Reply #28: There is also the problem [View All]

[ninkasi]

that many Americans can't tell the difference between people from the Mideast, and people from India, say. I've overheard stupid, clueless customers at a convenience store I go to make snide comments about the owner, calling him Ali, but he's actually from the same area of India that Gandhi came from.

The sad truth is that many people not only mistrust anybody who looks, or acts different, but they make no effort to become friendly, and learn a little bit about other cultures. I have a 15 year old great-nephew whose father was from Lebanon, and he gets some really hateful things said to him, even though his father has been out of the picture since he was a baby. He's an all American boy, but has dark hair and eyes, and is sometimes on the receiving end of insensitive remarks.