[D-Heesen]

At my university, and when I was in high school, I noticed that the Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Armenians and Persians all seemed to hang out together. To me, there seems to be a link among Southern Europeans and Near Easterners. Do you think these groups are realizing they are largely similar in appearance and are coming together? I also noticed that they have quite a lot of racist attitudes toward both minorities and whites. Can anyone help explain these observations?

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Name : D-Heesen, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Fullerton, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : College student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

[Karim]

I think most people in my country recognize some sort of relationship with Southern Europe (especially Greece). But when they go abroad (especially America, less so in western Eruope), both groups see these similarities accentuated by the very alien society around them. I don't think it's looks, though; I alwyas used to think I looked distinctly Egyptian until a lot of people in Europe started telling me they don't know what the hell 'distinctly Egyptian' or 'distinctly Turkish' is supposed to mean. Anyway, I think it's more attitude. All Mediterannean people are very sociable, very loud, talk with their hands, have oppressively close-knit families and love to eat.

About racism, please don't be judgmental. Most people can't decide their own race in this part of the world, so they are hardly racist, they are just a bit xenophobic. Yes, Hollywood has left a bad impression of blacks and Hispanics (as it is doing to Arabs now), but most people are open. About whites, most people in my country are infused with the notion that most whites are racist and must be approached carefully until you measure how biased they are. Personally, I like to think that this common 'wisdom' is worthless.

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Name : Karim, Gender : M, Age : 23, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[S. E]

I have noticed a similar trend in Canada. There is much more commadre between the Medditarean-looking groups in Toronto, particularily Portugese, Italian and others. I think their cultures are very similar. For instance, those who speak Italian can usually learn Portugese or Greek. In Canada, there is much more racism towards anglo-whites who are often denigrated or disparaged as 'cakie-white' or 'mungee-cake'. I have no idea what these word means but I think it relates to their 'non-olive' complexion.

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Name : S. E, Gender : M, Race : black, white, Japanese, Age : 29, City : Toronto, Ontario, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : Graduate Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

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