You have to differentiate between European countries here.
Oh, I agree absolutely. My query is only about the claim that there's a sharp dividing line between America and Canada and "Europe" when it comes to this phenomenon of apparent vs actual ethnicity. Different European countries have different histories, different ethnic populations and different ethnic conflict issues and so the extent to which these things matter depends very much on which European country you mean. My point is that the phenomenon isn't exclusively American; I'm not suggesting that it's universally European either. Though I'm now unsure of whether it's a point worth making. My comment was a footnote to the question I thought the original commenter was asking and, having read more, I don't want to get into a discussion that derails the original conversation which is about something different and important. So perhaps I should be quiet now :)
Re: here via metafandom
Oh, I agree absolutely. My query is only about the claim that there's a sharp dividing line between America and Canada and "Europe" when it comes to this phenomenon of apparent vs actual ethnicity. Different European countries have different histories, different ethnic populations and different ethnic conflict issues and so the extent to which these things matter depends very much on which European country you mean. My point is that the phenomenon isn't exclusively American; I'm not suggesting that it's universally European either. Though I'm now unsure of whether it's a point worth making. My comment was a footnote to the question I thought the original commenter was asking and, having read more, I don't want to get into a discussion that derails the original conversation which is about something different and important. So perhaps I should be quiet now :)