Racial Categories II

[Mia]

Anyone here an expert in this subject or have some info on hand?

I am completely confused as to which people supposedly belong to what race or if their distinction is only an ethnic one, etc.

Black and white are quite easy, of course.

So what about Arabs, American Indians, Asians, Mexican/Spanish/other hispanic/latino, etc., etc.
?

[Aequo]

The following would be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race

[Mia]

Thanks!

[Mia]

UR, we need to move our discussion here, I believe, so as not to hijack the other thread.

Please enlighten me as to what race Iraqis belong to.

[castille]

Arabic. Which is "Asian" by geography.

[Mia]

lol...Arabic is a language, not a racial category. Try again.

[castille]

Depends on how you define "race".

If you use the American way of skin colour, then officially most Mongolians are white people, and all Africans are of the same race (I wonder why those Tutsis really hated the Hutus).

I define race simply as to their region (ie. Arabic, East Asian, North East Asian, islander Anglo-Saxon) of bloodline. For example, Queen Anne of the Brittanian throne was actually partial Baltic, but she was referred to as a pureblood French.

[Mia]

Well, by the American definitions, Arabs are "white". What you are describing has nothing to do with race, but geography. You're grouping people by region.

Arabic is often used to describe the region you mentioned, but it's not accurate even by it's own definitions. Iran is in the region, but they are not Arabs and don't speak Arabic.

I still want to sort out the categories of race specifically and leave other categories for later or another thread.

[castille]

So what is race then? Keep in mind all humans, according to science, were descended from an entirely different species of life.

[Mia]

See the link posted above.

[castille]

Er....all I got from that is nobody can decide what race is.

Like I said, to me regional bloodline is a race. Since nobody can actually decide on a universal racial standard, there is nothing wrong with caling an Arab an Arab, or a Mongoloid a Mongoloid.

[Plaything48]

I'm a white Brit, so does that make me part of the white race or the British race, or am I both?

Who thinks race should be defined in terms of region?

Some people also seem to think your race is determined by your religious beliefs, so which is it?

There are also african people who are white. Asian people, not import, Asian people are not white.

Mia, you said "You've seen a caucasion Iraqi. You said so yourself about the photo, didn't you?"

If you look at that photo, it looks like white American or British soldier, white, short cropped hair, fair skinned, not tanned nor "dark".

Typically, the Iraqi people I have seen IRL are dark skinned, almost black, black black hair, brown eyes. You can't deny this.

I am open minded to being corrected but I'm not going to dance around while you post shit like "
Devote some more time to that source I provided and learn a little something.", got it? You aren't the bottomless pit of "truth" and virtue here either. You want respect, practice it.

[Mia]

Originally posted by URnotmeRU, If you look at that photo, it looks like white American or British soldier, white, short cropped hair, fair skinned, not tanned nor "dark". Typically, the Iraqi people I have seen IRL are dark skinned, almost black, black black hair, brown eyes. You can't deny this.

You seem to think that because the man in the photo has caucasion features, that he must be of European descent. Caucasions are not only people of European descent, but include peoples from Western Asia as well.

As in Europe, you will find a range among Western Asians from fair hair and skin to darker hair and skin.

I'm not sure what is difficult about this to understand, unless you

1) Have only seen the darker variety and therefore believe that's all that exists

2) Are confusing Aryan with Caucasion

Or both.

Could you clarify why you believe Iraqis are of a different race and what that race is?

And please tell me if Greeks and Italians are of a different race due to their (usually) darker skin and hair?

[Comrade]

Originally posted by Mia, lol...Arabic is a language, not a racial category.  Try again.

I've always considered language one of the defining attributes of culture. Look at Canada or Switzerland, very different cultures in the different language "zones."
And look at American empathy with Britons and Australians, Canadians, yet not Quebecians. We relate to people who speak our language.

[Mia]

Sure - but we're talking about race. Blood-lines. You can have blacks and whites grow up in the same culture, but they are still of different races.

[Comrade]

Ah, the physical part.
Well, wikipedia has a very good article with very good links to articles about each racial category, I can't remember if anyone posted it or not. Just search for "race" or any of the specific races. I encountered the article when looking to figure out why we used the word Caucasian to refer to all white people.

[white rice]

Biologically, there aren't categories for races because we've been interbreeding and migrating over the past 10,000 years. But there are around 20-30 populations that share specific genetics. With more interbreeding, racial lines will be blurred more as social constructs than as it already is.

[Mia]

Well, there are still categories, you just also have the mixtures that you mentioned.

I believe the controversy of Western Asia peoples comes from some being more purely caucasion, and some being a mix of Caucasion and Ethiopian, or black. My understanding this mixture falls into the category of Arab, but am not sure and trying to find out.

Many Syrians and Lebonese and others in NW Asia are of the more clearly caucasion variety. Many Iraqis, as UR noted, are more of the mixture we recognize as Arabs. Saudis too.

I'm also looking into where Assyrians fit. Whether they are Caucasion and Assyrian is a regional category. (An old one).

My Syrian friend is mostly of Assyrian and a little of French blood. (France occupied Syria for a time, so I imagine this is a common mix), and looks just like the Croation actor on ER. (Eastern-European).

His aunt has blond hair and blue eyes, his mother looks Italian to me, and his Dad looks Spanish. His whole family represents the wide variety found in this region and has made me interested in this subject.

His skin is as pale as mine (I'm of English/French/Irish ancestry), but he tans in 30 minutes darker than I can get all summer! (a**hole). ;-)

[castille]

I'm of English/French/Irish ancestry

Be more specific. Did your original bloodline come from the Norman invaders of Britain? The Romans who invaded Britain and France? The Teuton Swordbrother Order who made their trip to Britain and had sex with British girls? The daughter of Queen Anne of Burgundy who married a British nobleman?


Told you bloodlines are hard to trace