Why do people (Americans mostly) think being Caucasian is to do with skin tone/colour?

Question

North Africa, the middle East, the Indian sub continent, Asia minor, South America, central America, North America, southern Europe, northern Europe, scandanavia, eastern Europe.
Whiteness is racial theory invented by slave owners in America, to be white you had to be of Anglo Saxon, Germanic or Nordic stock and be protestant which meant a lot of Europeans were not included in what it is to be "white" or a "WASP".

BlueCoyote · Accepted Answer

I agree. I've personally always considered it peculiar how most Americans view Latinos as an own, independent race in itself, while most Europeans or people in other regions of the world would probably just call them "white" (at least in the case of Central Americans, that's generally true). This says a lot about race as a mental concept. It illustrates quite nicely that race is a social and cultural concept in the sense that our tribalist ideas of race do not actually correspond to biology. There is no significant, biological difference between a "white", protestant Texan and a "latino" Mexican. The reason they're viewed differently is strictly due to political reasons. If the US border had been drawn further south and most of modern Mexico would be part of the US, it's very likely that the people who live in these regions would be considered "white". In Europe, we're less affected by that whole America vs. Mexico issue, so we can look at it a little more objectively. On the other hand, some Europeans might claim that people from Eastern Europe or Turkey are racially different - again, due to historical and political reasons. Many Americans would then correctly point out that the biological differences are in fact minute.

Moreover, many people don't realize this but "race" isn't a biological category at all. Some languages (such as German) don't even use this term anymore for historical reasons. We are all Homo sapiens sapiens, and that's all the same subspecies. Slight genetic differences do exist but there are three important caveats to this:
1. There are about 300-400 "genetic groups" and oftentimes, they do not correspond to phenotype (skin color).
2. Differences within genetic groups are often bigger than between groups. A good allegory would be soccer teams: the average body height of Manchester United might be 1.86m and the average height of HC Madrid might be 1.85m - but within those teams, you might players who are 1.65m and others who are 1.95m.
3. Most of the genetic variations won't actually be found here in the western world. A better place to look for such differences would be Papua New Guinea, where thousands of tiny tribes have developed and evolved independently for tens of thousands of years. Ironically, here in the west we ignorantly consider Papua New Guinea one united, homogenous country. I mean, "they all look the same".

RolandCuthbert · Accepted Answer

Uhm. . . well, you talk like there is some consensus on "race". There never has been, there never will be.

In Webster's dictionary, Causcasian means;

"Caucasian has two fairly distinct meanings, and the difference between them occasionally leads people to aver that one of them is incorrect. The earliest sense of the word is a literal one: “of or relating to the Caucasus (a region in southeastern Europe between the Black and Caspian seas) or its inhabitants.” The second refers to the racial group commonly referred to as white."

It's like you are ignoring the societal context the term has been used in. When you can't. The science you are referring to is from Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. You are 21 years old. . . why are you using science from a guy who died in 1840? This is 2018. There are been thousands of discoveries in the realm of genetics and biology since Blumenbach died.

"Blumenbach's work included his description of sixty human crania (skulls) published originally in fascicules as Decas craniorum (Göttingen, 1790–1828). This was a founding work for other scientists in the field of craniometry. He divided the human species into five races in 1779, later founded on crania research (description of human skulls), and called them (1793/1795):"

Today we know that is all incorrect. These supposed phenotypical differences are defined depending on the society, country, cultural context, etc. people find themselves in. It is impossible to classify people into anything objectively simply based upon your interpretation of their phenotype.

Different people are going to look at each other and look into the mirror and see different things. Remember, early in American History, Irish-Americans were considered to be a different "race". And satirical cartoons were depicted as apes.

Early in English history, the English considered the Scottish and Irish to be of a different race also.

And I quote;

books.google.com/books

bubbletrouble · Accepted Answer

you're actually right. those arabs/north Indians etc. are actually Caucasian, they just darkened up over time. but the reason people don't say so is because none of these people want to be considered white.

musical_kittycat · Accepted Answer

Caucasian is a race, and a lot of people believe that race is centered around skin color. It's a common misconception that I admit to believing previously.

