By Spencer P. Boyer and Matthew R. Forgotson
After watching the recent violence in France following the deaths of two minority teenagers who collided with a police cruiser, many are wondering whether French President Nicolas Sarkozy has learned anything since the last major riots in 2005. The jury is still out, but what is clear is that he's been given one of those rare opportunities for a second chance. Sarkozy should seize the moment to rebuild trust with immigrant communities in France. While the United States continues to struggle with similar issues in minority communities, there are things the French can learn from the American experience.
As we all know, Sarkozy made a name for himself in 2005 as the zero-tolerance interior minister who infamously referred to the rioters as "scum" and announced that he wanted to "clean them from the streets with a power hose." Sarkozy's crackdown and subsequent rhetoric may have quelled the violence and propelled him to the presidency, but it also further alienated communities of color, which were rioting largely because they felt discriminated against in France.
Sarkozy's first reaction to the crisis, which originated in the French suburb of Villiers-le-Bel, seemed more balanced than in 2005. He called for calm, met with the boys' parents, and made his first foray into the suburbs as head of state to visit wounded police. Unfortunately, his desire for détente was short-lived. In a speech to police officers, Sarkozy declared that "what happened in Villiers-le-Bel has nothing to do with a social crisis. It has everything to do with a 'thugocacy.' "
If nothing else, Sarkozy should have learned that creative name calling won't do anything to address the underlying causes of frustration in immigrant communities. In fact, it makes matters worse. Yes, some of the rioters were indeed thugs. But saying that the incident is only about criminality and has nothing to do with a social crisis only furthers the distrust minorities in France have towards Sarkozy and the French State.
If Sarkozy wishes to forge a strong and lasting peace in the suburbs, he must pursue proactive policies that get to the root of the alienation.
First, Sarkozy must work harder to reduce unemployment in minority communities. Villiers-le-Bel shares many of the same sad features of the other heavily immigrant banlieues--an unemployment rate of over 20% and a population of 27,000, where one-third are under the age of 24. It's encouraging that Sarkozy and Urban Affairs Minister Fadela Amara are working on a "Marshall Plan" for the suburbs, focusing largely on jobs and education. The details are still largely unknown, but hopefully the plans are more comprehensive than previous efforts, which have produced little to nothing. The government must also commit itself to following through on its promises.
France should take note that in the United States, where there are similar challenges in disaffected minority communities, studies have shown clear linkages between falling unemployment rates and falling crime. Also, Sarkozy should lead the effort to overhaul counterproductive laws that prohibit France from gathering data based on race and ethnicity. As we've seen in the United States, such data is essential in fighting workplace and other discrimination.
Second, Sarkozy should do more to promote ethnic and religious tolerance. Both former President Jacques Chirac and Sarkozy have alienated many immigrant communities by legislating against difference. The most glaring example is the ban on "conspicuous" religious symbols in primary and secondary schools, which many believe unfairly targets Muslim women who wear headscarves. And Sarkozy's new immigration law, which offers DNA testing to prove family ties, has been compared to France's policies during Nazi occupation. Sarkozy should pursue both symbolic measures, such as finally visiting the National Museum of the History of Immigration (whose dedication he skipped), and bold proposals, such as moving to restore full freedom of religious expression and revising the more objectionable aspects of his immigration policy.
Third, Sarkozy should work with local leaders to ease tension between police and minority communities. Policing methods should be tailored to address the lack of trust these communities have for the French government in general, and the French police in particular. Local officials might consider real community policing, whereby police officers walk the same streets on a regular basis and reach out to local leaders, thus giving them a stake in their own security. Such techniques have been successful in many communities throughout the United States, and have been credited for helping reduce U.S. crime during the 1990's.
Hopefully Sarkozy will view this moment of national division as an opportunity to make a fresh start with those whose trust he has never earned. As the collective experiences of France and the United States have shown, without trust, there can be no peace.
Spencer P. Boyer is Director of International Law and Diplomacy at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank
Matthew R. Forgotson is a researcher at the Center for American Progress