The riots
Well - the riots have spread across France, including certain areas of Bordeaux such as Floirac, Begles, Pessac and Villenave d'Ornon. However I must tell you that I have no idea where the riots have occurred. Our church is in Floirac so I looked hard on the map (viamichelin.fr) for the estate concerned and didn't find it. And there's no sign at all of anything having happened anywhere that we go through in Villenave. All seems just as peaceful as it was when we first arrived. There's no sign of nothing!
Random jottings on the riots:
1) The rioters are described as immigrants. In fact they were all born in France. Their parents or even grandparents came to France, but still they are referred to everywhere as immigrants. I think that speaks volumes in itself. It's even slightly shocking. It indicates a failure to integrate the "new French" or even to accept them. It's especially shocking when you consider that, like Britain, there is no genuine French archetype. Everyone came here from somewhere else if you go back far enough. Even we Celts arrived from central Europe back in the mists of time!
2) There is a little war of succession being played out in the government that doesn't seem to be helping. Mr Sarkozy (Interior Minister / Home Secretary?) has made no secret of his presidential ambitions. He was once Mr Chirac's protege. Now he is not. Mr Villepin could also be a presidential candidate. This may be why when Sarkozy was making somewhat unhelpful comments like "the rioters are scum and we will pressure-wash them away" Chirac and Villepin stood aside and let him do it. Has he damaged his prospects fatally? Only time will tell. Ironically, of course, Mr Sarkozy is a second-generation immigrant - his father was Hungarian. In fact Mr Chirac has been silent until just yesterday.
3) All would agree that there is a massive problem in the banlieus. They are 60s and 70s estates where the original people have moved out to something better and the "immigrants" have moved in. London has its equivalent estates. The schools are not coping, the youngsters have no qualifications (and qualifications are REALLY IMPORTANT in France), unemployment can reach 30% (the national rate is about 10%). The trouble is knowing what to do about it.
4) Some French people have predicted a crisis for round about now, linked to the "demographic timebomb". France, like Britain, experienced a massive post-war boom in the birthrate. Some demographers predicted a crisis for the time when those baby-boomers reached majority, which they did in about 1968, and for when they reached retirement age, which is round about now. Well. That's all very interesting. But it highlights the problems that face not just France but all the countries of Western Europe.
Meanwhile will there be a curfew in Villenave? When you consider that rioting can mean anything from all-out battles between gangs and the police down to a burning dustbin, it seem unlikely. But we'll see!
To follow events I suggest the Times, the Telegraph and the BBC News websites and for Bordeaux news, the websites of Sud-ouest, our regional newspaper.
Random jottings on the riots:
1) The rioters are described as immigrants. In fact they were all born in France. Their parents or even grandparents came to France, but still they are referred to everywhere as immigrants. I think that speaks volumes in itself. It's even slightly shocking. It indicates a failure to integrate the "new French" or even to accept them. It's especially shocking when you consider that, like Britain, there is no genuine French archetype. Everyone came here from somewhere else if you go back far enough. Even we Celts arrived from central Europe back in the mists of time!
2) There is a little war of succession being played out in the government that doesn't seem to be helping. Mr Sarkozy (Interior Minister / Home Secretary?) has made no secret of his presidential ambitions. He was once Mr Chirac's protege. Now he is not. Mr Villepin could also be a presidential candidate. This may be why when Sarkozy was making somewhat unhelpful comments like "the rioters are scum and we will pressure-wash them away" Chirac and Villepin stood aside and let him do it. Has he damaged his prospects fatally? Only time will tell. Ironically, of course, Mr Sarkozy is a second-generation immigrant - his father was Hungarian. In fact Mr Chirac has been silent until just yesterday.
3) All would agree that there is a massive problem in the banlieus. They are 60s and 70s estates where the original people have moved out to something better and the "immigrants" have moved in. London has its equivalent estates. The schools are not coping, the youngsters have no qualifications (and qualifications are REALLY IMPORTANT in France), unemployment can reach 30% (the national rate is about 10%). The trouble is knowing what to do about it.
4) Some French people have predicted a crisis for round about now, linked to the "demographic timebomb". France, like Britain, experienced a massive post-war boom in the birthrate. Some demographers predicted a crisis for the time when those baby-boomers reached majority, which they did in about 1968, and for when they reached retirement age, which is round about now. Well. That's all very interesting. But it highlights the problems that face not just France but all the countries of Western Europe.
Meanwhile will there be a curfew in Villenave? When you consider that rioting can mean anything from all-out battles between gangs and the police down to a burning dustbin, it seem unlikely. But we'll see!
To follow events I suggest the Times, the Telegraph and the BBC News websites and for Bordeaux news, the websites of Sud-ouest, our regional newspaper.
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