Township Rebellion in Paris

Now freedom must be fundamental
In Johannesburg or South Central
On the mic, 'cause someone should tell 'em
To kick in the township rebellion
-- Township Rebellion By Rage Against the Machine, 1992

This has not received a lot of press in the United States, but the residents of poor Paris suburbs have been rioting for the last week because a couple of teenage kids were electrocuted as they tried to evade police. The rioting, which started on Thursday of last week, has spread to about 20 towns outside of Paris. Somehow this has become less about the kids that died and more about the injustices and inequalities that the poor people in these towns have suffered, just like the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles over a decade ago. Hey, living in the projects sucks no matter what country you live in. But alas, can't we all just get along?

Fiery riots spread beyond Paris, CNN 11/04/05
Arson attacks plague France as unrest spreads, MSNBC 11/04/05