Reply #3: Funny, Europeans seemed racist, intolerant, and bigoted to me [View All]

I was just there, and talked to a number of people. One thing is interesting - unlike the USA, Europe is nearly all White - so they rarely have to deal with the same sort of ethnic tensions that the US does. They strictly limit immigration, and keep poor immigrants out as much as possible - unlike the US, with our nearly open border policy.

Many Euros are also openly racist and bigoted against Arabs and Muslims, and there is an ugly reaction to the recent murders by radical Muslim extremists on the Continent - they burned down Muslim elementary schools in "tolerant" Netherlands recently. I met a middle class White Spaniard, whose attitude toward Africans would have been called Klan-like here. France doesn't have nearly the freedom of religion we have here, Germany simply does not recongize the freedom of speech. Criticizing a Corporation in the UK will get you sued straight to the poor house.

You know, come to think of it - a socially liberal, nearly all-white, non-religious society led by the wealthy classes - I can understand the appeal to many people here.