bunch of gangs rioting in the Paris suburbs and now in hundreds of other cities around France. It's about more than the lack of jobs, inadequate housing, and substandard education. Much more. I still argue, though, that at its most basic level, the conflict has erupted because the young men just want to be heard, listened to, acknowledged, taken seriously for once by the government that is supposed to protect them and keep their interests at heart (remember that at least a few of the gang members are French-born and raised). Most Westerners probably think of wine and cheese, romantic strolls around Paris, old country towns, etc. when they think of France. We don't really get to see the struggles of those living in the urban ghettoes just minutes from the sites of the idyllic scenes and images with which France promotes itself — that is, unless we look for it, which it seems the French government would rather we not. Worse, the French government, and possibly the "rest" of France, blocks out and refuses to see the problems that are literally popping up in their own backyards, instead just standing by and hoping everything will work itself out in the end. Unfortunately, it almost never works out that way.. and in the most severe of cases, we end up with what we're seeing right now.

So what to do about it? Well, there are short-term fixes, but in the long term, it would be nice if the government and the young men could at least figuratively "get together" and see how to meet each other's interests, which are probably not as mutually exclusive as we might think. Sometimes, though, people just want to be heard, whether or not something is done. When they're not even heard, then they start to get mad. A little acknowledgment goes a long way, whether it's siblings fighting or nation-states fighting. Same story in France.

I have a feeling it's gonna be alright. The only question is when everyone will wise up, sit down together, and start to attack the tough problems on the table rather than attack each other. I'm totally serious about that - one side might "win" in the short-term, but in the long term EVERYBODY loses because there's no barrier to the same conflicts popping up again and again and again, always with the same response and often with the same results. I put it to you that we don't really want that, nor is it good for us. I say "us" and keep using the first-person plural, because we're really all in this. We're seeing the same issues that confront every one of us, because on some levels we all want and need the same things.

So just to wrap up, I hope the situation resolves itself as peacefully as possible and that the conflict subsides with the French (leaving the term open!) standing on common ground.