Young, Muslim & French - critique

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/france/

So much about this documentary stood out to me. I was shocked by the hypocrisy of the French government - once heralded as the land of egalite and fraternite, it now seems to be a land of discrimination and diviseness. As an African American Muslim, I can relate to the unjust, discriminatory treatment, but I am fearful of what effects that kind of legislation will have here in the States. Unlike many of the youth in the film, I was not born into Islam (I was raised as a Baptist and converted to Islam in undergrad), but I understand the struggle to maintain a regular young adult life and a spiritual life in a hostile environment. I am not an immigrant, but come from people who were....forced immigrants! It has took years for America to get to a place where an African American man could even be considered for the presidency (even under the suspicion of being a Muslim), but that progress has not come without accomodation and assimilation by many. Perhaps it is accomodation and assimilation that the French Muslims are afraid of.

In the end, I am filled with questions...

Do they have no laws in that guarantee freedom of religion similar to what we have here in the Bill of Rights?

Has there been any enforcement of restrictions against Jewish and Christian students?

Do the students themselves care that their classmates wear religious garb? Do these garments affect their learning? If there is a separation of church and state, why do schools close on religious holidays? Isn't that a double standard?

Why does the principal feel that her students, especially the female Muslim students should follow her advice? Lead the lives she feel is best for them as women? In what ways do feminists encroach upon the religious rights of non-Christian women?

What can be learned about the immigrant experience from this film? Do immigrants of certain religious backgrounds have it worse than other immigrants? What is the level of protest against government sanctioned discrimination (segregation, stripping of religious rituals and practices, etc) of these immigrants?

What does France want of their Muslim residents? Conversion to a preferred religion? Denouncement of one's homeland and culture as a way of showing allegiance to France and only France? This calls to mind the loyalty oaths that were forced upon Japanese Americans in the 1940's.

Then, there is the issue of American influence and global response. Muslim extremists, of course, have taken this as an opportunity to create further divisions in the religious world and to unfortunately, bring further suspicion upon the entire ummah (Muslim community). It's tough being Muslim as it is but when the whole world is against you based on the acts of a few things get a lot more complicated.