A racial Paris

Recently I received a topic request, of sorts. A friend asked me whether I had seen any racial tension in Paris. I assume he was referencing the race riots that shook the city last year.

The simply answer to the question is no; I have not seen any racial tension. I did read a newspaper story the other day about some incidents in the Jewish area that are being attributed to anti-semitism, but somehow this seems just par for the course for modern cities. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic but I feel as though I regularly - perhaps once a year - hear about incidents like that in North American cities. My acceptance of the normalcy of such sentiments and actions absolutely should not be taken as apathy or complacency. I fervently hope that we would all work to reduce the occurrence of such bigotry, no matter at whom it was directed.

My saying that I haven't seen any tension of the kind exhibited last summer does not necessarily mean that it has ceased to exist. It does though bring up another important point. Last summer's race riots were mostly restricted to Paris' suburbs. French cities are notorious for keeping the downtown 'core' upscale, wealthy, and relatively white, while relegating those of lesser means - and different origins - to the suburbs - les banlieues. Paris is certainly no different. A drive from Charles de Gaulle airport into the city will bring you through rundown suburbs and streets lined with graffiti. Once you cross into Paris proper, however, you see only that idyllic, romanticized 19th century, postcard-quality Paris.

Certainly this distribution is better for tourism. The tourists get a good feeling from the city, believing that the whole thing is beautiful, clean, safe, and prosperous. I would be the first to admit that I have profited from this - I rarely have to worry about where I am walking and am almost always treated to clean streets and fabulously beautiful buildings.

Tourism aside, though, one must ask whether such - for lack of a better word - segregation is really better on balance. I certainly think that communities can draw strength from living in concentrated neighbourhoods and take a lot of pride from Toronto's plethora of such communities - The Danforth, Little Italy, Chinatown, etc. What troubles me about Paris is that it feels as though these communities, rather than being celebrated, are being metaphorically swept under the rug.

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In personal news, my shower pressure has been fixed! Eureka! The strike continues but is waning and looks like it will be over sometime this weekend. The construction/renovation on the inside of my building also continues, bringing with it loud noises, people stomping up and down the stairs in the mornings, and lot of dust that unfortunately makes its way into my little apartment. But the weather today was beautiful and I am off to a potluck American thanksgiving dinner with some American girls I met.