{"id":306090,"date":"2026-10-14T00:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306090\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T00:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:06:15","slug":"do-french-protests-have-a-message-for-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306090\/","title":{"rendered":"Do French protests have a message for America?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baseball\u2019s Curse of the Bambino<\/a> barely lasted into the 21st century. But Philly fans have to be wondering these days if we\u2019re living under the Curse of LeBron. When the 76ers signed the 41-year-old hoops legend<\/a> to complete their construction of an NBA Dream Team, Philadelphia felt like the capital of the sports galaxy. Since then, the Phillies imploded<\/a>, the Flyers got off to their worst start<\/a> in franchise history, and the Eagles just suffered the most horrific loss<\/a> I\u2019ve seen in 60 years of NFL-watching. Thank God the Curse of LeBron has not reached Chester<\/a> \u2026 yet.<\/p>\n

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How come Gen Z protests crummy schools in France, but not the U.S.?<\/p>\n

You had to figure it was just a matter of time before the kids protested the sorry state of their public schools.<\/p>\n

In recent years, billions of dollars in badly needed maintenance<\/a> have been postponed, resulting in classrooms with toxic hazards like asbestos and ancient lead paint, stale, polluted air, inadequate heat in winter<\/a>, and a lack of air-conditioning<\/a> in summer.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a severe teacher shortage<\/a>, meaning some classroom leaders have little experience or aren\u2019t skilled in the subject they\u2019re teaching. Chronic state underfunding has meant a structural deficit of some $300 million<\/a> a year.<\/p>\n

These, of course, are the K-12 conditions in the Philadelphia School District, and school squalor like this<\/a> is something you see in a lot of large American cities, unfortunately. But while there\u2019s the occasional one-off rally \u2014 like the kids who marched against overcrowding at Philly\u2019s Girls High<\/a> \u2014 we\u2019ve seen nothing when it comes to protesting like what\u2019s happening this month in France.<\/p>\n

Vive la diff\u00e9rence, indeed! Student protests have swept across France<\/a> since mid-September after students in less-advantaged working-class suburbs of Paris, starting with one school in Cr\u00e9teil<\/a>, walked out and formed barricades to protest clogged toilets and crammed classrooms that sweltered as climate change pushed temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

In less than two weeks, the demonstrations spread like wildfire<\/a> \u2014 literally, as trash fires raged behind hastily erected blockades \u2014 from city to city and to more affluent schools, joined eventually by college students and some of France\u2019s powerful labor unions.<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 youthful bravado and their colorful protest signs<\/a> \u2014 some of them in English, like ones that read, \u201cTOO YOUNG TO BE LISTENED TO\/OLD ENOUGH TO BE TEAR-GASSED,\u201d or that voice rage against the police or French President Emmanuel Macron \u2014 might look familiar to Americans who remember 2011\u2019s Occupy movement<\/a>. The same could be said about the repressive state response.<\/p>\n

In surprising scenes that evoked the most militarized backlash to America\u2019s 2020 George Floyd protests, French police donned riot gear and fired tear gas<\/a> into the throngs. Amid outrage over violent incidents, like a 14-year-old whose jaw was broken by a tear-gas canister, police have arrested nearly 7,000 people<\/a>, mostly minors.<\/p>\n

The French student uprising is the most visible Gen Z protest movement right now, but it\u2019s not the only one. A year after a series of organized online youth protests rattled the Global South<\/a> from Madagascar to Nepal, the world\u2019s largest, albeit shaky, democracy in India has been rocked by the growth of the so-called Cockroach Janta Party<\/a>. Its name is inspired by rage against a top judge who called Indian youth \u201ccockroaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past weekend, India\u2019s strongman prime minister Narendra Modi sent thousands of security officers into the streets of the capital, New Delhi, to make mass arrests<\/a> of the protesters and their leaders, hoping to thwart a demonstration over a purge of voting rolls.<\/p>\n

Unless you follow the big international news sites, the youth protests in France and India haven\u2019t received extensive media coverage here in the U.S. You could argue that\u2019s because we have plenty of our own problems on American soil, from a make-or-break federal legislative election<\/a> just three weeks away to a president with the nuclear football who acts increasingly detached from reality<\/a>. Not to mention the issues of massive school inequality<\/a> and classroom censorship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All of which brings back the question: Why isn\u2019t America\u2019s Gen Z manning the barricades?<\/p>\n

