Le Pen's shocking phenomenon shows Europe fails to focus on racial problems

Alberto Alesina, Professor of economics, Harvard University, Francesco Giavazzi, Professor of economics Bocconi University, Project Syndicate

A common feature of Europe's extreme right is its racism and use of the immigration issue as a political wedge. The Lega Nord in Italy, the Vlaams Blok in the Netherlands, the supporters of Le Pen's National Front in France, are all examples of parties or movements formed on the common theme of aversion to immigrants and promotion of simplistic policies to control them. While individuals like Jorg Haidar and Jean-Marie Le Pen may come and (never to soon) go, the race question will not disappear from European politics anytime soon.

An aging population at home and ever more open borders imply increasing racial fragmentation in European countries. Mainstream parties of the center left and center right have confronted this prospect by hiding their heads in the ground, hoping against hope that the problem will disappear. It will not, as America's racial history clearly shows. Race relations in the U.S. have been for decades -- and remain -- at the center of political debate, to the point that racial cleavages are as important as income, if not more, as determinants of political preferences and attitudes.

The first step to address racial politics is to understand the origin and consequences of racial animosity, even if it means uncovering unpleasant truths. This is precisely what a large amount of research in economics, sociology, psychology and political science has done for the U.S. This research shows that people of different races trust each other much less; whites are less willing to support welfare spending because it is perceived to favor minorities; more racially fragmented communities have less efficient governments, more corruption and patronage, more crime and fewer productive public goods per tax dollar.

This does not mean that the answer is to eliminate heterogeneity and create racially homogeneous communities, but an acknowledgment of the reality of these issues is needed in order to start constructing solid public policies toward race relations. Of course, Americans disagree on how to do this. Some favor affirmative action programs that provide preferences for minorities in job allocation, college admission, and public contracts. These policies are seen as a way of offering reparation for past injustices and, more importantly, for creating role models and for overcoming residual and perhaps involuntary discrimination.

Others object to affirmative action, and argue that a race- blind policy coupled with free market polices and pro-family values are all that are necessary to create jobs for minorities and help keep black families together. The latter is a crucial in any policy, since one of the single most important causes of poverty in the U.S. is the diffusion of single parents (read single mother) households in the black community.

Regardless of the correct answer, the point is that determining what to do about race is a dominant issue in U.S. politics. Of course, minorities have made progress towards more integration and economic success. In the 1950s blacks could not sit in the front of busses, today two of the main players in U.S. foreign politics are blacks.

To be sure, right wing American politicians continue deploy the "race card" as a tactical tool. Take the case of Patrick Buchanan the former Nixon and Reagan aid who became an independent presidential candidate in the last election. He recently published a successful book entitled The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasion Imperil Our Country and Civilization. But for every book like this there are ten others with a serious analysis of America's race question.

Policy analysis and debates about race relations lag terribly behind in Europe. At most the question is dealt with narrowly, in terms of immigration quotas and border restrictions, not in terms of the social problems and opportunities created by an increasingly racially mixed Europe. Of course, a clear immigration policy is needed in order to avoid the accumulation of illegal immigrants. But this cannot be the end of it: Border controls with Mexico are not the end of American policy towards domestic race issues!

Europe is rich and rapidly aging; Europeans, cushioned by generous welfare programs, are no longer prepared to accept "dirty jobs" in, say, agriculture or the leather industry. This makes an increase in immigration unavoidable. Europeans, however, are prompt to criticize the U.S. for any failure in their policy toward minorities and for any manifestation of racism across the Atlantic.

Reading the European press one often perceives a superiority complex towards the U.S. over racial issues: they, the Americans, have problems with racism; we are immune from it, except for crazed neo-Nazi skinheads and their like. What has happened in recent weeks, from Paris to Amsterdam, shows that the race problem in Europe is much deeper and, as in the U.S., stems from the sad truth that race relations are inherently difficult and trust and cooperative behavior does not travel well across racial lines.

If Europe's mainstream parties do not begin a more serious investment in understanding racial tensions in Europe and put "race" as one of their main priorities, individuals like Le Pen are bound to try filling the void with their message of hate.