French riots? Racism on a different level than in the US? You yourself mentioned the UK in your post to Cobol74 above. There is something I have always wondered about. In countries such as Germany or France there are no "French Nigerians" or "German Nigerians". Nigeria is just an example but it seems that it is one or the other. There is nothing like an "African American" or an "Mexican American". You are either European or you are not and that is one of biggest problems in France and one of the causes of the riots. If you don't embrace new people just a little bit they have no reason to try to fit in.
I'm not saying Europe is perfect. In the so called "Charicature case", muslims in some countries became furious over charicatures of the Prophet. One example is Denmark. They have a conservative government, who refused any attempt from Muslim leaders to talk about it, to get a plan on what to do, how to react, and so on. In Norway, on the other hand, the government talked to the leaders. One day later, religious leaders critizised those who used violence, at the same time, the PM stated that he found the drawings to be "in bad taste". Effect? No riots, no violence. Success.
The problem lays in the fact that many European countries seem to neglect the social differences, the fact that immigrants are overly represented in prisons, - at the same time, they have a hard time finding work, which is proven to cause crime - and that's a very serious thing to neglect.
My point is, you Americans are very used to fight for civil rights. But at the same time, it seems to me, that very few fights for the young. There is a quote, from a poem, by the Norwegian writer Arnulf ?verland.
"Du skal ikke t?le s? inderlig vel, den urett som ikke rammer deg selv."
Translated: "You shall not tolerate so well, the injustice that doesn't harm yourself."
It's quite good, in my mind. He was a strange bloke, but that quote, is one of my favorites, and it has a strong meaning.