I poked around and found that someone was asking the same question, but for the youth of the United Kingdom. In a guest essay<\/a> for the Guardian, journalism grad student Kitty Sayers \u2014 born British but raised in France \u2014 said French students aren\u2019t imbued with an American-style individualism, as also happens in the U.K.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe language of rights, citizenship and collective power is woven into French education,\u201d Sayers wrote<\/a>, explaining how students are taught extensively about the French Revolution, the electric youth-led protests of 1968<\/a>, and their right to dissent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a much bigger culture of protest in France \u2014 it\u2019s considered a rite of passage,\u201d agreed Dana R. Fisher<\/a>, the American University sociologist who specializes in studying contemporary U.S. protest movements, but also saw the French way of dissent in person during a mid-2000s sabbatical there.<\/p>\n

Fisher told me Monday that one critical difference is that young people in France also form close relationships with labor unions, not only through their parents but through student associations. She saw that in 2005 when hundreds of thousands of French students took to the streets<\/a> to oppose school reforms, and she suspects that such ties are still a factor.<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s community, and a collective spirit \u2014 as opposed to rugged individualism<\/a> at best, or social atomization at worst.<\/p>\n

Fisher also correctly noted that young people here are taking part in protests \u2014 most notably the 2023-2024 campus unrest<\/a> over U.S. support for Israel\u2019s lethal assault on Gaza. While most have shunned the large-scale No Kings protests<\/a> against the Donald Trump<\/a> regime, they\u2019ve walked out in some places over some aspects of the MAGA agenda, especially immigration raids<\/a> near their schools.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d argue that America\u2019s Gen Z was practically raised not to protest from birth. They were too busy drilling for their standardized tests to learn about civics<\/a> or their own role in a boisterous democracy. They\u2019ve been told their lives won\u2019t amount to much if they don\u2019t get into the right college, so who wants to risk everything by getting arrested?<\/p>\n

While French students are learning all about what happened at the Bastille in 1789<\/a>, U.S. kids are getting warned they could face severe consequences for walking out of their high school or for demonstrating on the college green if the event is not in the time, place, and manner that is mandated by the administration. The sight of pro-Palestinian protesters getting arrested or serving lengthy school suspensions after 2024\u2019s encampments has had the chilling effect that the authorities wanted.<\/p>\n

Still, in spite of an American culture that works against collective action and the right of dissent in every possible way, U.S. history has shown us that everyday folks \u2014 especially young people fueled by idealism \u2014 do have a breaking point, and it\u2019s rarely in the time, place, or manner the grown-ups see coming.<\/p>\n

No one expected the 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement<\/a> after the campus passivity of the 1950s, and Occupy Wall Street caught many people off-guard, as well. Looming college debt and the societal and job-market disruptions of artificial intelligence<\/a> have placed American students under stresses that are without precedent. Some day in a place you\u2019d never predict, there will be a spark.<\/p>\n

Yo, do this!<\/p>\n

Speaking of American protests, the No Kings movement<\/a> returns on Saturday with its first major day of action since last spring. The modern tradition has been large rallies in political off-years by the group that\u2019s fallen out of power \u2014 think the tea party in 2009, or the Women\u2019s March in 2017 \u2014 with a narrower focus on getting out the vote (GOTV) in election years. No Kings is seeking to have it both ways Saturday, with events that are both GOTV drives and rallies urging true election integrity in the face of the Trump regime\u2019s threats. In Philadelphia, a 10 a.m. rally at City Hall<\/a> is backed by groups such as PA Indivisible, Common Cause, the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the League of Women Voters.<\/p>\n

I may wait to stream it online \u2014 I\u2019m either too old or too young to sit in a theater for three hours and 55 minutes \u2014 but Thursday will bring the long-awaited Musk documentary<\/a> about the planet\u2019s first (briefly) trillionaire to some multiplexes in the Philadelphia area<\/a>. Acclaimed filmmaker Alex Gibney\u2019s warts-and-all (and let\u2019s face it, it\u2019s all warts) look at Elon Musk comes as the Wharton grad is spending $276 million<\/a> to try to buy the midterm election. Gibney\u2019s how-we-got-here saga has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

Ask me anything<\/p>\n

Question: How worried are you that [Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John] Fetterman declares himself an Independent and organizes with [Republicans<\/a>] if he turns out to be the 50th or 51st D vote? \u2014 bob (@huntthesnark.bsky.social<\/a>) via Bluesky<\/p>\n

