Beating of Roma teen shows French racism not limited to neo-Nazis 21/07/2014 News, Video WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO: Outrage in France after Roma boy beaten, left to die in brutal attack outside Paris The brutal beating of a Roma boy in a suburb north of France has caused outrage at France’s highest levels, with President Francois Hollande denouncing it as ‘unspeakable.’ The boy remains in a coma at a Paris hospital. A Roma boy named Darius was found beaten and left in a shopping cart in a suburb north of Paris last week. The attack has sparked outrage across France. When one thinks of vigilante violence against the Roma in France, most would assume the attackers are white and possibly supporters of the neo-fascist National Front. But polls show that nearly 80% of France agrees with openly xenophobic statements about the Roma. That’s why many were not surprised recently when a Roma teenager was beaten nearly to death, not by skinheads, but by some two dozen French inhabitants who were reportedly of Arab and sub-Saharan African descent. The French state has led such a venomous anti-Roma campaign that it seems nearly everyone is on board with mistreating France’s poorest minority. France has only around 17,000 Roma, who dwell in truly third-world conditions. But instead of giving just a small degree of assistance, the administration of Francois Hollande has reached new highs in expulsions and camp demolitions, in a brutal campaign of state intimidation. The Roma teen remains in a coma, and while he has his supporters, the attack shows that France’s Roma hate is not limited to neo-Nazis, but can be found on almost every street corner. As long as France keeps denying the vast scale of its anti-Roma discrimination, and without a comprehensive government program to raise the Roma’s stature in the eyes of the average French person, France’s ‘anti-Roma hunt’ is likely to continue. Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Current ye@r * Leave this field empty