i am basing it mostly on what Arabs have told me about living France and to a lesser degree on a series of articles i read in the Times a while ago. Films too --- showing harrassment in schools. i read a lot about France. i haven't been in years, and i have only been as a tourist. i have never lived there. God, i have read and heard about Arab families, admittedly from North Africa, who three generations later are not much more integrated into French society than their parents. Arabs in Detroit are diverse, but most are more educated than many of the immigrants to France have historically been. So that explains some differences.
i was thinking about the one parent has to be German issue you mentioned. i guess that was longer ago than i realized.
i think if you talk to ordinary Americans about difference you get a view that may not agree with the impression you get if you live among them. People aren't educated. They are prejudiced and often racist.
How they treat their neighbors often does not always reflect that. And that is what i have seen in Detroit, particularly in East Dearborn.
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