Am I being unreasonable for wanting to tell you about being Caucasian?

[DelphineMarineaux]

Inspired by another thread I just responded to, I thought I would start this one.

So, do you think I'm being unreasonable for wanting to tell you about what it means to be Caucasian?

The reason I want to tell you about it is because when most people hear the term 'Caucasian' their thoughts most often go to a dark place. White supremacy. Racism. But reality is, Caucasians are not "white". "White" being someone of, say, Germanic, Scandinavian or Anglo-Saxon heritage. For those that might know this, there is a rather large region in Central Asia called the Caucasus. It consists of countries like Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also lots of regions in what we know as Russia. People that originate from the Caucasus - such as myself - we are called Caucasians. The reason why I want to tell people about the Caucasus and Caucasian people is because I feel like our name is being misused so much, and almost always in negative contexts. I shouldn't have to be worried about offending someone by telling them I'm Caucasian. Just because, in their mind, a Caucasian must be a white supremacist.

I really hope that even one person might read this thread might think twice about their reaction next time they meet someone that tells them they are Caucasian. Because some of us genuinely are Caucasians, and very proud of our ancient heritage, our culture and our history. We do not want to be associated with racism, superiority of any kind, or anything else that's negative and so far away from us / who we are.

Thank you for reading...

I would say both 'Caucasian' and 'Anglo-Saxon' are terms used in white supremacist propaganda (past and present), and therefore we should stop using them as synonyms for 'white'.

White supremacists cling to terms like 'aryan' or 'caucasian' or 'anglo-saxon' because they want to pretend they've got a proud historical lineage and a historical culture. They are sad sacks who refuse to understand that the human race is one race, and humans have been marrying each other and having babies and travelling and chatting to each other, as long as we've existed.

What a stupid response. Why do people call themselves European?

Except most people don't call themselves European, do they, in the context that the OP is talking about (people asking where they're from)

If you're French and travelling in China, and someone asks where you're from, you say France. You don't say I'm European.

Let's say you're Breton, so you don't really identify as French. You might still answer 'France' (because that's your nationality) or you might say I'm from Bretagne, it's a region in France. You wouldn't say, I'm European.

My DH is from a mixed European background, he still doesn't say he's European, he just picks the most dominant ethnicity. This is what my friends from various Balkan countries do as well.

My point being that the OP can call herself Caucasian if she wants but it does have a strange connotation in the US (unfortunately!) and it also just seems unusual to say Caucasian instead of being more specific

YANBU OP. For years I ticked the "Caucasian" box thinking it just meant "White".

The words aryan and Iran and connected. I know Iran isn't actually on the Caucasus region, but it's right there next to it!
I think Caucasian and aryan may have become synonymous foe white, because in Asia, those countries are perhaps those with the lightest skin tone. But are they white? That is debatable. They have lighter skin tones than people from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan etc. But often much darker skin tones than a lot of western countries. Those from the Caucasus region living in the uk for example, certainly may experience racism based on their skin tone, and therefore may not identify as white.

The police use IC1, IC3 and so on now. In TV dramas, anyway.

People in the Caucasus look like Mediterraneans. Some might say Turkish, but go to the Balkans and see people with very similar features (Balkans was colonised by the Ottoman Empire).

This notion that people in the Caucasus are not white is the same as the Antonio Banderas example of being told he is a man of colour. Yes, sure the classifications are made up bull but it's slightly

I agree - I was born in USSR and my parents are from Azerbaijan.
Caucasians have always been people from eastern Russia - Georgia, Armenia... ironically they are dark hair coloured and have darker skin, so how did that become a word for 'white' just baffles me 😂

I think you mean southern russia. Google the gymnastics twins from Tokyo. They are azeri (well British but ethnically caucasian)

@DelphineMarineaux

Inspired by another thread I just responded to, I thought I would start this one.

So, do you think I'm being unreasonable for wanting to tell you about what it means to be Caucasian?

The reason I want to tell you about it is because when most people hear the term 'Caucasian' their thoughts most often go to a dark place. White supremacy. Racism. But reality is, Caucasians are not "white". "White" being someone of, say, Germanic, Scandinavian or Anglo-Saxon heritage. For those that might know this, there is a rather large region in Central Asia called the Caucasus. It consists of countries like Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also lots of regions in what we know as Russia. People that originate from the Caucasus - such as myself - we are called Caucasians. The reason why I want to tell people about the Caucasus and Caucasian people is because I feel like our name is being misused so much, and almost always in negative contexts. I shouldn't have to be worried about offending someone by telling them I'm Caucasian. Just because, in their mind, a Caucasian must be a white supremacist.

I really hope that even one person might read this thread might think twice about their reaction next time they meet someone that tells them they are Caucasian. Because some of us genuinely are Caucasians, and very proud of our ancient heritage, our culture and our history. We do not want to be associated with racism, superiority of any kind, or anything else that's negative and so far away from us / who we are.

Thank you for reading...

Is this a social media thing? Because in the real world I've never heard of the idea that anyone equates Caucasian with white supremacists. I don't use social media so wouldn't know about the weird down the rabbit hole stuff.

But I still think it's sad that I should have to 'hide' or not speak of being Caucasian...

Also OP, since you've gone to all the trouble and picked a UK site in order to 'educate' us. Let us educate you and let you know that the UK is a country where the majority of the population is white, and nobody feels the need to go into 'hiding'. Suggesting this can be highly offensive too.

[quote SaharaFlower]@NotMyCat : Would that exclude being white? Where is it that mixed race ends? I have 3c/4a hair yet light skin. Was his hairstyle short?[/quote]
Exactly, not a clue. Yes he always kept it very short except for when he was younger so I only saw the curls in pictures

@54321nought

I am also very confused when I hear people use the term "Caucasian" to mean northern Europeans - we are not Caucasians!

But the phrase "Anglo-Saxon" is a bit weird too, the "Anglo -Saxons" were retired soldiers who had turned mercenary after serving 25 years in the Roman army, they were not in any way ethnically homogenous, many of them were North African, Mediterranean, etc

No sorry. The Anglo Saxons and Jutes didn't arrive til the Romans left Britain in 410 AD.

I’m in the U.K. snd the only time you hear the description “Caucasian” is on those American police dramas where they all talk super-fast -

“Suspect Caucasian male, upper 40s....”

I never took it to have racist connotations - more a very generalised description of someone who is vaguely “white” in appearance.

But “white” means different things to different people. I once went to a remote part of Northern Pakistan where a lot of people had red hair and light eyes / pale skin. Apparently they were descendants of Alexander the Great!

My husband is white to all intents and purposes and he is Iranian.

I find Caucasian too broad a spectrum to hold any substance. It's ridiculous.

A blonde and wealthy white American is not the same as a very darkly tanned Spanish woman. You'll notice the latter experience their own discrimination on a much higher level than white Americans/Brits for example

Hispanic people face a lot of awful judgments from white people too. But they're seen as white because to be exact, they are white