BrownBratzDoll · Accepted Answer

They do. They think Nordic whites is the only whites. I was telling my brother his Albania friend is European. He laughed😂😂😂😂😂

ladsin · Answer

The term Caucasian? No idea.
As for why people would group others together on the basis of skin tone? Because it's noticeable. Our brains work by induction and we group together large bodies of information by distinctive characteristics. This is a good thing normally, but can also be problematic when making value judgments particularly in regards to other humans ie racism, sexism, etc.

The same reason that we phrases like "blondes are more fun" lead to things like "blacks are more violent." Or some other such thing, you get the idea.

ADFSDF1996 · Answer

It’s a negligence of education, I’ve known since middle school that the term Caucasian also applies to other people aside from Europeans. The first people I’ve heard being called Caucasian other than Europeans are Indians from India.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

I don't think that anyone on the planet has ever had a discussion of race which did not have some element of a sociopolitical agenda behind it.

englisc · Answer

Most people don't really know much about race. The word caucasian just means people who originated in the caucasus area. Some of them migrated North West into Europe, the rest either stayed or migrated South. Those who went south obviously mixed with others who were darker skinned, so they became darker skinned.

As for whiteness being a racial theory created by slave owners, that's inaccurate and that's not the real argument here. The argument is about the word "caucasian" and that people use it in the wrong way.

ZeussLightningBolt · Answer

It's confusing, because there are white Latinos, Arabs and Indians. And scientifically they actually count as White.

Most Americans don't realize Caucasians are from the Caucasus Mountains. But the name has been used to refer to ALL white people, because that's where the white race originates.

Wwwyzzerdd · Answer

Race doesn't exist, we are all humans and bleed the same color.

Only racists people base their outlook and actions on the skin tone of others.

Black people can be racist too, reverse racism is absolutely a thing that racists try to say can't exist because of their racist opinions.

I wonder how racists would handle diseases that changed the skin tone like vitiligo? Melanin is all that separates entire "races" of people from each other and maybe a few specific genes too.

NearlyNapping · Answer

Because language evolves over time. Caucasian has come to mean white. So that's what the word actually means.

Nothing wrong with that. A huge portion of our language means something different than it did centuries ago, or even decades ago. There are quite a few words that have changed meanings just in my lifetime. If that didn't happen then language would be static and never change. There would be no such langue as English.

AynonOMouse · Answer

If all Whites are Caucasian, then Japanese, Phillipino, and Chinese are all the same too. It is BS.
The majority of Whites and Europeans are not Caucasian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus
Most Whites in the USA are Irish, English, German, and French. They are not Caucasian.

dropkicknj13 · Answer

It's because that is how the government defines race on all it's forms. Anyone of European decent (including southern Europe like Spain and Italy) is white or Caucasian.

0112358 · Answer

They're using it as a polite way of saying 'white'.  They don't give a shit about skull shape.

Handsome_cowboy · Answer

The definition of caucasion is literally to be white. Of anglo saxon or european decent. So your question is therefore answered by itself actually.   Your question is pointless because we use it correctly.

HereIbe · Answer

Because it's totally arbitrary and FUCKED UP from the beginning. There is NO scientific way to actually define "race" in any way that matches any "race" as it is generally accepted.

MrMilti · Answer

Language is fluid. Words that meant something in the past do not always mean the same today and thats okay. Today, caucassian means mostly white people and I am okay with that.

taleswapper · Answer

Because skin color is the easiest characteristic to spot at a distance. humans are very visually oriented.

AMEL2332 · Answer

my country is the tiny small red dot in north africa

Anonymous · Answer

Hitler, an Austrian, believed the same thing.. that Caucasian meant white skin.. and he was a nazi

Anonymous · Answer

Because most of the Americans are ignorant people.  There are three branches of Caucasians: Indo-European (Aryan), Semitic, and Hamitic. Each of them have several sub-branches or types.

Jackblue · Answer

Everything is a construct. Species is a construct that doesn't mean it isn't important.

jacquesvol · Answer

Racism exists since old times. The US and Germany made it a creed.

smith_this · Answer

I don't know i am just human fuck race who down to f***❤😙

Why do people (Americans mostly) think being Caucasian is to do with skin tone/colour?

Most Helpful Opinions

Most Helpful Opinions

What Girls & Guys Said