The Observer view on the riots in France: a grim tale of the growing gulf between haves and have-nots

Right- and leftwing politicians, social scientists, analysts and commentators have rushed to variously condemn, explain, exploit and justify the fury and violence that erupted in many French cities after Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old boy of north African descent. But some of the most revealing and insightful testimony came from Kendra, a resident of the Pablo Picasso estate in the Nanterre suburb of Paris, near to where the teenager was killed during a traffic-stop. There have been 21 fatal police traffic-stop shootings since 2020. Most of the victims...