It is beyond sad to see French officials respond to violent extremism with violent extremism -- and to do so while situating themselves as culturally superior. Without a major intervention or shift, the situation in that society will continue to deteriorate.

Part of what makes France such a difficult place is that so many of the French are genuinely convinced of their cultural superiority despite all evidence to the contrary. This deeply embedded, encrusted chauvinism prevents an honest reckoning with their ongoing, violent history.

The situation in the U.S. is different. Many white Americans are convinced of their superiority, not because of cultivation or education (which they often lack), but because of their military and economic power. For the French, delusions of grandeur have deeper, cultural roots..

As terrible as things can be here, I personally find it easier to reason with and educate people in the U.S. There are simply more people here that are willing to acknowledge their ignorance around history and race, for example, than there are French people able to do the same.

And while racial denial and fragility remain dangerously rampant in the U.S., there is a larger critical mass of people here who are able to acknowledge that shit is truly fucked up. In France, cultural chauvinism is so deeply entrenched that there is little room for reflexivity.

While U.S. Americans tend to be, on average, more culturally ignorant than their European counterparts, they also tend to be more capable of cultural reflection and change. Of course, that change is still belated and abysmal, but it counts for something..

Many French, by contrast, will just go around and around in circles of hypocrisy because they *know* they're the world's enlightened defenders of freedom and civilization. They're so attached to this myth that they can't rationally engage historical and social critique..

I don't think most French hypocrites have the slightest clue that they're being hypocritical. They just *know* they are right and can't imagine otherwise. And so their vaunted capacity for reason has, in fact, been atrophied by cultural narcissism.

The problem with the French is that they genuinely believe they are better educated than they actually are. They think they know their history when in reality they simply cling to Republican myths. By contrast, many U.S. Americans will admit their historical ignorance..

Paradoxically, American ignorance creates an opening to build, educate and empower a larger critical mass of antiracists in the U.S. than in France and many other European countries..

This isn't cause for celebration or national pride by any means, but it's a qualitative difference between the two societies..

I wish the French were even 10% as civilized as they pretend to be. If they were, their leaders would respond to violent extremism in a fair and unbiased manner, rather than using the killing of a teacher to unleash an irrational, racist and xenophobic campaign of oppression.