Chinese immigrant, murdered in Paris, spotlights violence against Asians [View all]

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The death was the culmination of months, even years, of racial tensions in Paris and its suburbs that intensified this summer, fueled by long-held stereotypes of the Chinese as weak yet unusually successful residents of economically disadvantaged, immigrant-heavy suburbs. Often the tensions stem from rivalries between immigrant groups themselves.

While the death surprised few Franco-Asians, it did reveal a volatile racial landscape in France that is far more complex than the country’s French majority and large Muslim minority, whose struggle for integration has received the most attention.

In early September, 60,000 demonstrators of Chinese or other Asian origin marched in Paris to denounce violence and discrimination and to press the government for more vigorous action to ensure the safety of all French citizens, no matter their race. They waved French flags, wore T-shirts emblazoned with the tricolor, and sang “La Marseillaise.”

Racial discrimination and violence, many in the community lament, is a problem that has long defied remedy. Six years ago, people of Chinese origin similarly protested racial violence aimed at them in Paris’s Belleville neighborhood, in the 10th Arrondisement, an area with a large Chinese community.

http://nyti.ms/2e80v8p

My comment: After numerous robberies of Chinese tourists in Paris (not to mention the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian) Paris is not looking very friendly to tourists -- particularly Asian tourists. No wonder they're now avoiding France.

A few years ago, I spent two months in Paris. Every single friend who visited me got robbed during their stay. I guess it's part of the Paris experience, except now it involves guns.