Recent riots in Paris, France, have been a topic of much debate in international media and forums. Governments and policy makers are revisiting their immigration and naturalization policies to ensure they are not faced with the same dilemma on their soils. Holland faced a social crisis when a Holland citizen of immigrant descent murdered the television producer Van Gogh in broad daylight. It is important for us as immigrants to analyze such events and take corrective action to prevent the same from happening again.
France, like England and Holland, has been one of the imperial powers with colonies around the world. As England took hold of South Asia, France, an archrival, focused its attention on North Africa, gaining control of Algiers, Nigeria and Morocco as colonies. Being part of French rule, citizens of these countries were granted special immigration rights, which resulted in a strong African Muslim population in France that now comprise almost 11% of the total population of 60 million.
Although first generation immigrants in France lived as second-class citizens, the second generation, born and raised in France, is not willing to accept that discrimination. These new French citizens are forced to live in ghettos spread across the outskirts of Paris. Predominant Muslim, these populations have over 60% unemployment rate, three times that of the national average, with no opportunity to socially blend with the larger French culture. As a culturally rich nation with almost a thousand year history, the French have tried to hold on to their culture; jealously guarding against integration of other cultures into its own.
France as an economy is in a deep recession, which has further fuelled the divide among various social classes and raised ethnic tensions. France’s immigrant children feel an identity crisis; feeling no real association to either their parent’s culture or to the country they were born in. This combination of lost identity and lack of economic well being created a social time bomb waiting to be ignited. An error of judgment by law enforcement authorities sparked the anger when Police killed two young men, mistaking them for criminals fleeing from a crime scene.
Another social time bomb waiting to explode is in Germany where Turkish immigrants, even after almost three generations are not allowed to integrate with the larger German culture. They are at the lowest economic and social level. It is only a matter of time when young German’s of Turkish descent take a clue from French riots and pursue the same tactics to claim their rights in the society they live in.
The US on the other hand is considered a melting pot where people from all over the world are allowed to avail economic opportunity without any prejudice of race, color, creed, sex or religious preference. This is what is classified as an American Dream. The founding fathers realized that US should always get fresh ideas and foreign blood to keep itself vibrant. They ensured this through the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights in the US constitution giving equal rights to all citizens born or naturalized who pledge their allegiance to the US regardless of their heritage. The success of this American experience, after over 200 years of history, can be contributed to the combination of policies, social structure and economic fabric.
All this, however, changed after 911 when policy makers decided to depart from the main tenants of the American Dream and vision of the founding fathers by taking away civil liberties in certain clauses of the Patriot Act, as part of the solution to prevent such tragedies. The Patriot Act will become permanent at the end of this year. There is already talk of creating a nation of two classes of citizens. Children born to certain classes of immigrants will not be given equal citizen rights. If these bills are passed, it will be a final nail in the coffin of the American Dream, and one that will adversely affect the US image of being a beacon of equal rights. With legitimization of discrimination and without equal opportunity to all, the social structure of this country will be severely weakened. Scientific circles are already worried about the departure of intellectuals from US to their native countries or other immigrant-friendly countries. The founder of Intel, Gordon Moore, in an interview suggested in good humor that the US should staple a Green Card to each PhD degree awarded to a foreign student.
It is important for all immigrant communities to be politically active especially in registering their votes and participating in elections by casting their votes. We should also form political action committees to identify best candidates seeking office and also form lobbying organizations. Immigrant communities can make better their situation in their adopted homeland by having a voice.Globalization means less immigration throughout the world but the politics prevent this vision to be realized. In today’s world the globe is increasingly divided along ethnic and sectarian lines. All of us migrate for better economic opportunities for our future generations and ourselves. If the Government of our adopted country is unwilling to do much for us, we must try to improve conditions for ourselves. We cannot afford to sit idle on the sidelines; we must get involved in the political process.