Answer: Bob, I am somewhat worried. The backstory, as many readers already know, is that Fetterman has broken away from other Democrats<\/a> on major issues \u2014 support for arming Israel, the Iran war, and some key cabinet picks \u2014 since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Although Fetterman insists for now that he\u2019s not leaving the Democrats and still votes with them a majority of the time, he finds himself (much like Trump) in a political corner. He\u2019s too unpopular among the Democratic rank-and-file<\/a> to win a primary in 2028 when he\u2019s up for reelection. He\u2019s better liked now by Republicans. If Democrats get to 50 or 51 seats in November\u2019s election, the GOP could offer him<\/a> a committee chairmanship and a ton of campaign cash to switch and help them stay in control. The only real solution is for Dems to reach 52 or more seats. I am optimistic on that front.<\/p>\n

What you\u2019re saying about \u2026<\/p>\n

Last week I asked you about cultural escapes to take your mind off the constant anxieties of the Trump era, and you responded with wonderfully diverse stuff from all over the world. Bonnie Maky Rosen finds refuge in the public libraries of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and her favorite book, The Light Years<\/a> by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Stephen LoRusso gets in the Wayback Machine to read the Marcus Aurelius Meditations<\/a>(!). Weekly respondent Mary Ann Petro likes ghost-hunting shows, Murder She Wrote, old Hallmark Hall of Fame movies, and Ghosts on CBS (I\u2019m sensing a theme). Tom Lees binge-watched Derry Girls<\/a> on Netflix. From over in London, Inez Soman loves the Philly band The Menzingers<\/a> and hangs out at Passyunk Avenue<\/a>. (I wonder if she saw my daughter, who was there eating a cheesesteak outdoors during the Eagles game on Sunday.)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcee This week\u2019s question: Every day, concern is rising that a cornered Donald Trump will somehow try to steal a November election his party looks certain to lose at the ballot box, possibly by declaring a national emergency. How will you as a citizen respond, and how do you think Democrats or other major institutions should deal with this? Please email me your answer<\/a> and put \u201cTrump stolen election\u201d in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Backstory on the escalating threats from Trump<\/p>\n

Opinion journalism looks deceptively easy in the Donald Trump era. Every day now, the man who insisted in his 2024 campaign that he would rule as a dictator<\/a> only \u201con Day One\u201d has extended that timeline with outrageous and increasingly illegal actions. Each would have been a yearlong scandal for his 44 predecessors, who, at least by comparison, have been boringly normal since 1789. I could write a 2,000-word essay five times a week that would merely consist of recapping the things the president had done that day before huffing, \u201cThis is an outrage!\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent days, the regime has made a mockery of the First Amendment\u2019s free speech guarantees with its so-called Justice Department launching an antitrust investigation<\/a> into five major TV networks for denying Trump pool coverage after he\u2019d banned one of the pool members, CNN, for coverage he didn\u2019t like. His immigration agents, who have already caused chaos with stepped-up enforcement, are making plans to turn up the heat to an unprecedented 3,000 arrests a day<\/a>. On Monday morning, Homeland Security agents were dispatched on totally specious grounds to raid the Washington, D.C., home<\/a> of one of Trump\u2019s political enemies, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a leader of a Somali immigrant community that has been the target of repulsive, racist attacks from the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

The Omar raid<\/a> \u2014 ostensibly to learn whether her late father had lied on an immigration form more than three decades ago \u2014 reminded many online commenters of stories about life in East Germany under its secret police, the Stasi. But yet again, the remains of a sober political establishment had no idea how to respond. Omar\u2019s Minnesota colleague, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar \u2014 favored to become the state\u2019s next governor \u2014 said the raid and reports that it was ordered by the White House \u201craise serious questions<\/a> that should concern all Americans, regardless of political party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ya think?<\/p>\n

To be clear, the act of raiding a political opponent\u2019s home just days before an election is indeed outrageous (there \u2026 there\u2019s my \u201chot take\u201d), but the display of ugly brute force \u2014 and the utter impotence of his foes who can do nothing more but \u201craise serious questions\u201d \u2014 is arguably as big a part of this picture as the Omar investigation itself. Some called the raid the latest example of American democracy feeling like a frog in boiling water<\/a>, as Trump turns up the dial of illegal and immoral actions degree by degree, until we\u2019re cooked and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it. Even if the Democrats retake Capitol Hill by storm in January, there is unlikely to ever be the 67 Senate votes to remove the president<\/a> for his high crimes and misdemeanors. You could call the U.S. Department of Justice and report a crime, except its agents have been tasked with committing them.<\/p>\n

