France is the number one most visited country in the world, for its rich cultural heritage, beautiful architecture, food, wine, and of course because it is home to the beloved “City of Love,” Paris. We all know, there aren’t many people who would turn down a trip to France, I mean why would you? 

 Although all these things are true, there is more to France than all of its attractive traits; this is what France thrives on just like our little town Mendocino; Tourism. In 2019, 90 million people visited France, contributing to the French economy significantly with 198.3 billion euros from tourism in 2018. Now this is the France we know, but what about the France we ignore?

When the Second World War came to an end, “France and most of Europe were left destroyed, cities were ruined, Economies were dysfunctional, the people were hungry and the soviets grew an even greater threat”. On April 3 1948 President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan which was designed to reconstruct Europe. 

For the next four years following 1948, The United States funded 13.3 billion dollars to Europe’s Economic Recovery. The Marshall Plan provided markets for American goods, created reliable trading partners, and supported stable democratic governments in Europe. Now I know what you’re thinking, this is just nations helping each other out in desperate times. But what about the people of France and those who directly rebuilt France? To rebuild France they were gonna need some extra hands, so France opened up its borders. During this time people were desperate for work and rebuilding Europe was critical, and this would not be a short process. 

The majority of ethnic groups that immigrated to France were from Africa, specifically North African Countries like Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Pied Noir (people of European descent who were born and raised in Africa during the European colonies/Protectorate), and people from Portugal and other European countries as well. During the 1950s, in North Africa, multiple revolutions were taking place, some resulting in War. The Algerian War 1954-1962 was a war fought by guerrilla warfare and France to decolonize Algeria from France. This was a brutal war; the people of Algeria were enraged from the past hundred and thirty-two years of French Brutality and Colonization. This resulted in the reconstruction of France slowing down because their priority was to ensure they could continue to exploit Algeria for money.

This didn’t stop North Africans from immigrating to France, because France was so desperate to rebuild, their borders were open to Africa throughout all of this despite being in conflict with the first half of the continent, so as you would imagine there was a lot of division.  Those who immigrated to France particularly North Africans, like many were trying to make a better life for themselves, escaping the terrorism that went on in their country a large amount of that terrorism being due to French colonization. Therefore the population grew and a lack of housing grew due to it being in the process of being rebuilt so France needed to find a quick way to respond. 

This is when the HLM’s were introduced (Housing at moderate rent) in the 1950s to the 1960s. These concrete towers were supposed to be temporary but the majority of those same HLM are still here to this day and are only now being destroyed to be rebuilt again. Most suburbs around French cities are made up of HLM because there are so many they became towns of just HLM, which are nicknamed le Cite which translates to what Americans often call projects.

The temporary solution for their immigrants has become permanent. How convenient is that? Most of Les Cite has been neglected by the French Government ever since they came to be, so naturally these neighborhoods/towns of HLM turned into ghettos. Because these suburbs of HLM are so common, if someone were to ask you where you are from and you responded by saying you’re from one of these suburbs, you would be stereotyped as uneducated, gang-affiliated, poor, and many other things. By law, 20% of every town must be HLM, which can be a good thing for those with a low income, but this is only one reason for the start of HLM. However, these apartments were used as a convenient way to put away all the immigrants they had “welcomed” into the country. 

In 1972 Le Pen founded the Front National which is a far-right political party in France; it is also an anti-immigration party that advocates for significant cuts to legal immigration and protection of French identity. The National Rally has put out a candidate for every presidential election since 1974. Jeane Marie Le Pen was the first candidate to run in 1974 and later as well as 1988, 1995, 2002, and 2007; he failed. “ Le Pen also believes that multiculturalism has failed and preaches for de-Islamization.” 

This is a generalization but immigrants at the end of the day will have a different culture and most often will practice the traditions that they have been practicing their entire lives before immigrating. Rejecting a group of people for a difference in culture is bluntly racist, especially after welcoming them into your country. And the worst of all of this is that the French government knew that immigrants from poor countries would be more than willing to do the dirty work. To expect those who grew up in a different culture to forget about where they came from is not only illogical but it is impossible and a bit fascist.

In 2010 France banned Niqabs. (an Islamic veil that covers one face & body); this law was passed because the Niqab could be used in a malicious way such as serving like a mask or to decrease suspicion of one who may be committing a criminal act. France framed this law as a way of promoting equality. France has a large population of Muslims, so this impacted many and was protested against. A commonly used argument is that because in some Muslim countries, women are forced to wear the Niqab or Burqa, they should not be forced to do the same in France.

 However, this is ridiculous because these Muslim countries where women are forced to wear the veil are countries that are controlled by Muslim Extremists. Forcing a woman who practices Islam and wishes to display her religious practices as she pleases is just as inequal as those who are forced to wear it ,so to think that you are better than those countries with that ideology is hypocritical. Besides people forget that every religion has extremists, and every country has had a point in history when it was controlled by religious extremists 

In France Arabs who grew up in these Suburbs are stereotyped as criminals and uneducated; even if this were true, everything has a cause and an effect; if you treat people a certain way and continue to treat them a certain way, people will turn against you; that is only human nature. So to complain of something you have caused and think the solution is to deport them is absurd. 

All these factors created aversion between the French and “Foreigners”; the children of immigrants who grew up watching their parents struggle and constantly get rejected because of racist stereotypes and prejudice grew up to hate the government of the country they live in. People who are “first, second, third generations of immigrant children” who were born and raised in France should not be categorized as anything other than French. French Nationalism is a big issue because French people refuse to accept any outside cultural influences because they are scared of theres being forgotten. I find that to be ignorant and sad because the only we can obtain equality is by mixing our cultures, but that doesn’t mean we have to forget one or the other.

Another big issue in France similar to the United States is Police brutality; Nahel Mazouk is a recent example of this. Nahel was a 17-year-old French teenager of Moroccan and Algerian descent who was shot at point range by two police officers in an attempt to flee the scene after being caught driving without a license; the only logical motive for this would be racism because he was an arab kid who grew up in Nazzare, which is a banlieue (Suburb) of Paris. In several European countries including France, “the philosophy of the law holds that it is human nature to want to escape. In these countries, escapees who do not break any other laws are not charged and no extra time is added to their sentence.” Therefore shooting Nahel Mazouk was not only morally wrong but not justified by the law. Something I’ve always liked about the French is their way of protesting; as a culture they like to riot; it didn’t just stop at the French Revolution. When something is unjust, people do something about it, even if it takes violence.

Social equality is a great issue in France, and tension between race and class is critical. Finally, France is slowly starting to take action to fix its mistakes and undo the damage that was done after so many years. One way the country is doing so is by destroying Les Cite of France containing HLM’s that have been there for decades. In doing so, the tension between gangs and such is resolved as well as conflict over territory by relocating the inhabitors into other HLM’s that are much nicer than the ones they are destroying, creating much more pleasant environments. 

In place of the HLM’s they are destroying there will be improved HLMs built. These HLMs will be spread out and resemble apartments instead of concrete towers. However, this will be and has continued to be a long process considering the fact that this new plan started somewhere around 2005. So next time you take a trip to France enjoy the beauty, art, architecture, and food, maybe think about exploring the country beyond these characteristics and take a look at the other side.