France is Still Burning

We must consider why wherever there is an imperial nation with a legacy of colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy, there is a similar social reactivity and civil unrest that plays out with near identical media narratives.

We must consider why wherever there is an imperial nation with a record of police brutality that violence is directed toward certain groups of people and not others.

We must consider why people who come from the global south and east, who give up everything they know in a place they were born in, to live in an imperial nation seeking newer/better opportunities, have similar sentiments of their struggle to belong and to experience safety.

Ever present questions in French media surrounding the unjust killing that has sparked this uprising are the typical “how have third and fourth generation immigrant citizens failed to integrate?” and “why would they burn their own neighbourhoods down?”. Same old tired one-sided narrative… but every story has three sides: his, hers, and the truth.

Maybe they didn’t fail to integrate. Maybe there is a fundamental flaw in the social fabric of these imperial nations that finally needs to be addressed. Surely everything cannot be an immigrant’s problem. Surely muslims are not responsible for islamophobia… because that would be some special kind of gaslighting.

It seems that there are many people living in a world of confusion - by choice or by denial, and it reminds me of the parable of two young fish swimming by an older fish who says ”morning boys, how’s the water?” The two fish continue on their way, and one asks the other “what the hell is water?”

France has a not so small problem with acknowledgement.

1/ There is no race, but there is racism.

Some imperial nations refuse to acknowledge their heinous history of their country’s development, and prefer to gloss over their past by pushing nationalistic agendas. France is officially colour-blind, they don’t recognize race or ethnicity, just “citizens and immigrants”. In a country that’s deeply multi-cultural this is pretty problematic when systemic racism exists, and functions, and impacts, but can’t be aptly described or talked about because you won’t or can’t acknowledge the fundamentals of its existence. In other words, they’ve cleverly designed that you can’t talk about racism because their policy says race doesn’t exist – it leads to a linguistic gymnastics. Some people (often those who aren’t directly impacted) think that if you just don’t engage with the problem, then it will disappear. Not quite. The ideal is never the reality.

2/ Karmic Debt

France still owes Haiti for the massive debt they put them in as punishment for actualizing themselves as a people and nation, and overcoming their oppression. It may seem far fetched and unrelated to some, but the karmic debt of forcing former slaves to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for their own freedom (the root of Haiti’s extreme poverty) is the biggest economic heist of modern history. And what you put out, is going to come back to you - tenfold. The riots in France are estimated to have already cost businesses $1 billion. This isn’t a question of destroying local neighbourhoods, this is a deep laceration in the country’s economy… but don’t mention Haiti, that’s not up for discussion.

Cultivating true belonging, not pseudo inclusion.

1/ Humans need to be seen and heard for who they are.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts say that we have two real needs - attachment and authenticity. Our attachment depends largely on other people, and is often conditional, temporary, specific. Attachment can be ruptured and repaired and is often a response to how we relate to others, and how others relate to us – that’s dependant on our authenticity. So if immigrants are not allowed to be authentically themselves, then they cannot appropriately attach, and instead are othered and shamed for not integrating well, perpetuating a feeling of not being seen and heard. We know how this ends, it is not pretty.

2/ Universal ideals must include local needs.

We are not yet at a place in human history that we can just operate from a place of utopia. Not yet. There are so many ills that need to be addressed and wounds that need to be cleaned up. True universality recognizes and holds space for differences and unique needs so everyone can get what they need. Without acknowledgement and accountability you can’t foster trust and integrity. You can’t push a universal ideal without first cleaning up a dirty past - it’s irresponsible and doesn’t work.

The invitation is for you to consider where you have failed to acknowledge there is a problem? Have you pushed an ideal that does not align with reality? How will you go about rectifying this?

Next week: a special summer series.

Cheers!
Z.

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I explore the question “how do we overcome the barriers to existing fully as ourselves?” An inquiry into self, culture, the arts and social change. If you enjoyed this consider subscribing to receive more.