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Originally Posted by Zyr
Violence is bad, mkay? But maybe this needed to happen. Not the riots, but something, to get the government to do something about the situation. Even if they stop the riots, unless they fix things, then it's going to happen again. That many people don't get that angry for no reason.
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I tend to agree, Zyr. The first few days that this really hit the fan, I was angry... at the rioters for bringing more bad press on themselves when it clearly would not help their image (and believe me, I am pro-immigrant if nothing else); and at the French gov't, for ignoring their poor for so long and preaching an empty message of integration for decades.
That said, I think this DID need to happen. I think the white French, especially in their sleepy little towns where they would never dream of such "urban" issues hitting them square in the face, needed to wake up. I think there is a very loud, very urgent message here, and I'm not sure if it could have been communicated by any other means.
Now, I think violence against personal property is one thing... but what bothered me about these "protests" was how violence started turning against human targets. Some rioters set a woman on fire who was getting off a bus on crutches, and beat a man to death when he was trying to put out a fire in his trashcan... that stuff is inhumane and stupid, no matter what the cause. I suppose if this had been a little more organized, maybe it would have been more "dialogue" and less violence... non-violent revolution, it ain't somethin' new.
By the way, I care very much about this stuff, no matter if I am an American or not. I think we as Americans NEED to care about what goes on in other countries, jesus. Blame it on the media's skewed presentation... but at the end of the day, it's our individual job to get on the Net and find out the headlines in other countries. If everyone around here did that, I can guarantee that the world's image of Americans would change big-time.