Yesterday (Tuesday June 27th 2023), a seventeen year old died in the hands of the police for not complying to a police arrest while presenting no immediate danger to the man who shot him and his colleagues. The shooter told the young man he was going to shoot him while his colleagues pressed him to do so.
I refuse to subject myself to the disturbing videos of police brutality towards individuals who resemble me anymore. It is traumatic. However, these videos carry immense significance as they unveil the truth and serve as the final recourse for achieving justice.
France has a deep-rooted problem with non-white citizens and immigrants.
Tragically, lives are lost at the hands of the police in France solely because of one’s appearance. Moreover, in France, the President responds with insults when approached for assistance. The constant contempt and blame expressed by politicians towards minorities inflict psychological violence that we are forced to endure.
During his visit in Marseille, the President had shown no signs of empathy or understanding. It is profoundly disheartening to witness the President undermining citizens when they express their struggles in finding employment. The President, a white individual, condescends to these citizens by falsely suggesting that he can easily secure them a job in a tourist area. In his mindset, minorities are perceived as capable of only occupying menial positions, and he fails to acknowledge that they possess talents and aspirations beyond the limits imposed by his biases.
Irrespective of the work and efforts one does, if you are not white in France, it seems inconsequential. If you struggle to secure employment, the blame is unfairly placed on you. While politicians repeat non stop that France is not racist, the fact remains that minority communities have encountered racism firsthand. Yet, these experiences are often dismissed as mere figments of our imagination. Regrettably, the French media exhibits no compassion towards people like me. Above all else, we are made to feel unwelcome, and our citizenship holds little value.
I live in constant fear for myself and my loved ones within the borders of my own country. As a French citizen, I should not have to experience this fear, yet I do. It is a grim reality that I am treated as a second-class citizen and that a simple misunderstanding or an abuse of power could potentially cost me my life.
On Twitter, individuals can heartlessly mock the deaths of those who resemble me without facing any consequences. Meanwhile, the far-right spreads fabricated news under the guise of "freedom of speech." However, if I dare to show no empathy for the demise of five billionaires in a submarine, I am immediately branded heartless. Every single day, people from minority backgrounds endure discrimination and danger that no billionaire could fathom in a hundred lifetimes.
The daily deadly reality faced by minorities is met with a distinct lack of empathy. I am hurt, I am angry and I feel hopeless and powerless in this moment. Those situations keep happening and nothing has been done to acknowledge our pain and our fears.
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