On the Test of the French Republic as Taken (And Failed)

The "riots" and the youths implicated in them both test and challenge the cherished republican model of color blindness, the notion of a "French identity," and what it means to belong to French society itself. The three forms of resistance that emerged from these events were ignored or underreported in the (inter)national media: a peace demonstration and the creation of two critical associations; a collaborative rap CD critiquing these events; and the two lawsuits brought by the surviving families against the State and the police for having neglected to assist the three youths during the October 27 chase, and for the illegal interrogation and the endangerment of the life of survivor Muhittin Altun the day after. In Makomé's case, the criminal and racial aspects took center stage, as was beautifully demonstrated in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film La Haim, directly inspired by Makomé's story, which gave greater visibility to the situation in the banlieues, thanks to the film's commercial success. [...]2005, this pattern continued, reaching its climax in Clichy-sous-Bois. On October 27, 2005, making the most of the seasonal break from school, while also fasting in this period of Ramadan, a dozen youths hailing from the Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) Chene-Pointu government-subsidized housing projects (habitations a loyer modéré, or HLM) spent the afternoon playing soccer on a field located in neighboring Livry-Gargan.