Why do some Americans think "Hispanic" is a race? (living, club)
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I realize that ethnic Jews (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) as well as Muslims have very Mediterranean features just like Southern Europeans, BUT even in the US many Southern Europeans aren't considered White by many. It's all subjective, being that race technically doesn't even exist biologically. Yes, the people from Scandinavia all the way down to Yemen share *some* similar features, I guess, maybe if we count similar as being double eyelids and light to medium complexions. Anyway I'm not saying you're wrong in that Middle Eastern people and Scandinavians look more alike than they do to Sub-Saharan or West Africans, but I feel like "White" has had such a variable definition over time and has become more and more inclusive that I wouldn't be surprised if the definition extended further into other continents like it already has. There was a time when White meant English. Then it meant Nordic. Then it meant all of Europe. Then it meant Europe plus North Africa and West Asia. It's not a real genetic term. It can mean whatever to whoever. And since there is no way to genetically "prove" Whiteness, then using it as a definition seems kind of useless. How are the peoples of the Middle East White like the Swedes are. What is "White" about them?
Besides, Mexicans apparently come in all races, too, as Rudy has pointed out. I believe him because if you ever watch Mexican soap operas everyone there looks "White" but if you google "Mexicans" the result is more Mestizo. Even Mexican-American celebrities would be considered "too brown" by Mexico's tandards.
Do people actually say Caucasoid in real life?! It sounds so fundamentally wrong!
Do people actually say Caucasoid in real life?! It sounds so fundamentally wrong!
They don't. I am just trying to understand how people all over the European/North African/West Asian area are all apparently the same race. If race is a shared set of physical attributes then it's even impossible to group just Europeans as one "race". "Caucasian" people all share what attributes?
I LOVE Cuban sandwiches. What is so wrong with their food? Oh and Cubans AND Colombians make great dessert, but their entrees are also good. Pero po-que no te gu'ta la comi'a Cuba'a chico?
Nothing wrong with it per se. It's just boring/limited. I prefer Thai, Indian, Korean, Mexican etc. Having that said...my family on my dad's side is from Nicaragua, and what they eat reminds me a lot of Cuban food...the rice, the beans, the fried plantains, the fish... So Cuban food does give me that sense of nostalgia.
They don't. I am just trying to understand how people all over the European/North African/West Asian area are all apparently the same race. If race is a shared set of physical attributes then it's even impossible to group just Europeans as one "race". "Caucasian" people all share what attributes?
I certainly don't see why people would lumped these groups are one race.
Do people actually say Caucasoid in real life?! It sounds so fundamentally wrong!
my boyfriend is european like u, and I had a friend come over from the US to stay with us and for some reason she said Caucasian and my boyfriend had no idea what it meant... she then explained that in America they call white people like this and he was like "oh ok"
he thought it was strange because caucasian to him is like those people from armenia or azerbaijan.
hispanic is so strange, I have such a hard time seeing myself as hispanic.... I just don't get it, like a black colombian is the same race as a white chilean or a chinese from panama is the same race as an arab from colombia, and a person from mexico is the same race as one of those german menonites from paraguay (it's weird)
but white too, like an albanian and a brit are COMPLETELY OPPOSITES, the only thing they can possibly have in common is that they are both from countries that happen to be located in europe, other than that they have absolutely nothing in common culturally or historically.
black doesnt make sense either.... a black person from colombia is not the same as a black british, or a black french is very different from a nigerian, an american black is different from a black from portugal, it's all very different cultures and mindsets.
'I think the American categorization of race is not scientific at all, neither is culturally sensitive.... it;s just strange and archaic.
This. None of those people look remotely alike. I guess the typical response is to post a picture or a rare light skinned North African or Arabian and claim this is typical of the population there. Or the typical response is to say that spending time in the sun of North Africa or Arabia is what makes them not resemble Swedes. But if you get an Arabian or North African to spend enough time indoors in Seattle they'll look like Swedes in a year, tops.
They don't. I am just trying to understand how people all over the European/North African/West Asian area are all apparently the same race. If race is a shared set of physical attributes then it's even impossible to group just Europeans as one "race". "Caucasian" people all share what attributes?
Its called pseudoscience. Race is a social construct blah blah I'm sure you know the routine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irene-cd
my boyfriend is european like u, and I had a friend come over from the US to stay with us and for some reason she said Caucasian and my boyfriend had no idea what it meant... she then explained that in America they call white people like this and he was like "oh ok"
he thought it was strange because caucasian to him is like those people from armenia or azerbaijan.
Yes, in the UK people never say Caucasian to refer to European people, because the Caucasus is in well, the Caucasus region. lol.
I know the word was to be more PC but it doesn't at all. White people are not White they're EUROPEANS.
Also I'm not of European descent though I do live in Europe.
Its called pseudoscience. Race is a social construct blah blah I'm sure you know the routine.
Yes, in the UK people never say Caucasian to refer to European people, because the Caucasus is in well, the Caucasus region. lol.
I know the word was to be more PC but it doesn't at all. White people are not White they're EUROPEANS.
Also I'm not of European descent though I do live in Europe.
I am not far from you.... I'm right across the channel!!! (Belgium)
I agree, here in Belgium no one says they're white/caucasians or think that white-americans are their people..... Belgians are either Flemish (Dutch-belgians), or Wallonians (French-Belgians) and they consider themselves pretty much different races from one another, even though they're both "white" to the american eye.
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