Assimilation and French society: double standards?

Some people have accused me of defending the French attitude when it comes to assimilation in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. As the guy from Ang Mo Kio who went to live, study and work in France and had an absolutely amazing time when I was there,  the least I can do is to try to explain this aspect of French culture because they are not going to change and if you have a problem with it, then well, that's probably because you don't understand it well enough. You may not like what I am going to say but I'll appreciate it if you took the time to read it.

That's me at the Place de la Republique in happier times. 

Many nations in the West have a large minority made up of migrants - from Canada to Germany to Australia to America to the UK - this is not unique to France, but where France stands out in this aspect is their absolute resolve in insisting that all migrants must assimilate. All countries go to some extent to try to integrate their new migrants by offering them help to fit into their new country, but France goes further than that: I can only describe it as a carrot-and-stick approach: offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. Migrants who do assimilate are warmly welcomed and accepted by French society - those who do not however are ostracized to the margins of society. Note that this is not an official government policy set out in law, but rather one that is unofficially enforced in school playgrounds, in work places and in the streets all over France.

I can imagine people like my parents screaming bloody murder already, accusing the French of racism because migrants are expected to embrace all things French from the language to the culture - it doesn't necessarily mean giving up your language and culture of your country of origin, it just means having to learn a new language and about a new culture, the way I did. I still speak Hokkien and Mandarin today, all I did was study French to a very high standard too. No French person ever said to me that I must forget how to speak Chinese and speak only French if I wanted to live in France - they only asked that I speak French with them (and not any other language) whilst studying and working there. If anything, all the French people I've met have been very impressed by the way I have mastered so many different languages and indeed, French people are far more multilingual than Singaporeans. In French high schools (the lycée), it is compulsory for all students to do two foreign languages to a high standard - one of those languages is usually English and the other can be anything from German to Spanish to Russian to Mandarin. This means that any well-educated French person is trilingual, compared to most Singaporeans who are at best bilingual.

I have truly embraced all things French.

But let me turn this around for you: imagine if you wanted to convert to Islam and you visited your local mosque. The Imam there is very welcoming and happy to explain Islam to you - but as you find out about what it means to be a Muslim, you start picking and choosing. "Oh I really wanna become a Muslim thing but I will have a problem with the fasting. Like can I just fast for a few hours during Ramadan as a symbolic gesture as I get really moody when I am very hungry. Oh and this whole thing about the halal diet, can I make an exception like once a week or on public holidays to eat pork because I grew up eating pork and I really like bacon? And this praying five times a day thing, I don't think it's going to be compatible with my work schedule, can I just make up for it by praying twice a day but praying a lot longer each time I pray?" The Imam will probably look at you in disbelief and tell you that those are the rules and that they are not negotiable. The bottom line is that if you want to become a Muslim, then you have to follow the rules of Islam. Such are the rules - you can't pick and choose what you like, this is not a menu at a restaurant.

Now in the example of the hypothetical situation, you would most certainly take the side of the frustrated Imam and condemn the attitude of the person who is trying to pick and choose what rules he wants to follow and which he wants to ignore. So why is it so hard to understand the French people in the way they have insisted that immigrants have to become French if they want to live in France and be accepted by French society? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander - why the double standards then? Let's compare this to the UK, where the situation is somewhat different. British people do not insist on assimilation the way the French do; rather, they follow a model of a "multi-cultural society". The Brits accept that British society is made up of people of different cultures, faiths and backgrounds and that we must all respect and tolerate this diversity in order for us to get along. Anyone who starts insisting that migrants learn how to speak English or assimilate is often deemed to be either a right wing extremist or a racist.

Has the recent terrorist attack made French people question their attitude?

What is frustrating about the British model though, is that there is still this division between someone who is English (ie. white, Anglo-Saxon) and someone who is British but of a non-white ethnic origin. Ironically, this is far less the case in Wales where identity of being Welsh is increasingly tied up with a knowledge of the Welsh language, rather than with any definition based on the colour of one's skin. With English being the most widely spoken language in the world (including those who speak it as a second or foreign language, not just native speakers), the English language doesn't really define Britishness the way the French or Welsh language plays such a big part in France and Wales. In France, you can be black or Asian and still be considered 100% French - whereas in the UK, you can be born and bed in this country but if your skin is of the wrong colour, you are at best British, but never considered truly English. Quite simply, the French system is colour-blind and based on an acceptance of French identity and in my humble opinion, that makes it a far superior and less racist system. I make no bones about it: I prefer the French system.

I have lived, studied and worked in France. From my experience, I have observed that the most successful minorities in France are those who have assimilated extremely well into French society. Here's the pattern I've observed: the first generation of migrants usually struggle with the language and that pushes them to the margins of society. The second generation of migrants is the crucial part of the equation: if they can get pass the language barrier (we're talking about children of migrants born in France, who grew up in France and were educated in French schools), then they are the ones who are usually much better assimilated. In rare instances, you get migrants like myself who take just a few years to get over the language barrier - I studied at one of the top universities in France and have worked in France using French (not English) as the primary language of communication. I know it sounds extremely simplistic on my part, but if far more effort was spent making sure new migrants actually get pass the language barrier, they would have access to better education and jobs  and would not be pushed to the margins of society: isolated, ostracized and angry. Migrants will not become radicalized when they have a good education, good jobs and a very good future.

And yet the ghettos exist and they are grim places. The focus of the investigations today have been on the neighbourhood of Molenbeek in Brussels, a Muslim ghetto that is unfortunately notorious of radicalized Muslims. As unreal as it seems, I have met immigrants in France who don't speak French. Therein lies a really difficult quagmire: the balance between the ideals of "liberté, égalité, fraternité" and trying to deal with migrants who simply have little desire to assimilate. On one hand you want to give citizens the freedom (liberté) to pick their beliefs, you want to ensure that everyone is equal, that your society is defined by equality (égalité) regardless of culture or religion - but most of all, the French value fraternity (fraternité): a sense of belonging and community. Can you truly foster a sense of fraternity without sacrificing some liberty (in forcing migrants to assimilate) and equality (in establishing that French values are superior than foreign ones)? In an ideal world, this can be done indeed with migrants like me who loved and adored all things French - but when you have migrants who simply do not share that same love for France, there are no easy solutions. However, just because it is a tricky topic doesn't mean we should sweep it under the carpet.

So there you go. I hope I have managed to explain why the French system is different but is anything but racist. I hope to stimulate a conversation, answer any questions you may have and help spread understanding. Perhaps my Singaporean readers can reflect upon this issue of assimilating new migrants as you welcome more migrants from China. In any case, let's talk about it and have a meaningful conversation please. Many thanks for reading, merci bien.