When I was younger and randomly talking to girls in AOL chat rooms I had a girl say "bye" as soon as I told her my name. I sent her a message asking what the deal was and she asked "what is your ethnicity?" And when I answered that I was middle eastern, she said "there you go, bye". I don't remember specifically what was said next but I basically started calling her out on her blatant racism and she admitted she does not ever want to date someone from my race. This was a couple years after 9/11 I believe. More recently I was in a relationships forum where a woman was talking about a middle eastern guy who showed interest in her and started saying how she doesn't think it is a good idea to get involved with men from that ethnic group or something like that.

So yes, it is a very real thing. What sucks for me is that although I am originally middle eastern, I've lived in the U.S. all my life and I identify with American culture much more than middle eastern culture. But Americans still often look at me as an outsider.