Yeah, but that may not be accurate. These aren't quite "just more French riots" - they have been unusually serious, violent and destructive. At least, the French seem to think so. (Though this might partly be because it's non-white kids from the banlieu rather than white gilets jaunes from the countryside, I don't know.)
Essentially it's like how the average protest with minorities is treated vs Jan 6....
The former the cops toss tear gas, kettle them and beat them with baton and "rubber" bullets while the latter theres cops literally moving the barricades aside and escorting the rioters around....
Pretty much all videos I've seen of the current riots (mostly filmed via phones from bystanders) in France show a very different picture then racism.
Even that unfortunate incident when they killed the teen was very much reactionary, as people have been throwing Molotov cocktails etc at them for weeks now.
Honestly, i do understand the perspective of the rioters. Not having a chance to improve your life would make me violent too, i think... But framing the police as racists acting out is misguided considering that most of the issues are social in nature and not caused by the police.
And this might be too nitpicky for such an emotional topic, but the term racism gets thrown around way too much. I think it's more akin to classism, as it seems like you're still gonna get discriminated against if you originate from the poor areas, no matter what the color of your skin is.
As a person who has been to many protests I must point out that it's not that the police act exclusively because of racism but rather that thier decisions and choice of tactics are heavily influenced thereby.
Because of thier racism and prejudices they are too quick to use force, tear gas and other "compliance methods" against those they deem undesirable, while they consistently avoid use of such methods at all when they self identify with the protesting group.
That's what's being referred to
It's not overt kkk or Nazi shit, it's the subtle underlying racism that makes them shoot tear gas on the first day into a group of entirely peaceful people, which then result in the escalation to this extreme violence we now see.
It's a well established fact that the police are the source of escalation in many cases, choosing to attack the whole instead of seeking to address the problematic few.
The cops even send in fake protesters to engage in violence so they can then attack the protest. It was caught in Quebec on video, so I highly doubt it doesn't also happen in France where tensions and racism are far more significant. (See agent provocateur)
