Maybe the easiest way to understand why cities across France have been overcome by

protests, violence, and looting in recent days is to ask the people in the streets.

That's what NPR's Eleanor Beardfully did over the weekend in Marseille, where protesters

crossed paths with riot police launching tear gas.

The cat in the city gets scary, comes with tear gas.

She talked to a 15-year-old protestor named Gassine.

They killed a kid and were here to make them understand they can't do this anymore, he said.

Because the police hit us and treat us bad for no reason.

They're supposed to protect us and were scared of them.

The kid he's talking about is a 17-year-old of North African descent named Nehell.

He was stopped last week by two police officers after running a red light in non-taire, a working

class suburb of Paris.

A video captured an officer shooting him in the chest.

Nehell was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

The protest and violence that followed that killing have opened a conversation in France

about racism and police brutality.

Many who could damn the violence also feel the anger behind it is justified.

Like Zachary Sheety, a 32-year-old insurance broker living in a South Paris suburb.

He told NPR that successive governments have done nothing over the years to address the

issues facing the working class, especially young minorities.

They may put on some bandages, but it's never enough to heal the wounds entirely, he said.

Days of unrest in France have reopened a debate about systemic racism in that country.

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