I'm a little surprised by the argument that Europe is to be so clearly divided from Canada and the US because those are melting pot societies and European countries aren't.
You have to differentiate between European countries here. Germany, for example, wasn't a country with many immigrants for the longest time. In the 60s, immigration became a topic for the first time, before that, most foreigners were probably allied soldiers. And when the immigrants came, they were still called "guest workers" because they were expected to leave again. Only they didn't in the 70s and 80s. Instead, more and more came, and in the 90s there was a huge wave of Eastern European immigrants with German ancestors (because due to a law, they could easily become German citizens), refugees and more immigrants.
Germany is currently in the process of redefining itself as a country people immigrate to, and it's going slowly and is much discussed. I don't think there's been enough time for it to be a melting pot yet. Especially since the 150 years before were mostly spent trying to de-melt the European continent and to create national states.
And for many, being Eastern European or Turkish is visible. Probably not as undeniably other as skin colour, but it's still there. Sometimes I go down the street and see somebody who looks ... well, "foreign", for lack of a better word. I have no idea why I think that, but it seems to be some sort of overall impression - like my brother telling apart people who visited different schools, despite the fact that they all bought their clothes in the same shops.
Re: here via metafandom
You have to differentiate between European countries here. Germany, for example, wasn't a country with many immigrants for the longest time. In the 60s, immigration became a topic for the first time, before that, most foreigners were probably allied soldiers. And when the immigrants came, they were still called "guest workers" because they were expected to leave again. Only they didn't in the 70s and 80s. Instead, more and more came, and in the 90s there was a huge wave of Eastern European immigrants with German ancestors (because due to a law, they could easily become German citizens), refugees and more immigrants.
Germany is currently in the process of redefining itself as a country people immigrate to, and it's going slowly and is much discussed. I don't think there's been enough time for it to be a melting pot yet. Especially since the 150 years before were mostly spent trying to de-melt the European continent and to create national states.
And for many, being Eastern European or Turkish is visible. Probably not as undeniably other as skin colour, but it's still there. Sometimes I go down the street and see somebody who looks ... well, "foreign", for lack of a better word. I have no idea why I think that, but it seems to be some sort of overall impression - like my brother telling apart people who visited different schools, despite the fact that they all bought their clothes in the same shops.