The killing of a 17-year-old boy of North African descent in a Paris suburb last week continues to expose the deepening fault lines in French society even though the worst of the protests that followed appear to be over. After the teenager was shot dead, the police initially attempted to lie about the incident, claiming that the victim had tried to ram his car into officers. Camera footage showed the car was, in fact, pulling away from an officer when the boy was shot. Angry protesters took over the streets of major cities for several nights, burning and destroying infrastructure. France deployed more than 40,000 police officers in a crackdown, arresting thousands of people, including many minors. But Emmanuel Macron’s government is yet to address the uncomfortable truth behind these recent events. Mr Macron described the police killing as inexplicable. The truth is that it is a reflection of the institutional racism that runs deep in France, including in its police. This, in turn, is a direct outcome of the country’s refusal to account for centuries of brutal colonialism. Police killings of people of colour have frequently triggered protests in France; so far, they have not sparked the changes needed to break this cycle.

On the contrary, ominous signs are emerging that the current direction of French politics could leave the country even less capable of honest reflection. An online fund-raising campaign for the officer accused of shooting the teenager dead drew more than $1 million in donations. Thousands of people have come to city halls to campaign against the protesters. In the French media, the history of police violence against people from former colonies, such as the murder of more than 100 French Arabs who were peacefully marching in Paris in 1961 in support of the Algerian independence struggle, remains ignored. When the portrayal of protesters as rioters is encouraged, it only serves to reinforce stereotypes of immigrants as inherently violent. Meanwhile, the rise of the far-Right has madeMr Macron himself move towards the Right in his politics, reducing his standing as a credible initiator of the dialogue France needs to reconcile with its past, acknowledge its present, and build a better future. Arson and destruction of public and private property are never justified. Yet they are the symptoms, not the disease, that afflict France, and will continue to do so without a full reckoning.