Immigrants in Paris suburbs

 

墓碑科技

@mubeitech

Translated from Chinese

German DW TV station produced a documentary about immigrants in the Paris suburbs. The lens focused on two groups living in the same area. On one side are about 70,000 French Chinese. In Aubervilliers in the northern suburbs of Paris, they built Europe's largest clothing wholesale center. This group's lifestyle is very simple: They rise early and work late, running small workshops, minding shops, and handling deliveries. They reinvest the money they earn back into the business, and when they hit tough spots, they figure out ways to tough it out on their own. They're usually low-key and quiet, rarely reaching out to the government for special subsidies, and they don't take to the streets to stir up chaos. Over the decades, more and more families have bought homes and built up their businesses. On the other side are the North African immigrant communities living in the same neighborhood. Overall, their economic integration in the local area has been relatively stagnant. But the documentary captured a subtle yet real shift in mindset: A sentiment viewing the self-reliant as a threat is quietly spreading. According to observations in the film, Some people who have struggled with integration tend to cast themselves as victims, feeling like society owes them too much. But when they turn and see the Chinese right beside them, their mindset changes. Not only do they fail to learn how to do business, they instead treat the Chinese as competitors. So where does this hostility really come from? The most tangible conflict lies in this: The better the Chinese do, the harder it becomes to sustain the victim narrative. Everyone is an outsider here, facing the same barriers of a foreign land. Even when the Chinese first arrived, many couldn't speak French, let alone had local connections. If someone can grind through a dozen-plus hours a day and gradually hold their life together, Then that line—"We're struggling because the world's so unfair"—becomes awfully tough to say with a straight face. A person who quietly pulls themselves up by their bootstraps often stings the eyes of those who habitually blame their surroundings. A deeper misalignment lies in how they understand wealth. In the minds of many who demand handouts, wealth is a fixed pie, carved up and done. They don't see how those wholesale shops came to be, box by box of goods hauled in by hand, They just think that when Chinese shops make money, it's at their expense. Add to that the Chinese tradition of forbearance—when disputes arise, they often choose to let it go and keep the peace— And this imbalance in mindset quickly turns into real-world security headaches. Robberies, stalkings, street assaults—they keep targeting this group of people who just want to live quietly and get by. Earning a living with your own hands, building wealth on trust and reputation—these are the most basic dignities in any healthy society. But if a place gets used to treating victimhood like a golden ticket, That person quietly making a good life for themselves Often ends up the first one in the crosshairs.

https://x.com/mubeitech/status/2111907050951168153?s=20