French Multiculturalism

There was an interesting article in the New York Times today about what Obama's presidency has meant for Europe, with regards to Europe's own race issues. Before moving to Paris I never thought of France (or Europe more generally)  as being a particularly multiethnic society, and had never considered multiculturalism outside of a Canadian/North American context. I think that after having been born and raised in a country that prides itself for its official multicultural policies and celebrates diversity (the so-called 'Canadian mosaic' as opposed to the 'American melting pot'), the French version of multiculturalism is a bit of a shock to the system (I'm tempted to call it the "French Bleached Canvas"). France is officially secular and colour-blind, meaning that it that there are no official records or statistics available on the ethnic or religious composition of the population; however, if Paris' metro system is any indication, France is a surprisingly diverse country, thanks, no doubt, in large part to a colonial history that involved every region of the world except South America. (That being said, I suspect that Paris, being a metropolitan centre, might be more the exception than the norm, because when I lived in central France in high school in a smaller town, I was definitely the only person of colour within a fifty mile radius.) The issues of ethnic and religious differences have been hotly debated in the last few years, especially since the riots in the suburbs of Paris back in 2005 and the controversy over religious symbols in public schools (including the burka/hijab/niqab, kippa, 'large' crosses, etc.), and there is currently a national debate on whether or not France should adopt some sort of affirmative action program to help overcome the structural and systemic racism that is holding minorities back from integrating into mainstream French society. I'm by no means an expert on the topic, but as a casual observer of French race policies (or lack thereof), I do think that a policy that deliberately ignores ethnic and religious diversity is problematic, as it doesn't permit policy makers to address the community specific needs of different groups; furthermore, by not allowing people to openly practise their faith or cultural traditions (within reasonable limits, which is of course a contested idea), there's a serious risk of creating taboos and more cross-cultural misunderstandings that simply increase hostility and polarization. Anyhow, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal, and I recognize the problems of and weaknesses of the Canadian brand of multiculturalism, but I really question if France's version of multiculturalism is a functional model for the 21st century. 

The first half of this week are reading days at Sciences Po, so there are no classes, and most foreign students have fled Paris, and are either at home (if they're European) or have gone to explore other parts of the country or continent. I, however, am still in Paris. I had plans to hit Barcelona for the five days that I had off, but after considering some of the stickiness that remains regarding my paperwork, and work obligations, I decided to stick around Paris. There are worse places in the world than Paris to be "stuck".