ELI STEELE: France's schools are burning. White guilt is helping fan the flames

Editor's note: This op-ed is part of a series by Eli Steele exploring White guilt in America and the West. Steele is the director of the newly released documentary essay, "White Guilt." See the film at WhiteGuiltFilm.com.

One of the most striking images of the riots that I saw sweeping France in recent days was that of a burning school in Nantes. The student movement in the streets around the school called itself a demand for education.

I was scrolling through my X feed when I saw the image of a burning trash can outside Lycée Nelson Mandela. The flames spread to the walls of the building and into the glass entrance hall. There were still students in their classrooms and, thankfully, every one of them got out.

When this school opened 12 years ago, its construction cost approximately €64 million, and it was touted as a beacon of hope and possibility for young people. Now the school has been shuttered for repairs, and its 1,700 students must learn from home for the time being.

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And that is just one school. According to the education minister, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked since late September, and about 30,000 students won't see the inside of their classrooms for weeks. More than 6,500 people have been arrested, most of them minors. At least 215 students have been hurt, along with 85 teachers and staff. A 16-year-old lost the use of an eye. In La Ciotat, a physics teacher was sprayed in the face with gasoline and struck by a student from his own lycée while trying to put out a fire.

Many media figures and nonprofit organizations like Amnesty International emphasized the students demands for better educational conditions and criticized the police response, while also acknowledging violence by some demonstrators. The demands were for more teachers, smaller classes, and decent buildings.

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In the more shocking videos that flowed from the streets of France out into the world, there were teachers who made a point of standing with the students in the streets. In some cases, parents and union members joined in. The mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, stood with students who were blockading their own school and argued that violence can sometimes be legitimate, although he also said he opposed violence and called for de-escalation.

As one watches the footage of students swarming the streets, seemingly with impunity, one has to wonder how the civilization that gave the world Voltaire, Rousseau, Camus and the free public school arrived at a place where schools can burn amid a movement demanding better schools.

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In more ways than one, this is just an old story. A post-1960s story. What is happening in the streets of France is the latest iteration of the White guilt formula that has its roots in America.

My father, Shelby Steele, has written about White guilt since the 1980s. For him, White guilt is not personal. It is not the guilt a person feels for something he did. Almo