Paris is (literally) burning

So we’re well into the second week of the rioting in France, day 10. The weird thing is I was in Paris earlier this year and it seemed perfectly peaceful.

Though I did definitely notice certain types of jobs were predominantly held by people of certain ethnic backgrounds. Like the cab drivers, many of them were of African descent. Recent immigrants judging from the accents. And apparently a lot of the rioters are, similarly, of African descent.

Which makes you understand somewhat the situation–I stayed strictly within Paris, only venturing beyond the Isle de Paris when we went to Normandy. So most of the taxis I took, within Paris itself, were driven by Africans. Yet very few can actually afford to live within Paris, they’re all out in these poor suburbs where the violence is emanating from. They’re working amongst all this wealth and privilege in Paris, but can’t earn enough of that pie to actually live where they work.

I know it’s a bit of schadenfreude but in a way I think the French deserve these troubles. They’ve been ignoring this inequality in their own backyard, while looking down their noses at all the racial and social problems over here in the US. About damned time they learn these issues are not strictly an American problem.