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RSSWord of the Day: Caucasian
Caucasian (kô-kā’zhən) is commonly used as an adjective to describe people from racial groups characterized by white skin, especially ones with European origin. This meaning was coined by German anthropologist Johann Blumenbach since the Caucasus Mountains (located close to the Black Sea) are homeland for most of the white races.
African-American men have twice the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as Caucasian men. (NY Times)
The modelling business has always been dominated by Caucasian faces but not for a long time has the situation been so extreme. (The Guardian)
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Sorry, but this is not correct. People simply started assuming that “Caucasian” meant “white only”, but it doesn’t. Back in the 1970s, the term used to be “White Caucasian,” but police and other officials that use the media stopped using the “white” part of the description.
The fact is, there are darker-skinned Caucasian types, particularly some East Indians and people from a few other places (North Africa, etc.) Just check the following reference for proof:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caucasian
The term has been used in correctly for a long time now.
jonson, perhaps. Here is the Wikipedia quote:
“The Caucasian race, sometimes called the Caucasoid race,[1][2] is defined by the Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English as “relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, Western Asia, parts of the Indian Subcontinent and parts of North Africa” or “white-skinned; of European origin” or “relating to the region of the Caucasus in SE Europe”.[3] “
Last week I agreed to take an on-line survey from Business Journal, which asked questions about how I used the publication. At the end of the questions, the survey asked for my “race” and offered these possibilities: Asian or Pacific Islander, African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Caucasian (non-Hispanic) and Other.
This confusion of race and ethnicity makes me nuts; I checked Other.
But I was born in Texas, USA … so I must be a Native American.
My “ethnic” antecedents are Danish, Dutch, Scot, and English. Maybe I’m a Nordic-Celtic-Anglo-Saxon-American. But strictly speaking, Denmark is neither Nordic or even Scandinavian. I could call myself a Viking-Celtic-Anglo-Saxon-American.
All I know is that I have red hair, blue eyes, and I am so white that I reflect light. Why this should matter to the Business Journal?
Maybe I’ll stick with Native American; if someone asks “what tribe” I can tell them Clan Wallace
yikes. I mean “incorrectly”, not “in correctly”.
Right, but my point is that this is an incorrect definition. There are slightly darker Caucasians out there: “dark Caucasians”. Normally I wouldn’t argue with Oxford’s, but the clue is in the incorrect definition.
The people I refer to have been integrated into Western Asia, India, and North Africa, as the definition says. While they are much lighter-skinned than the rest of their country folk, they are darker than the “white Caucasians” that “Caucasian” now incorrectly refers to.
I’d have to check the Wikipedia entry to see what year that Oxford’s entry is from, but I’m guessing it’s recent, which might explain why it’s wrong.
Yes I agree the correct definition should be broader than “white skin.”
Actually, I’m not a big fan of the word to begin with. It’s an archaic word now — other terms like African-American, Asian American, Black, Hispanic, etc. have rendered it obsolete. We would not say Negro or Mongoloid anymore, so we wouldn’t/shouldn’t use Caucasian anymore either. I prefer “white” as the accepted term.
This occurred in the U.S. Navy in 1960 give or take a year or two. The aircraft carrier I served on was home ported in Norfolk, Va. A young black sailor was ordered to go to work in one of the engineering spaces by a white Chief Petty Officer . The Chief called him black. Actually, I believe he used another word. The sailor was insulted and told the Chief he as white as him. If the Chief didn’t believe him, he could check his records in the personnel office.
The Chief did. The records indicated the sailor’s race was caucasian. He was from the United States Virgin Islands. I seem to remember the Chief shaking his head in wonderment which was the best part of all this. I remember their names but the CPO will always be rememembered too as Chief As White As Me. Shaking his head.
Human variation or the concept of race is not universally agreed upon and is certainly not perceived with the same meaning as it is in the U.S. As regards “Caucasian” used to describe people of a fair or pale skin, has not always been used. Neither have some other terms used during the greater part of the 20th Century to describe other “races.” During most of the 20th Century, Physical Anthropologist divided the human family into three “races” known as Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. In the 19th Century thinkers or social scientists who were European divided the human race into five categories referred to by skin color; as White, Black, Brown, yellow, and red. There is very little real science that is used or can be used to determine which racial category to place people in. On what basis do some U.S. Whites place East Indians and North Africans into the Caucasian category when at the same time Mulattos in the U.S. are placed in the Black category or even some Whites who have some African ancestry are considered as Black or in the Negroid category. East Indians, especially, can easily be distinquished from Europeans or “Caucasians, as easily as can Chinese can be distinquished from Whites. If the American definition of so-called African American is applied across the board, many southern Europeans and North Africans would certainly not be classified as White or Caucasian. In the past, Ethiopians were classified as Caucasian while in the U.S. some people who were actually white in appearance were put in the “Negro” or Black category. What about the U.S. government classifying a person as American Indian with 75% White or European ancestry and only 25% aboriginal ancestry. Racial classification is political and uniquely American or a phenomena of the White English speaking world. The concept of race even varies among English speaking Whites. I have heard British speak of the Scottish race or a Canadian speak of the French speaking Canadians as one of the founding races of Canada. Of Course the Nazis divided the white American”s concept of “White race” into Aryan, Slavic, and Teuton. And, of course, the Jews were considered as a race seperate from the Germans.. Of course, White Americans, have their concept of race based on a kind of Pan Europeanism translated into “White” or Caucasian” which are not even seriously shared by some other nationalities that are considered as “Whit” or Caucasian” As regards classifying North Africans as Caucasian, the Black racial mixtures of the North Africans are conveniently ignored. “I once told an Egyptian that some U.S. White Anthropologists consider Egyptians to be Caucasian, his reply was that they can classify me however they wish but I know who I am and no one else can tell me any different.” People never think for themselves, they think as they are told. For example, there was a comment by an assumed White person that other groups in this country are no longer being referred to by the same names, stating the so-called African Americans are no longer referred to as Black, Indians are now referred to as Native Americans and there are the Asian Americans and therefore White people should not be referred to as Caucasian but should be refered to as White which appears rather inconsistent because she does not advocate that White people should also be referred based on ancestry or called European American. As a Black man, it appears rather bizarre that Whites have the hypocrisy of referring to me as an “African American” by race, effectively cutting me off from my Black brothers and sisters around the world. It is true that White can be defined as a race being that people of that appearance is not just found in the U.S. But, an “African American” is not actually a race while as Black is a race, not just found in the U.S. It is evident that U.S. White liberal racists want to promote Pan Europeanism or Pan Whiteism but discourage Black people from engaging in the same.
Please send a copy of my comments and your response
I think that the word caucasian should not be used. My ancestors are not from the Caucus region as most definations state the meaning of the word. My ancestors are from Europe mainly England. Shouldn’t we be called European Americans since we came from Europe?
Perhaps this theory may be of use. The continents were clustered together,and perhaps it was at that time, that the nations that were divided changed into the colours they are at now.
The changes of climate lead to the changes of skin. There are links,not only in colour of skin, but also in cultural connections and DNA patterns. You may find this through Anthropological studies, that have extensive studies of the origin of the white race or caucasian race. Some countries have departments that are specialized in these subjects.
” don’t call me Ashley “
Does anyone know how we can get the word caucasian changed to european american or at least get european american added to employment applicatiions, well, all applications?
Actually, my family is from the caucasus, so i guess that means im caucasian.
i dont get why the word “asian” is in the word caucasian so please can someone explain to me
Thank You!!