I am more exposed to prejudice here in France because I speak the language like an uneducated immigrant. They even have a racist refrain about it: parler comme un Arab. By which they don't mean Lebanese, but Maghrebin. No one is despised more than North African Arabs here. My French accent is blissfully more American than it is Arab. Who'd want an American-accented French, I used to think. But the truth is that when people think you sound American, it is a relief, if for no other reason than it cuts the conversation...
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