In France, a country known for its revolutionary spirit and its declaration of ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité,’ civil unrest has erupted, protests engulfed the nation in late June and early July following the death of Nahel Merzouk, , a 17-year-old French citizen of Algerian and Moroccan descent. Merzouk was fatally shot in the chest during a routine police traffic check in Nanterre. In over a week of protests more than 45,000 police officers were deployed around the country. Several thousand people were arrested. The protests that consumed the nation were not random acts of lawlessness, but a defiant cry from a marginalized minority population. The clamor resonates with pain, frustration, and unrelenting demands for justice and equality.
The smoldering embers of discontent and outrage in France were kindled long before the tragic death of Nahel Merzouk. These embers were stoked by cases like that of Théo Luhaka, a Black soccer player, whose brutal treatment by the police in 2017 ignited protests and heightened demands for police reform.
To fully understand the intensity of French protests, we must consider the intricate web of historical and socio-political factors. France’s past as a colonial power left a legacy of deep-seated tension and strife. Many French citizens, like Nahel and Théo, trace their lineage back to former colonies, carrying with them a legacy fraught with the painful remnants of colonization. In present-day France, these communities often face rampant racism, nativism, and a latent colonial mindset. The enduring remnants of these colonial ties manifest in the socio-economic marginalization of immigrant communities, exacerbating tensions and contributing to the ongoing cycle of violence and protest. . The mistreatment and marginalization of minority communities, particularly those of Algerian and Moroccan descent collectively fuel the fires of fury that have spread across the French landscape, They serve as a stark reminder of the work that remains undone in addressing the nation’s complex racial and colonial history.
A study by Defender’s Rights, an independent administrative authority responsible for police and the gendarmerie, in 2017 found that “young men perceived to be Black or Arab” were 20 times more likely to be checked by the police than the rest of the population. France’s long-standing “policy of numbers,” introduced by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2003, where officers are expected to make a certain number of arrests, leading to heightened tension between law enforcement and communities of color.
There are also broader implications. These punitive approaches contribute to the criminalization of youth, especially minority youth, further perpetuating cycles of crime and poverty. They create a narrative of these youth as ‘out-of-control’ or inherently criminal.
The relationship between police and the community should not be built on fear and force, but on trust and mutual respect. And yet, that seems to be a global struggle. The mistrust and fear created by such law enforcement strategies can erode the very fabric of our communities, leading to social unrest and, eventually, to the riots that we are witnessing in France.
France, much like the United States, is entrenched in a pattern of conflict and defiance. A police incident occurs, resulting in outcry and demands for reform. But the response is not an earnest evaluation of the system; rather, it’s a cycle of dismissals, further police empowerment, and denial of the problem’s structural, systemic nature.
Echoing in the outcry over Nahel Merzouk and Théo Luhaka, we find a sorrowful familiarity in the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. Their untimely deaths have further exposed the deep-seated issues of systemic racism and police brutality, issues that are not confined by national borders, but permeate societies worldwide.
With this global backdrop in mind, it becomes evident that the struggle for justice and equality in France is not an isolated event, but part of an interconnected web of resistance against systemic oppression. It underscores the pressing need for comprehensive and inclusive conversations on policing, racial injustice, and systemic racism on a global scale.
—
Previously Published on Historian Speaks
Toufik-de-Planoise on Wikimedia under CC License
Français : Scène de violences urbaines consécutives à l’homicide de Nahel Merzouk, ici dans la nuit du 29 au 30 juin 2023 sur le quartier de Planoise à Besançon. Environ deux-cent protagonistes se sont regroupés à la tombée de la nuit dans le secteur de l’Île-de-France, s’engageant dans une poussée insurrectionnelle pendant plus de quatre heures : mise en place de barricades, destruction de véhicules et mobiliers urbains, pillage d’un supermarché EuroMarket, incendie d’une agence bancaire Crédit Mutuel, ou encore affrontements avec les services de police avec usage de feux d’artifices, projectiles et cocktails molotov.
