(December 26, 2016 at 9:48 pm)Loading Please Wait Wrote: When you think of Caucasian, what do you think of? White people? An ethnic category on an application? But what is white? Who are the real Caucasian and why do we as white Americans call ourselves or take the label Caucasian? Is it because the textbook definition is someone of European descent with white complexion? Have you ever heard of the Causasus Mountains?
Geologically, the Caucasus Mountains belong to a system that extends from southeastern Europe into Asia. Caucasian genuinely means people living in that region. When you look deeper you will find more than just a white complexion. You will find the cultures of Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, and even Russians. So, would you consider yourself Caucasian if you were from Armenia? No you would call yourself Armenian.
So who are the Caucasian people? The people within the villages of the Caucasus Mountains, there are Eastern Europeans which are typically Eastern Orthdox or Islamic. There is an interesting mix of Caucasian people.
My point is, are those of us considered Caucasian are we really that? I'm sure if you go to France or Germany and call anyone on the streets Caucasian, I'm sure you'd get some funny looks. Do we call ourselves because that what the government has been calling us, or because we are from North America? I'm not arguing anyone, just been thinking about this.
My brother took a DNA test to determine his ancestry, and one was the Caucasus mountain area if I remember right. It's more of an anthropological term regarding white people. Really fair skin is just an evolutionary trait. As humans migrated further north away from the equator and the direct rays of the sun, in order to absorb and synthesize vitamin D through sun light, the skin had to lose pigmentation and become more translucent. Dark skin acts as a natural sunscreen which is advantageous around the equator, but far north, light skin is more advantageous. That's really all it is in a nutshell or at least the currently likely explanation through current understanding. I've heard some black people say were are aliens, seriously!
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/h...white-skin
