French Friends speak on riots
'I have never experienced the ghetto, nor police harassment or violence, and yet I’m angry. How can I even put myself in the shoes of those who experience it daily?'
Quakers in France quoted the 2022 Swarthmore Lecture in response to the rioting that took place in France this month.
Writing on Facebook, the French Friends referred to Helen Minnis’ observation that ‘violence is often rooted in injustice’.
The riots swept parts of France in response to the shooting of a teenager of North African descent during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb.
Cars and buildings were set alight and looted, as violent outbursts cropped up in some parts of France, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Tours, Nantes and Grenoble.
One Friend, from Toulouse Meeting, said that he didn’t know of any Friends who had been affected. ‘I think most of us are fairly safe. Riots are sadly nothing new and usually restricted to the ghettos… I have never experienced the ghetto, nor police harassment or violence, and yet I’m angry. How can I even put myself in the shoes of those who experience it daily? Please keep the people who are most suffering in the light.’
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