Racism and prejudice are GLOBAL issues

The topic of racism is always taboo and prickly. It exists everywhere, however, I have noticed several key differences in the way the French and Americans respond to this issue. A lot of my French compadres waive away accusations of ethnocentrism or racism by saying, "You Americans see racism in everything", "Americans are obsessed with racism", and "Americans are so obsessed with being politically correct all the time". These accusations may be true, and even so, they lie at the heart of these cultural differences. For example, there is an enormously popular film that was released this year called Intouchables. I have not yet seen it, but I have an understanding of the plot. It is about a successful executive who becomes paralyzed and must hire an aide to help with his basic daily actives. The executive is white. The aide is black, recently released from prison, and from the banlieue. The banlieue refers to the suburbs on the perimeter of any big city, in this case, Paris. Although the direct definition of banlieue is 'suburb', it is synonymous for 'ghetto', as it is in these areas where masses of immigrants and minorities live together, sequestered from the city limits. It is also here were the infamous riots occurred in 2005. Okay, now you have the gist of the plot. The New York Times recently wrote an article about the runaway success of the film, in which a review in Variety was quoted. The Variety review found the film rife with racial stereotypes, going so far as to call the young aide an 'Uncle Tom'. I shared this review with my students and colleagues. When I asked one of my colleagues what she thought about the purported racial stereotyping in the film, she told me, 'You Americans are so concerned with racism because it's part of your history, because you had slavery'. I felt this was a cheap excuse, as the French have a troubled history with all their formal colonial territories. Don't even get me started about the anti-Semitism (ahem Dreyfus affair). She continued, 'the fact that the character is from the banlieue and an ex convict refers not to his racial situation, but to his economic status'. Again, cheap evasion. Although that is true, in the banlieue, as in many areas of the United States, poverty and race are often inextricably linked forces that join together to marginalize entire communities. I'm not saying there isn't racism in the United States. Of course there is! All I'm saying is, at least we admit to it. Another acquaintance recently told me that her apartment in Cannes was rented by a Muslim, and that he destroyed the property. She continued to say, "Once they move in to a neighborhood, it is ruined forever". I couldn't believe my ears, but then again, I could, as this is the same woman who once told me that "France doesn't have a racism problem. The problem is the Algerians. They come here. They don't work. They hate us. They do nothing good for our society". Okay. Okay. France, I know you had issues with the Algerian war and everything, but can we please call a spade a spade? I've seen graffiti that says"Nique les Arabes" and "Le Shoah est un mensonge" (Google it!). By denying that these prejudices exist, the French are rendering themselves a disservice. Denial implicitly condones this behavior. It makes me irate to see this kind of bigoted language and behavior rampant. One other favored defense is, "We have the policy of laïcism, we are all equal under the eyes of the law". Not so much. Laïcism, or secularism, is the principle which guides the laws against head covers and displays of religious faith in schools. Furthermore, religion cannot be taught whatsoever in schools. I'm not advocating a dogmatic teaching of religion, but rather, a comparative one. If students don't learn about other faiths and beliefs, how will they ever learn tolerance? Also, the French are far from equal before the law. Women still make dramatically less than men here, even if they work in the same field. An article in Marie Claire magazine last year addressed this issue, with images of women protesting for equal rights in the 70s and now, accompanied by the harrowing headline: "quarante années de lutte, rien a changé" (forty years of struggle, nothing has changed). Pennies for your thoughts!