A Fresh Start for Sarkozy?

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

Comments

[John]

As mentioned by other posters here, Sarkozy doesn't want to solve differences. He rather thrives on them. He is cut from the same shabby rightwing cloth as our own King George. The greater the racial tension and threat from violence (from within or without) in France, the greater his hold on power.

[Raven]

Spencer, while I agree wholeheartedly that,

"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,"

there is really nothing to suggest that Sarkozy, indeed, wants that.

Or that he is the one who could possibly forge a peace between the disenfranchised 2nd generation French citizens of immigrant descent and the native French communities who fear them.

But, even assuming he could make some miniscule difference - which is an assumption I'd consider naive at best - your plan is a bit bassackwards.

Reducing unemployment won't ever happen unless the tensions are reduced between the communities. That has to happen first. It's not a second thought - it's the entire problem. All French citizens must be understood to be - and treated as - equally important to the country.

Kids from the huge immigrant settlements have literally no chance of getting jobs. They look different. They act different. They are summarily dismissed from any opportunities. Until that changes, forget everything else.

No, this is a problem that requires more than just the Prime Minister deciding he wants peace. And, again, I've seen nothing in Sarkozy to indicate he really does want peace. What he wants, what he got elected on, was a big helping of STFU.

He reached out to the worst elements of French nationalism to get elected; how can you expect the minority communities to trust him?

The situation will remain unbalanced until the entire country works together to involve all of its citizens in its future. That will require compassion as well as diplomacy for all sides of the issue.

And, call me a cynic, but I just don't see Sarkozy that way. He's more of the Bushie model of being a uniter not a divider.

And we see how that works.

[Merg]

This seems a much more complicated immigration problem than is put forth in this piece. My understanding is that France is now fully 20% Muslim and native French citizens find this upsetting. I have no doubt that there is a level of discrimination that occurs as a result of the level of discomfort native French (yes, you may read white, if you wish) citizens feel about this, but I feel it may be all the more intense because France has a lower acreage compared to the US in which to absorb and accommodate an entirely different culture. Right or wrong, this puts and enormous strain on the status quo and I believe that the nativists will rebel and respond anywhere their status quo is threatened. When another culture moves in...especially if this culture begins to grow or make demands to have its cultural needs accommodat­ed....viol­ent resistance will follow.
I don't really know what the solution to this is but I only contend that this is a foreseeable consequence. It is exactly what is happening in the US today regarding Latino illegal immigration. A saturation point has been reached and the citizenry is reacting.

[jdm58]

Excellent piece, couldn't agree with you more. One important item differentiates the recent riots in Villiers-le-Bel from those in 2005. In 2005, the young men were electrocuted while trying to hide from police after committing a crime. In Villiers-le-Bel, the only "crime" the young men committed was riding a non-street legal motorscooter without a helmet- a crime that, if committed in this country, would hardly have warranted a ticket, yet these young men lost their lives after running into the cruiser (an accident, or were the police using their car as a blockade?). The police then abandoned their car, and the injured boys, claiming they were afraid of being lynched by the mob. What mob? People who running to the aid of the victims? The whole incident smacks of police brutality in a very ethnic suburb. What it calls to memory is the brutal beating of Rodney King by police in Los Angeles not so very long ago, and the rioting that followed. The rioting in neither case can not be excused, but neither can the racist elements provoking them.

[avergejoe]

sarko must go
he's another neozioncon tool