France has an underclass, but it's quite clear roots are still shallow:
CRAIG S SMITH
"We've combined the failure of our integration model with the worst effects of ghettoization, without a social ladder for people to climb. In the US and Britain, the communities help create opportunities for advancement. But in France the state and the politicians have left the playing field open for a political-religious response. The physical conditions in these neighborhoods have not begun to rival poor urban areas in the US. Even in the worst government housing developments, green lawns and neat flower beds break the monotony of the gray concrete. "