I hate to intrude, yet after years of having to justify not just specific generalization, but generalization itself, I can't resist commenting on that. You did generalize, for precisely the reasons chandra states: A statement about an entire continent, with or without acknowledging cases where it doesn't apply, is generalizing. Were that enough to invalidate your statement you'd be in trouble, but it's not, because you properly qualified it to cover the exceptions. If I say, "Many Norwegians are blonde" I'm generalizing, but the statement is entirely accurate naetheless. Again, not trying to get in the middle (I have an opinion on who's right, but I'll leave that to ya'll), I just can't afford to miss an opportunity to show why "You're generalizing and therefore automatically incorrect" is a nonsensical rebuttal.