I hate to intrude, yet years of justifying not just specific generalization, but generalization itself, makes commenting on that irresistible. 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. Saying, "Many Norwegians are blonde" is generalizing, but entirely accurate. 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 miss an opportunity to show "You're generalizing and therefore automatically incorrect" is a nonsensical rebuttal.