The victims were “people like us; they think like us, live like us and talk like us. We feel really targeted,” says 29 year old Amandine Barras, talking about her neighborhood which was the unfortunate site of last Friday’s attacks in Paris. The 18th arrondissement is described as one of the most racially and socioeconomically blended areas in the cities, home to many artists and blue-collar types. “[ISIS] hit in places where we go out, where we sit outside in open places,” continues Ms. Barras.
IB Times reports that “Friday’s massacre is viewed by many young Parisians as an attack on Paris’ diversity; young people believe that reinforcing community divides will only make them more vulnerable to further assaults, they have said. Terror groups have long thrived in areas where deep divisions bifurcate cities and nations. Now young, liberal Parisians are starting to subscribe to the belief that communities are stronger when united.”
Stephane Roro, 29, an employee at France’s Ministry of Agriculture, comments, “Now a Muslim kid has it twice as bad as us. When you think of that it makes you sad. You don’t want to be in his shoes.”