Immigrant: the second-class citizen Recent riots …
December 6, 2005 at 6:36 pm · Filed under Political Commentary
Immigrant: the second-class citizen
Recent riots in Paris, France, have been a topic of much debate in international media and forums. Governments and policy makers are revisiting their immigration and naturalization policies to ensure they are not faced with the same dilemma on their soils. Holland faced a social crisis when a Holland citizen of immigrant descent murdered the television producer Van Gogh in broad daylight. It is important for us as immigrants to analyze such events and take corrective action to prevent the same from happening again.
France, like England and Holland, has been one of the imperial powers with colonies around the world. As England took hold of South Asia, France, an archrival, focused its attention on North Africa, gaining control of Algiers, Nigeria and Morocco as colonies. Being part of French rule, citizens of these countries were granted special immigration rights, which resulted in a strong African Muslim population in France that now comprise almost 11% of the total population of 60 million.
Although first generation immigrants in France lived as second-class citizens, the second generation, born and raised in France, is not willing to accept that discrimination. These new French citizens are forced to live in ghettos spread across the outskirts of Paris. Predominant Muslim, these populations have over 60% unemployment rate, three times that of the national average, with no opportunity to socially blend with the larger French culture. As a culturally rich nation with almost a thousand year history, the French have tried to hold on to their culture; jealously guarding against integration of other cultures into its own.
France as an economy is in a deep recession, which has further fuelled the divide among various social classes and raised ethnic tensions. France’s immigrant children feel an identity crisis; feeling no real association to either their parent’s culture or to the country they were born in. This combination of lost identity and lack of economic well being created a social time bomb waiting to be ignited. An error of judgment by law enforcement authorities sparked the anger when Police killed two young men, mistaking them for criminals fleeing from a crime scene.
Another social time bomb waiting to explode is in Germany where Turkish immigrants, even after almost three generations are not allowed to integrate with the larger German culture. They are at the lowest economic and social level. It is only a matter of time when young German’s of Turkish descent take a clue from French riots and pursue the same tactics to claim their rights in the society they live in.
The US on the other hand is considered a melting pot where people from all over the world are allowed to avail economic opportunity without any prejudice of race, color, creed, sex or religious preference. This is what is classified as an American Dream. The founding fathers realized that US should always get fresh ideas and foreign blood to keep itself vibrant. They ensured this through the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights in the US constitution giving equal rights to all citizens born or naturalized who pledge their allegiance to the US regardless of their heritage. The success of this American experience, after over 200 years of history, can be contributed to the combination of policies, social structure and economic fabric.
All this, however, changed after 911 when policy makers decided to depart from the main tenants of the American Dream and vision of the founding fathers by taking away civil liberties in certain clauses of the Patriot Act, as part of the solution to prevent such tragedies. The Patriot Act will become permanent at the end of this year. There is already talk of creating a nation of two classes of citizens. Children born to certain classes of immigrants will not be given equal citizen rights. If these bills are passed, it will be a final nail in the coffin of the American Dream, and one that will adversely affect the US image of being a beacon of equal rights. With legitimization of discrimination and without equal opportunity to all, the social structure of this country will be severely weakened. Scientific circles are already worried about the departure of intellectuals from US to their native countries or other immigrant-friendly countries. The founder of Intel, Gordon Moore, in an interview suggested in good humor that the US should staple a Green Card to each PhD degree awarded to a foreign student.
It is important for all immigrant communities to be politically active especially in registering their votes and participating in elections by casting their votes. We should also form political action committees to identify best candidates seeking office and also form lobbying organizations. Immigrant communities can make better their situation in their adopted homeland by having a voice.Globalization means less immigration throughout the world but the politics prevent this vision to be realized. In today’s world the globe is increasingly divided along ethnic and sectarian lines. All of us migrate for better economic opportunities for our future generations and ourselves. If the Government of our adopted country is unwilling to do much for us, we must try to improve conditions for ourselves. We cannot afford to sit idle on the sidelines; we must get involved in the political process.
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