When riots broke out in Muslim sections of French towns and cities this fall, Uni teacher Lynda Lopez was uniquely equipped to put it all in perspective

By Emma Anselin
Gargoyle assistant editor
Published Friday, Dec. 16, 2005, Gargoyle, features

Lynda Lopez drives down a highway in Algeria, back in her native country after attending college in the United States for four years. A lot has changed since 1983, as Algeria's decennie noire, or Black Decade, sets in with daily bloodshed, curfews, tear gas, and other forms of civil unrest. Lopez notices a bilingual street sign. The French portion is painted over, leaving only Arabic. Lopez realizes this is Algeria's solution to cutting ties with France's past.

French teacher Lynda Lopez lived in Algeria through high school and witnessed tensions between Muslim and French culture firsthand. Her experiences in Algeria have offered her a unique perspective on the recent riots in France that spread through many of the poor banlieues, or suburbs, where Muslim immigrants from North Africa live.

Bare beginnings
Lopez was born in Kabylie, a mountainous region east of Algeria's capital, Algiers. Her parents were sent to Algeria as long-term missionaries with the United Methodist Church and the Board of Global Ministries. Lopez's father was a pastor, while her mother trained preschool and kindergarten teachers. They officially retired last October after 42 years of service.

Lopez spent most of her childhood in a small village in the mountains of Kabylie known as Larbaa Nath Irathen, or Fort National.

The mission property where she lived was also the location of a home for boys who had lost a parent to the fight for Algerian independence from France.

“The boys were received there, raised, schooled, and have since made good professional lives for themselves,” says Lopez, who still remembers going into the village to get large baskets of fresh baguettes and chocolate bars for the boys' gouter, or mid-day snack.

Lopez's experiences in Kabylie exposed her to the many facets of Algerian and Muslim culture, as well as the rural village life that is mirrored throughout the country.

“I remember listening to jackals calling across mountain ridges at night; climbing in our cherry tree to get fresh cherries; going to the spring for fresh icy mountain water,” she says.

Lopez attended the local Algerian school, with classes taught by Egyptian, Lebanese, and Syrian teachers.

“I grew up speaking English and French at home, Arabic in school, and Kabyle with my friends,” she says.

She was particularly affected by the significance of religion in the school's curriculum, due to Algeria's official Muslim status.

“I, like everyone else, was expected to learn Koranic verses, practice the ablution rites, and so on,” says Lopez. “My mother likes to remind me that she would always give me plenty of time to practice the cleansing rituals.”

City life
Lopez lived in Kabylie until 1973, when her family traveled to the United States for two years. In fifth grade, Lopez moved to Algiers, the Algerian capital, where the daily routine was vastly different from life in the mountains.

“Life in the city … was bigger, noisier, more populated, less intimate, and our house was always filled with visitors,” she says.

Yet the vivid Muslim culture which Lopez experienced in Kabylie could still be seen in the city's daily bustle.

“I remember Ramadhan days when we would purposely not cook food during the day in our home so the food smells would not waft out the windows,” says Lopez. “I remember Eid days when the children would come out in their best new clothes, with fresh henna on their hands to celebrate the moments.”

Nevertheless, the city also displayed widespread poverty and inequality. Lopez's home was surrounded by apartment buildings where large families were forced to live in small quarters, often taking turns sleeping in the beds, hallways, and bathtubs.

“I always felt out of sorts knowing that our parsonage had so much room for just four people,” she says.

The poor living conditions of many inner-city families were exacerbated by unemployment. Lopez watched jobless young men who had nothing else to do but “holding up the walls.”

The education system was also poorly funded and under-facilitated, forcing children to split their day in half, with one group going in the morning and one in the afternoon.

“I remember garbage strikes, torn- up sidewalks for what seemed like an eternity, as the water-main people would come and do their repairs … and then the gas-line people would come,” says Lopez. “I remember days with water and days without.”

Algiers also offered a glimpse of the growing tensions between Muslim and French culture.

“The Algerians and the French, because of their roles as colonized and colonizer, were not always on smooth speaking terms,” says Lopez. “It was obvious in airports, in ports, on the street.”

Lopez lived across from an all-girls school, where she could see visible differences between the students.

“Some would wear European latest fashions while others were dressed with the hijab and covered head to toe,” she says.

The French school Lopez attended also revealed tensions between Algerians who could afford to travel and those who could not.

“There were Algerians who had lived in France and returned, did not know Arabic, and so could not attend local Algerian schools,” says Lopez. “Although they had trouble fitting in with Algerian society, they had more chances down the road of making a difference in their lives than an Algerian peer who … only knew what was at home.”

Nevertheless, life was not perfect for Algerians who immigrated to France to find jobs, send money home, and provide an improved quality of life for the next generation.

Lopez describes these individuals' situations as conforming to a vicious cycle, where “if you don't have the education or the experience, or if you don't know the right person, you can't really move ahead, so you do what you can, and you do what others are not willing to do … because you still want to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Putting it into perspective
Such tensions surrounding Algerian immigrants and Muslim culture have become a significant topic in France due to the November riots in the banlieues, led by adolescents in the Muslim community.

“Seeing what opportunities are available for the youth and young adults in Algeria, with not enough teachers, not enough school space … and not enough thought to Arabizing the curriculum overnight … it is not a surprise that they try to find a way to become somebody with a worthwhile life, even if it means moving away from family and familiar surroundings,” says Lopez.

Nevertheless, in order to attain this “silver lining,” immigrants must work hard, living in neighborhoods on the outskirts of towns where transportation is difficult and buildings flaunt degrading electricity and heating systems.

“When things are not well built or well maintained, disaster can strike,” says Lopez. “When you think of the social system that is set up in France, with good health care for everyone, school for everyone, etc., how can people be allowed to live in such squalor?”

Lopez's parents, who are currently living in France, have witnessed the effects of the riots first hand.

“It's a mess,” her parents wrote to her in an e-mail. “There is always unrest just bubbling under the surface in these areas — no jobs, nothing to do, out of school, racism.”

They described the conflict between immigrant parents who cling to old ways and younger adolescents who want to integrate: “Society doesn't let the youth integrate and employers find all kinds of excuses to avoid hiring ‘non-French,' qualified or not, and sometimes better qualified. So the youth just hang around — no jobs, no money, no school.”

Lopez feels the riots were caused by the mistrust and lack of confidence between the French government and Muslim immigrants.

“When you feel you are constantly being watched for any misstep, you falter, and they are right there to nab you … whether or not you were at fault,” she says.

Lopez believes the first steps necessary to ease the tensions represented by the riots are programs for families in the banlieues which can help them integrate into society and into the workforce as contributing citizens.

“I think if France is going to accept immigrants, it needs to fully accept them, and not treat them as panhandlers,” she says. “Treat them as they would their own.”