Scruffy is right about white people experiencing racism here as well. People’s attitudes towards me change completely when they find out I’m Canadian and not Polish. And to compound the problem they’ll even apologize to me for presuming I was Polish..as if being Polish is an insult. Sharing the same nationality as Copernicus, Chopin, and Mme. Curie suits me just fine. Too bad I’m not Polish, I’d be an EU citizen now.

Get well soon!!!

Although it’s true, that when I say I’m American, I generally don’t get racist type issues thrown at me, but rather political issues about Bush. However, until I’ve identified myself as an American, I’m assumed to be a poor, scruffy, white, Polish laborer. I’ve heard this many times. (Polonos) Even though I’m white, it still seems to me that WHEN I’m getting “eyeballed” with the same “contempt” type of looks that you might get if they eyeballed you for being a black foreigner, that it is still a very uncomfortable feeling. In my humble opinion, a “look of contempt” is a “look of contempt” no matter who is on the receiving end of it and for whatever reason. It just doesn’t feel nice.

The 1st of December is Blog against Racism day. You have inspired me to try and write something on this subject. Thank you for bringing it up.

Hi sha, re: DEH idiot. Isn’t that always the way? When confronted by these people, it is hard to come up with something on the spot. Perhaps you would like to write something for Blog against Racism day too?

Hi eff, the article said it was a traffic accident that resulted in the death of the Greek motorcylist. Another tragedy on the road. What followed, as you say, was irrational and despicable.
I must say I did laugh at your listing in, alphabetical order, your heritage. An interesting exercise maybe we could all do?

I hope I will be back in full swing soon.

This is disgusting. Few things anger me more than irrationality and the evil that follows it.

Every Greek youth involved in the attacks on presumably innocent foreigners for no better reason than guilt by perceived association with the foreign driver responsible for the death of the Greek motorcyclist, is scum. And many of the world’s peoples have colored skin, which suggests that not all of the foreigners attacked by those evil Greeks in question were related by ethnicity to the foreign driver whom killed the Greek motorcyclist.

Let me state again, those Greeks are a national shame to all Greeks.

I have no Greek relations, but my empathy goes out to the many Greeks that most surely be embarrased by the terrible behavior of a few of their own.

By the way, I am, in alphabetical order: Nationality: American; Heritage: English, Finnish, Irish, Scottish, Polish (possibly), and Russian.

“Athens is a crap place to be in when you are a filipineza!!!”

my sister just asked me if am really going to stay here for good thats her line above.
she has her share of racism too.

she is an english language grad with masters.

when she calls the frostitiria, they say oh come but then when they see her face… oh dear.
they start making excuses that they have hired somebody else.

the riots in paris are due to the foreigners.

OH my alitheia I gave him a real nasty look and said ORISTE.
I didnt have time to gather my thoughts. If I was not only in a hurry, man I could have started an arguement.

am still re adjusting to my taka taka, meta, avrio life..and for the fact I dont know how to shove people in the bus..not yet..
soon I will blog.

PS Have noticed lately that greek tv shows been having debates over RACISM AND THE FOREIGNERS .. but they seem to me all experts on the matter.

Scruffy, I’m not sure if the anti-foreigner sentiment will apply (so much) to Brits/Americans because I don’t think we are perceived to be a ‘threat’ (yet…) and we don’t tend to live in the poorer areas, do crap jobs, blah, blah – although, maybe, as you say, they bitch about us behind our backs?

Like dd says, the influx of immigrants is a new phenomena here (in *recent* history). In the UK and the States we’ve been through it all before the Greeks (although I’m not sure how much progress we’ve really made). I hope Greece can learn from others and not repeat our mistakes.

While a few may think Greece has a long history of racial pureness dating back to Pericles and beyond, I think the facts suggest differently and, looking back after the event, its often been the immigrants who have driven Greece forward – even if it has taken a generation or two. Maybe we’ll start to see a few more ‘mixed-marriages’ as the new generation grow up?

So, I hope people who have a different skin colour won’t feel unwelcome – as the Interior Minister said, Greece is a very hospitable country!

I feel self conscious sometimes living in Greece as a foreigner, and always knowing that every day I wake up in Greece and step outside my door, to the unknown Greeks I face, every day is like my first day in the country. No matter, that I’ve lived here for 20 years, to some, it will be just like I arrived today. When I’ve mentioned this to Greeks I’ve encountered, sometimes they tell me, “You aren’t like the other foreigners, you are American, etc”. I often wonder if they say that to all the foreigners. For example, if they are talking to an Albanian, or African, will they say to them, “Oh, you are ok, because you are not an American or Englishman”. Any thoughts?

Good thing though I do have a choice to love somewhere else unlike the rest of the immigrants here.