But it is absolutely tone-deaf.
You're lecturing on how Italian people and Irish people are not the same people -- and that's the most Captain Obvious thing I've ever read. The people that critiqued already know different nationalities exist just like how they already know different sexual orientations exist. When someone goes "another generic white man lead", you don't go "b-b-but he's not generic! he's gay!!!" Well good for him, but that's not the point. Gay, bi, straight, non-conforming or anything in between he's still your white man lead character that most white men felt represented through already in five hundred other games. Applying this directly to this situation, when people went "ugh, another generic white man lead", you went "wtf that's insulting to German and French people's uniqueness if they're both just "white" to you! Be more specific please. Cole from Infamous and Nathan Drake from Uncharted and Joel from The Last of Us all are descendants from different places so just labeling them "white" is vague and disrespectful!!!" Italian or French, Irish or German: still Caucasian. Still male. Don't you see? All the counter-arguments never address the actual issue and are just beating around the bush... a very far away bush, may I add.
If you have a problem with people going "another white man character", then you're telling me people should just always accept yet another white male character (as if we don't have 88924 of them already) and not yearn nor wish for representation for literally any-freaking-thing else as if the world isn't composed of so much more than white males.
As female players, girls usually attach to ANY female heroine, regardless of differences in race between the player and the character because players are just so happy they get some form of representation. We'll worry about "nationalities" and WoC when we at least hit the basic necessities. It's like what the other poster said: baby steps.