MIKE MASTEN
Contributing Writer
Being an international relations major who is interested in the affairs and religion of North Africa, I knew that coming to Lyon, France, would be an excellent first step in my career path. I could not have been more correct.
When I walk down the small cobblestone streets of Lyon, signs of the Muslim population are obvious: a kabaab joint here, a Libyan patisserie there, and of course, the huge Algerian Market every Monday on my way to school.
Sadly however, there exists an underlying French resentment toward the Muslim immigrant population that is just as obvious.
Time after time, my conversations would lead to the topic of the Muslim immigrants in the area. It was not long until I realized that every person I talked to had the same feeling about the immigrants: They just do not belong in France.
The reasons they gave were many: They refuse to blend into the culture, the men are too domineering of their wives, they do not respect democracy and equality, they are dangerous.
One man even went as far as to tell me at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to “Watch out, the Muslims will be out, and there will be lots of crime.”
As I write this and watch the sun set over the Fourviere Cathedral, I know tonight will mark the 20th night of the French Riots.
The riots, which started Oct. 27 as a result of the electrocution deaths of two immigrant teenagers in the poor Clichy-sous-Bois suburb of Paris, have now spread to all major cities and villages in France, including Lyon. In Lyon, riots reached a new level of violence when angry teens set off a firebomb in the subway and attacked a power generator causing a blackout in certain sections of town.
Most recently, this past Saturday night, immigrant teens confronted the French riot police in the famous Place Bellecour, throwing chairs and rocks as the police fired teargas into the crowd. This latest action has caused the city of Lyon to enforce a curfew with the emergency powers granted by French President Jacque Chirac.
For students, the riots haven’t changed our lives in Lyon. Beyond a curfew that has banned youths from the street at night and has also shut down our metro and bus system at 8 p.m., the city life goes on as it always does.
Pepperdine, in a statement e-mailed to students two nights ago, told all students in Lyon that after class they are to go immediately home and not to go out at night.
While the government is taking precautions as well as Pepperdine, the truth of the matter is that there is hardly any evidence of the riots. Not a single student in the program has even seen a riot or been affected by a riot in the area.
Therefore, the big issue is not what we as students have to do to stay safe, but what the French government has to do to solve these problems with these populations.
Even as the riots are going on and news stations are filled with stories of how the riots are a result of France’s attitude toward the immigrant populations, there are still people who refuse to see the significance of these riots.
France therefore now has the difficult problem of not only finding out how to integrate these immigrant populations into mainstream French society, but how to integrate themselves into the immigrant culture.
For a republic founded on the revolutionary principles it is imperative that they ensure that everyone has the same rights liberty, equality and fraternity.
As for myself, I could not have chosen a more interesting time to come to France.
11-17-2005