Macron warns of 'deep division' in nation after police killing of Algerian teen

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of the risk of deep division in his country, calling on his government to draw lessons from recent unrest and huge protests following the police killing of a teenager of African descent for a traffic violation.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting a day after a cabinet reshuffle, Macron emphasized on Friday that the violent protests had highlighted "a risk of fragmentation, of deep division of the nation."

"We must draw the lessons from what happened, and provide sound answers," he further declared, telling his ministers that there was a "need for authority and respect."

Following the unrest across the European country, Macron's administration was widely blamed for allowing a culture of institutional racism in the French police force to fester.

According to Arié Alimi, the lawyer representing the family of Nahel -- the Algerian teenager killed by French police during a traffic stop -- Nahel was just the latest of 16 police shootings at traffic stops over the last 18 months, and the vast majority, if not all, were from ethnic minorities.

The fatal shooting of Nahel, which sparked massive violent protests across the country for several days, drew attention to the issue of systemic racism and discrimination faced by marginalized communities throughout France.

On 30 June, the UN spokesperson for human rights called on France to “seriously address” police racism and discrimination in law enforcement.

The unrest had also prompted an emergency meeting between Macron and top French authorities and led to the arrest of more than 3,400 people, many of whom have reportedly been sentenced to prison terms.

The events surrounding the shooting had also sparked comparisons to the racial reckoning in the United States, highlighting the persisting struggle of the country's African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities against police brutality and racial profiling.

Following the developments, activists and experts have emphasized the need for France to confront its colonial past and engage in meaningful conversations about race and discrimination.

France deploys 45,000 troops to quell police brutality protests, nabs 1,000

France has deployed 45,000 police and several armored vehicles to quell protests across the country over the police killing of a teenager for a traffic violation and arrested nearly 1,000 protesters.

France has a long history of colonial racism and violence against people racialized as "non-white." This history stretches from Haiti, Guadeloupe, and Martinique in the Caribbean to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, North and West Africa, and Vietnam, among many other populations. The racialization of non-white populations across France was multilayered and complex, and included both French and non-French citizens from North African and West African backgroung.

Police violence in France has a long history of targeting people of Arab and African descent. In 1961, French police killed more than 100 French Arabs who had waged a peaceful protest rally in Paris.

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