Year In Review - The Top 15 Newsmakers of 2005 - #9

Following the death of two young men of African origin after a police chase in October, France's streets erupted in riots for the bulk of the month of November. Institutionalized racism within French society towards non-French citizens was cited as the reason, with the October deaths serving as simply a flashpoint. Violence was quelled after harsh curfew laws were implemented, but the sanctimonious and nativist French were left with egg on their faces, especially among American opinion leaders given France's penchant for lecturing the United States about the state of race relations in that country and also their love of sneering at America more generally, especially in terms of American foreign policy towards Iraq and other Arab nations.