Antea wrote:What is being white?
I've always assumed it was being of European ancestry or primarily so. And I think that's the most commonly accepted definition? If you go to any European country and ask the local majority if they consider themselves White they'll say so. Seems illogical to consider a German white but not a Serbian, for example. It's obvious they're both people of European stock/genetics. If a Serbian isn't white what is he? He's obviously not Black, Arabic, East Asian, Indian, Amerindian or Pacific Islander. And all "races" have variations in skin tone and complexion among them. If an Indonesian and a Japanese are both Asian and a Kenyan and a Nigerian are both black then ofc a Serbian and a German can both be white even if they look different from each other on average.
As for Europeans with non-European ancestry in them, if you have like a Chinese grandfather or something but the rest of your family is, let's say, Austrian, I don't think people care much and will mostly likely see you as white. Europe is different from USA, Brazil and other former colonial nations in this regard. We're not as strict when it comes to labelling people.
Black people are people of sub-Saharan African ancestry or primarily so. A mixed black and white person like Obama to me is what we call a mulato here. Although you could argue that society in general is more likely to view a person like Obama or Thierry Henry as more black than white due to how dominant the sub-Saharan features are and how it shows on their appearance.
Btw, why did people stop calling Asians yellow? It's fine to call Europeans white and Sub-Saharan Africans black, but calling Asians yellow seems to be a no-no.
Gypsies are not considered white in Europe btw. People don't view them as a "race" per se, though. They view them more as an ethnic group. And not all Gypsies look the same. You can be a Gypsy that looks as European as everyone else but you're still a Gypsy.
Saim wrote:I'd say that traditionally different parts of the West also had somewhat different understandings of race, which has changed due to the US exporting a lot if its racial categories and stereotypes along with other aspects of its culture.
Yes, like I've said, it's kind of annoying how white Americans basically have made themselves the "standard white people". As if their culture is the only valid one in the world