Washington Post har besøkt Reynerie, en forstad til Toulouse, der avstanden mellom innvandrerungdommen og fransk hjemlig kultur er enorm, og økende. Det er element av territoriell kontroll: «De hvite skal jages ut».

Municipal police do not patrol Reynerie, even during the day, when markets and stores are open. «It is not their duty to restore order,» Lloret explained. «Our police handle traffic and thefts, you know, things like that.»

The national gendarmerie and riot police are the only forces of order, and they come only at night. City employees are refusing to work at their offices in the district because of the danger. Bus drivers have begged off routes in Mirail, and the subway closes before sundown.

Lloret said sorting things out with the community is the role of nongovernmental social welfare associations. But scenes in Reynerie this past week showed that such groups have a fight on their hands.

On Wednesday, groups of social workers called for an outdoor meeting to appeal for peace. A couple of young men began to harangue the workers. «Go home. You’re white. You don’t belong here. You have nice jobs. Go back to France,» one said. The young men cheered as a stolen car buzzed by, its passengers on their way to torch the kindergarten.

«This confrontation was a shock,» said Silviane Becker, a member of the Mirail Social Education Association. «They insult us because the ones they really want to insult are absent.»

Members of leftist opposition parties visiting Reynerie on Thursday got a similarly hostile reception. People in the crowd in Reynerie’s central square yelled that the parties only show up when there is trouble.

Abou explained the mood: «We want communication, but not just token. We want apologies, and we want to talk about serious problems.» He defended the torching of the kindergarten as a symbolic expulsion of France from Reynerie.

Jean-Pierre Lloret er viseborgermester med ansvar for Reynerie.

A French City and Its Underclass Drift Apart
Riots in Toulouse Reveal Gulf Between Officials, Minorities

By Daniel Williams