Revolutionary cries reminiscent of the past, continue to ring through the streets of Paris, France. In 1789, inspired by the American Revolution, oppressed French peasants laid waste to the Bastille, which began a their bloody reign that today is known as the French Revolution. Under the blue, white, and red banner we still see today, “Liberty, Equal-ity, and Frater-nity” prevailed, (upon pain of death), and carried France into the mod-ern world quite smoothly.

On the global scene today, France is seen as country prospering in culture, wine, and romance that attracts tourists from all over the world. All the people seem satisfi ed with their socialist government and numerous job protection laws, (i.e.: employers are not allowed to fi re employ-ees at any point in time for any reason). This is France as the world has always known it, but in the past few months, new waves of dissent have revealed the less attractive side of the romance capital of the world.A decent portion of France's 61 million citizens are immigrants, (some legal and some not), from Northern African countries.

Drawn by the prospects of so-cialized medicine and job protection, out-dated farming families cross the Mediter-ranean Sea in search of new beginnings.Unfortunately for them, France is very proud of its cultural identity, making acculturation very difficult for many immigrants. Most Arabs live in largely Arab neighborhoods, separated from other communities by a social and economic glass wall.

This situation is not entirely unfamiliar to Texans in particular, who witness vast amounts of immigration from many Latin American countries on a daily basis. In these French Arabs neighborhoods, unemployment is prevalent. Recall, French law guarantees that once an employee has been hired, they cannot be fired. This leaves few positions available for educated and capable immigrants in search of jobs.

Sadly, racial prejudices also play a role in the high level of youth unemployment present among France's Arab population. In the same trend, while 99% of France's population is literate, youth unemployment is at an astonishing 22%. America's unemployment rate is only 3.5%.

In an attempt to remedy this problem, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin championed a law that would allow employers to fire workers ages 26 and under at any time during their first two years on the job. Though the law was intended to make it easier for employers to hire better workers, it was met with massive protests by student unionists, and unemployed youths.

Many students at both the university and high school levels blockaded their campuses and marched with slogans such as “Contre la Precarite,” which translates as “Against Precariousness.” Unlike in 1789, the new French Revolution cries not for freedom, but for greater government-provided support and security. However, it is difficult for a government to provide adequate support for a population growing due to immigration. In areas where unemployment is more common, protests against the law grew more violent.

Late last year, many a car was torched on the streets of Paris, starting a national crisis that cost the country some 150 million euros, (the equivalent of 180 million U.S. dollars). In the face of such strong opposition, the government more recently announced that the law will not be put into action. Prime Minister Villepin “wants to act quickly, because the dramatic situation and the despair of many youths demanded it.”

Now government officials are trying to enact a more mild policy geared toward helping youths get jobs.This crisis has only served to bring to the sur-face the inequalities between immigrants and French-born citi-zens. Just as a vast separation of classes spurred the French Revolu-tion, the disparities between the apartment dwelling well to do and the inhabitants of suburbia have finally erupted into conflict.However, we now live in a more civi-lized age when problems are more often solved by negotiation than the guillotine. Though displeasure with the French government is said to run high at the moment, however, both factions are attempting diplomacy.

In a civilized society, compromise holds different peoples together. In the future, it can be assumed that the French government will be more cautious about displeasing its citizens. A certain quote from the movie “V for Vendetta” comes to mind, namely, “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."