Very smart folks. Their comments help so much. Thanks.

France like USA has many unsavoury aspects, some foreign and domestic policies make me ashamed in both countries, though of course ALL countries suffer from the same fate in my experience. Racism is still an issue everywhere. Most opinions of the French are shall we say a little negative to say the least, especially in the US.

The emotionally needy, dirty, arrogant cheese eating surrendering monkey find the origin of french bashing in american history. It has been a creation accidentaly made by Roosevelt (during his confrontation with Degaulle viewed in America as a potential dictator). This conflict has been largely amplified by conservative Media and thus, remained. France used to have an excellent image in North America before the 50’s.

Last, most of the articles published today by NYTimes, Ted Turner medias, Wall streets Journal or Jericho Trumpets always include a huge bias, not typically on France but largely on the rest of the globe. My question is simple: it is due to a lack of information or is it made intentionaly on political/economical purposes ? If the typical negative informations released by US Media were true, I guess France should have economically collapse a long time ago. You can apply the same scheme for other countries.

To my american fellows, we do not have american bashing here in France. Only one guy in agriculture, Jose Bove, the one who destroys Mc Donalds and GMO Monsanto fields. For you information, as an anti american activist, he is ironically a pure product of an American University.

I live in Montreal, Quebec, and yes I am a French Canadian and we had the same debate about religious symbols in the public service and specially in the schools, since we took all sings of religion out of the public administration and school system, we do not want any other religious group to start imposing their believes on others, what they do at home is their business, want they do at school or as a public servant is public affairs, and religion does not have any business in those fields, so it is forbidden to wear or arbor a religious symbol as a public servant nor is it the school business to teach religion at school, it is your parents or community’s duty and it is a private matter, period.

But living for a while in the USA (new-York and Miami) and visiting Europe frequently, I can see that people in the USA will have a hard time understanding that, my interpretation of the USA is that all different communities live separated one from another, they did not blend, they all have their way of doing things like the others did not exist, blacks on one side, white on the other, Hispanics even between themselves are separated by regions of origins, it was astounding for me to see, as I was instinctively going everywhere and people were looking at me as if I was from Mars or Jupiter. Speaking to the Cubans at the fishing sea port, going to buy fresh fish, they all shook their heads thinking what the hell does he think he is doing,… You see, I might be white and French speaking, but at my school (public school that is) their was about 128 different nationalities and we all got along very well, I never saw the difference or felt it. But maybe it is because I grew in a religious free zone…. where all ways of thinking where explained to me.

Or maybe skin Colours and religious believes are not important to me.

The size of the United States is what plays a big role in the ignorance demonstrated in the American public. I live in a medium sized town in Northwestern Illinois, and it’s difficult for the average student to find France on a map (I wish this was only rhetorical…).

Honestly I’m happy many Americans don’t travel, for we would have a worse reputation around the world if a greater majority of the ignorant public ventured out of the country. It’s appalling.