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Although most of the rioters are the children of Arab and African
immigrants born in France, many feel like permanent outsiders.
 "I
am French. I have the paper French. But when you go to the post,
the police station, you are not French," a young man told
Independent Television News.
Most are Muslim, but the police say the violence is not being
supported by Islamic groups, and Muslim leaders issued a fatwa
forbidding Muslims from joining the riots.
Alexis Debat, a former French defense ministry official, said
the violence is sustained by prejudice that makes the young people
feel uncertain about their future.
"Today a French Muslim has one-eighth to one-tenth the chance
of a non-Muslim French national with a non-Muslim name to get
a job," said Debat. "I mean there is a pervasive, very
dark racism in French society that associates the second generation
Muslims, these second generation immigrants with trouble."
The rioters were further incensed by comments made by Interior
Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who called the rioters "racaille,"
the French word for scum.
"Sarkozy did a really terrible job. He really messed it
up. He treats us like we are dirt on the car tires. I am not a
tire," a young rioter told ITN.
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disillusioned
suburban youths who complain of discrimination and unemployment,
was sparked by the accidental death of two teens Oct. 27.
"France
is in a social and economic crisis," Michelle Rosso, a 43-year-old
music teacher from suburban Paris, told the Washington Post. "It's
similar to the U.S. civil rights movement in the '60s. The integration
policies of this country clearly do not work."
American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
