Everything about Caucasian Race totally explained
» For peoples actually from the Caucasus, see Peoples of the Caucasus; for other uses of the term, see Caucasian.
The
Caucasian race, sometimes called the
Caucasoid race, 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
North Africa" or "
white-skinned; of
European origin" or "relating to the region of the
Caucasus in SE
Europe". The concept originated in attempts chiefly by 19th c. European thinkers to develop a method of racial classification. This typological method was discredited and the concept isn't relied on in scientific work related to humans. However, it survives along with the similar classification "white" on many sociological studies, most of which require respondents to choose their "race" from a list of terms. Some also allow "other" or "mixed". The idea is to use the self-selected classification (sometimes selected by the surveyor by appearance) for correllational studies, sometimes in conjunction with other sciences, especially medicine and public health.
People in Europe, especially in Russia and nearby, generally use the term "Caucasian" exclusively to identify people who are from the
Caucasus region or who speak the
Caucasian languages.
Origins of the term
The term "Caucasian" originated as one of the racial categories developed in the 19th century by people studying
craniology. It was derived from the region of the
Caucasus mountains.
The 18th century German philosopher
Christoph Meiners first named the concept of the Caucasian race Blumenbach based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the
Caucasian peoples, particularly a single skull from the Caucasia which resembled German skulls. It was from this similarity that he conjectured Europeans having arisen in the Caucasia.
In 1855, French diplomat and man of letters Arthur de Gobineau popularized ideas about race: "I must say, once and for all, that I understand by white men the members of those races which are also called Caucasian
The Caucasus was historically an area of fascination for Europeans. Myths of the Caucasus featured
Prometheus and
Jason and the Argonauts. Greek mythology considered women from the Caucasus to have magical powers., such as
Medea of Jason and the Argonauts fame. In Greek mythology, this area was thought of as a kind of hell since
Zeus imprisoned many Titans who opposed him (for example
Prometheus) there. In this sense, these Titans were banished outside the civilized world to an area inhabited by
Colchians. The Greeks considered them barbaric.
Populations included
Among the main racial group of Caucasians there are three subgroups;
Nordic,
Alpine, and
Mediterranean.
18th century anthropologist Christoph Meiners, who first defined the Caucasian race, posited a "
binary racial scheme" of two races with the Caucasian whose racial purity was exemplified by the "
venerated... ancient Germans", although he considered some Europeans as impure "
dirty whites"; and "
Mongolians", who consisted of everyone else. Anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, Meiners' contemporary, stated, "
to this first variety [Caucasians] belong the inhabitants of Europe (except the Lapps and the remaining descendents of the Finns) and those of Eastern Asia, as far as the river Obi, the Caspian Sea, the Ganges and the Basque Country; and lastly, those of North Africa" also known as "
Julien-Joseph Virey" or "
Jean-Julien Virey" In his political history of racial identity, Bruce Baum wrote,"Jean-Joseph Virey (1774-1847), a follower of Chistoph Meiners, claimed that "the human races... may divided... into those who are fair and white and those who are dark or black."
People of South Asia
Early 20th century anthropologist Carleton Coon wrote in the 1930s that within the Caucasoid race there's a "third division [Mediterraneanswhich]... included... southern India" but remarked this group had "facial features of a
Veddoid character which in some instances suggest Australoid affinities."
In 1995, geneticist
Cavalli-Sforza wrote, "[T]he Caucasoids are mainly fair-skinned peoples, but this group also includes the southern Indians, who live in tropical areas and show signs of a marked darkening in skin pigmentation, although their facial and body traits are Caucasoid rather than African or Australian."
Physical characteristics
18th century anthropologist Christoph Meiners, who first defined the term, characterized the "
Caucasian" as having the characteristics of "
lightness", "
beauty" and being "
handsome" with the "
ancient Germans" having the "
whitest, most blooming and most delicate skin" because they were the most racially pure Caucasians..
However, some anthropologists point to
Ethiopians,
Eritreans,
Somalis and
Nubians who exhibit phenotypical traits such as orthognathism, keen facial features and non-kinky hair texture usually exclusive to Caucasoid peoples. They contend such variations are indigenous to these groups and can't be attributed to invasions from outside Caucasoid peoples as suggested under the
Dynastic Race Theory and in more recent biological studies. Such phenotypical variations, they argue, often occur within nuclear family groups and are inherent to what they term "Africoid" peoples, much as there are broad variations in physical stature and body proportions between the
Pygmies of the
Congo, who generally reach a height of 4.5 feet, and of the
Dinka or
Tutsi of
Rwanda, whose average height is 6.5 feet and who are described as "gracile", or gracefully slender. Similarly, they continue, African peoples commonly considered "Negroid" such as the
Senegalese also sometimes lack prognathism..
This view, however, has no shortage of critics whom argue that a segment of the
Wolof people of Senegal possesses Caucasoid maternal admixture which could very well explain the relatively attenuated
prognathism attributed to some members of that population. Critics also point out that the so-called "elongated" physique common to many Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalis is strictly an adaptive response to living in a tropical environment and not a sign of shared racial ancestry with neighboring black groups as has been proposed:
The elongation of the distal segments of the limbs is also clearly related to the dissipation of metabolically generated heat. Because heat stress and latitude are clearly related, one would expect to find a correlation between the two sets of traits that are associated with adaptation to survival in areas of great ambient temperature, namely, skin color and limb proportions. This is clearly the case in such areas as Equatorial Africa, the tropical portions of South Asia, and northern Australia, although there's little covariation with other sets of inherited traits. In this regard it's interesting to note that the limb proportions of the Predynastic Naqada in Upper Egypt are reported to be "super-Negroid", meaning that the distal segments are elongated in the fashion of tropical Africans. It would be just as accurate to call them "super-Veddoid" or "super-Carpentarian" because skin color intensification and distal limb elongation are apparent wherever people have been long-term residents of the tropics. The term "super-tropical" would be better, as it implies the results of selection associated with a given latitude rather than the more "racially loaded" term "Negroid.
Usage
With the turn away from
racial theory in the late 20th century, the term "
Caucasian" as a racial classification fell into disuse in Europe. In Germany and Russia, the term "
Europid" or "
Europoid" is used. Consequently, in the
United Kingdom, the term "
Caucasian" is more likely than in the
United States to describe people from the Caucasus, although it may still be used as a racial classification. Sarah A Tishkoff and Kenneth K Kidd state, "
Despite disagreement among anthropologists, this classification remains in use by many researchers, as well as lay people." According to Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, the concept of race has all but been completely rejected by modern mainstream anthropology. In 2003,
United States National Library of Medicine stopped using the term Caucasian race in favor of the term "
European". In the
United States, "
Caucasian" has been mainly a distinction based on skin color with "white" or light complexion. Caucasians are also distinguished as a people who are, or whose ancestors were, "
from Europe" .
Whether "Caucasian", "white", or "European" is used, it's also common in studies today to use the term "
Latin" or "
Latino/Latina", asking those with ancestral origins from Spain or Portugal to check that instead.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Caucasian Race'.
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