Although we can\u2019t ignore Trump\u2019s tactics like the Omar raid or the war on White House press freedom, it\u2019s important here to take a step back and look at a bigger strategy \u2014 the method behind the madness. The regime only really cares about one thing at this point: self-preservation. By enriching himself, his family, and his cronies to the tune of billions of dollars<\/a> in the first two years of his second term, Trump has built a criminal enterprise that\u2019s become too big to fail.<\/p>\n

Every political norm and every tenet of the U.S. Constitution the MAGA movement violates \u2014 and which goes unpunished \u2014 is setting the stage for the coup-like power play that would be required to overturn the election<\/a> Republicans are losing next month. And that\u2019s only half of the equation. When the regime steps up its immigration raids at the time when Politics 101 says they should be put on hold, and when federal agents shoot a man<\/a> in New York City on a busy street in broad daylight, they are hoping to provoke an equally violent response. When Trump fantasizes about an enemy attack<\/a> on Los Angeles or San Diego, he is dreaming of an excuse to send out the tanks and consolidate power.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve mentioned here before the memorable-for-life words of my high school football coach Rob Pickert<\/a>, who said the only way to play defensive end is to come \u201cwith reckless abandon, but under control.\u201d Remember that oxymoron as we fight back in the perilous two months after Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

What I wrote on this date in 2009<\/p>\n

American presidents have a tortured history with the Nobel Peace Prize that predates Donald Trump\u2019s ridiculous obsession with winning the Norwegian trophy (even after starting wars in Venezuela and Iran). For Barack Obama, winning a Nobel 17 years ago this month was more of a curse than a blessing. I wrote on Oct. 13, 2009, that the judges had likely rewarded Obama to send one final parting shot against Iraq<\/a> War president George W. Bush, but that after only nine months in the White House, it was far too soon. \u201cAnd before the president works any magic \u2014 real or perceived \u2014 anywhere else on the globe, he needs to bring a little peace, love and understanding right here on the homefront,\u201d I wrote.<\/p>\n

Read the rest: \u201cHere\u2019s where you can put that Nobel Prize of yours, Mr. President<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recommended Inquirer reading<\/p>\n

Only one piece from me this week, but it was a biggie: My lengthy investigation<\/a> into the aggressive local police cooperation with U.S. Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in York County in south-central Pennsylvania, where nearly a third of the state\u2019s immigrant arrests under the controversial 287(g) program are taking place. I detailed how a crackdown by cops in municipalities like West York and Carroll Township led to some 500 immigrant arrests in a matter of months \u2014 as many as 80% had no criminal record \u2014 and terrorized a large Haitian refugee community there. Pennsylvania could follow the lead of our neighboring states and outlaw a program that is causing so much pain, but we\u2019ll need to elect a lot of new folks in November for that to happen.<\/p>\n

There was tragic news<\/a> in Philadelphia this weekend. In the post-midnight darkness of early Saturday morning, a front-porch confrontation<\/a> between a West Philadelphia<\/a> man and two city police officers who were working a neighborhood crime investigation turned deadly when the man \u2014 identified as 35-year-old Eric Lewis \u2014 took out a gun and shot<\/a> both officers multiple times. One of them \u2014 not yet identified by city officials \u2014 survived but is in critical condition after taking 12 bullets. His partner \u2014 40-year-old Shane Seiber<\/a>, a married father of two \u2014 was killed. Amid the grief, there are many questions about both how Lewis avoided a 2023 murder rap<\/a> that would have taken him off the streets, and how someone with a criminal past was able to land a job at Philadelphia\u2019s Water Department. The Inquirer\u2019s ace team of crime and justice reporters \u2014 Jillian Kramer, Ellie Rushing, Chris Palmer, and Jesse Bunch, joined by others \u2014 sacrificed their weekend to cover a big story from every possible angle. Their work was a reminder of how a robust newsroom makes sure a city gets factual information while digging into the difficult follow-up questions. You help keep those traditions alive when you subscribe to The Inquirer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By submitting your written, visual, and\/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer\u2019s Terms of Use<\/a>, including the grant of rights in Section 10.<\/p>\n

\"Inquirer<\/p>\n

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Go beyond the column with an email from me delving into the latest headlines, plus insight into what I\u2019m reading, watching, and listening to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baseball\u2019s Curse of the Bambino barely lasted into the 21st century. But Philly fans have to be wondering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[125564,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-306090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-high-school-protests-schools-gen-z-india-philadelphia-usa","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}