40 Days in Paris > Bienvenue à 40 Jours à Paris

Can a democracy have an "official" history?

"Hardly had the fires died down in the Paris suburbs, as the November rioting by immigrant youths petered out, than the flames of another conflict fed by France's colonial past began to sweep through the political landscape here.

This time they are metaphorical. But the passionate debate under way over whether French history teachers should stress positive aspects of colonialism is generating almost as much heat. The argument reveals the same ambivalence among French politicians about their country's former empire and its peoples which also fuels much of the immigrants' alienation."

-- Peter Ford, Christian Science Monitor

posted by MonsieurCAVALIER @ 4.1.06