French Immigration

Honors Forum has been interesting so far. If not for the wealth of information on French immigration and racism, then simply for the intense recognition of the many worldviews that have together in one classroom. The dynamics of the class itself demonstrate an unusual mixture of the internationally born, locals, and those that fall somewhere in between. As a senior International Studies major it is far more interesting to watch the students interact and draw conclusions on world events then to actually learn the information; as interesting as I really do find our Forum topic. The interests, world experiences, and influences of classmates are vividly expressed in discussion.

On the topic of racism and immigration: Many ideas have been expressed in class and I feel it is far too early and too important of a topic to draw conclusions rashly, but I do feel a few ideas have come up that are important in how I will frame my conclusions.

First: In an increasingly globalized society, where does the responsibility of the international community fall in relation to how human rights are ensured? If nationals of many countries are moving into other nations with new and foreign traditions how do we as an international community working towards global human rights and freedoms ensure that they receive those freedoms? I believe that the international community has not only as its obligation/responsibility but its privilege to ensure the rights of immigrants, refugees, and even nationals in the face of discrimination, stratification, and hate. When in world history has a community ever had such an opportunity as now to impact so many lives for the better? We have the technology, freedom, and international bodies to carry out a mass revolution of how we treat human rights violations and injustice. I am not calling for someone like the USA to become international police as they have done, but rather citizens of all nations to recognize that we are increasingly citizen's of the world rather than an individual nation, with the freedoms we have of travel, economy, and service in a global community we also have a responsibility to that community to ensure its just development and the safety of its other citizens.

Second: No one should have to leave anywhere because they cannot make a living or express their traditions freely due to unjust laws. We need to stop trying to remove the people from an unjust situation and start remedying the unjust situation. There are a few radical ideas that have become the tradition of certain groups that are infringements on human rights, such as suicide bombings, but these are few and far between. The majority of the traditions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other religions are completely harmless and individualistic. France may want a complete separation of church and state, but by passing laws such as those against head scarves they are not preventing church and state from intermixing they are robbing individuals of their dignity. Laws do not change the people's faith; if anything resistance makes their faith stronger in many cases. This is not a situation of worrying that the church will overtake the state, but rather that new traditions will overtake or challenge old ones. Where would France or any nation be now if these exact situations had not occurred all throughout history?

How will France react to the increase in immigration and new traditions? I have no idea, but if the international community sits back and not only allows this kind of discrimination in France but within many other national borders, including the US, I think that the principles that have for so long driven globalism will be compromised and a new era will be begin. What that era looks like I have ideas, but I think I will save those for a different day...