After any horrific crime, society invariably seeks to explain what seems to be inexplicable. Such a search is now occurring in France, as people in that country try to make some kind of sense of the killing spree perpetrated by Mohammed Merah, which culminated last week in the cold-blooded murders of schoolchildren and a rabbi in Toulouse.<\/p>\n
Merah\u2019s full motivation will never be known because he did not survive a stand-off with French police. But some of the explanations that are being offered by those who share many of Merah\u2019s experiences are disturbing and provide important lessons that cannot be ignored, even on the other side of the Atlantic. \u201cChildhood friends said\u2026 they could easily relate to his visceral rage, common among many second- and third-generation immigrants whose unemployment and alienation once again loom as a threat,\u201d states a report in The New York Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cLike many youths of North African descent, Mr. Merah identified more with Islam than with France, said a 23-year-old former friend from school,\u201d who gave his name only as Faoud. \u201cOur passports may say that we are French, but we don\u2019t feel French because we are never accepted here,\u201d said Faoud, standing at a corner store in Les Izards, Mr. Merah\u2019s dilapidated neighborhood. \u201cNo one can excuse what he did, but he is a product of French society, of the feeling that he had no hope, and nothing to lose.\u201d <\/p>\n To be absolutely clear, one cannot draw exact parallels between different societies, with different histories and different cultures. France is not the United States and the United States is not France. But nor can anyone deny that there are disturbing similarities. Like France, America is faced with the uncomfortable reality that we have a growing number of second and third generation immigrants \u201cwhose unemployment and alienation\u2026loom as a threat.\u201d We can argue about whose fault it is, but there are pockets in this country where many people who were born in this country might say, as Faoud does, \u201cOur passports may say we are American, but we don\u2019t feel American.\u201d<\/p>\n The take-away lesson from last week\u2019s tragic events is this: Admitting immigrants is easy. Assimilating immigrants into the social, economic and cultural mainstream of your country is difficult. It always has been and, in the highly mobile, interconnected, skills-intensive, world of the 21st century, it is only getting more difficult. We should be paying attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After any horrific crime, society invariably seeks to explain what seems to be inexplicable. Such a search is now occurring in France, as people in that country try to make some kind of sense of the killing spree perpetrated by Mohammed Merah, which culminated last week in the cold-blooded murders of schoolchildren and a rabbi<\/p>\n