Riots in France...racism or not?

The riots in France sparked by two black boys/ men who were electrocuted while trying to escape from the police,enter their 12th day. One of the suburbs is under curfew tonight. I listen to the radio a lot and the airwaves are full of discussions about the riots. Most of the discussion is on issues like whether such riots can occur in London, whether members of various ethnic minorities have integarted with the local population and whether Londoners are racist. The quality of debate is really high and I am fascinated by the issues people raise in response to the questions raised.

The two main reasons which have come up regularly in these debates are 1) the fact that the rates of unemployment in the predominantly muslim suburbs are high (40%) and this has been shown to be linked to youth getting easily involved in anti-social activities ( as was shown in both the Bombay and Gujarat riots in India) 2) The other is the fact that there is a conspicuous absence of representation of muslim/black/coloured people in prominent sections of society such as the media. Quite a few also reported that the outright mariginalisation of minorities by the French government such as banning girls from wearing the hijab to school have added to the problem.

I must say that many people from ethnic minorities called in to the BBC and said that they didn't face racial discrimination at various levels in London as reported from France, though many did report that they felt it at times. Many white English folk called in and said that ethnic minorities should do more to integrate with local customs and way of life. An equal number of them said that people from ethnic minorities were doing their bit to integrate and had done so in many spheres life too.

In a rare burst of creativity, Aj wrote this poem yesterday after we heard and saw various reports on the radio and TV.

Riot
Kids running for their lives,
Headlong over invisible lines-
Their leaps, frozen, midair, for posterity
In an arc of searing electricity
Made for riveting primetime news,
Whatever the watcher's views.

Black is black,
White is white,
But the mix,strangely, turns brown
That's brown of muck,
Of which you and I want no truck.

Potato-ing in my couch, my shell,
I withdraw, cringing...click!!
For shades of grey are too much trouble
I'd rather the comfort of my bubble.
My oyster, you see, is my world.

But I still peek, open-mouthed,rapt.
For ratings, of course, are paramount.

My thoughts- did the two boys run because they had actually committed a crime OR because they felt/percieved that the police would interpret their actions (which may have been non-crminal)as criminal no matter what the case ? And because they lived in a particular place and were of a particular colour...

Any thoughts on this complex issue are welcome.

Picture: From Guardian Umlimited