What Race to Mark

[amal 4]

at Wal-Mart, they have Middle East under Caucasian. Hubster said that in Jordan, his complection is considered white too.

I think its a strange situation coz technically, they ARE Asian since they come from Asia and all. So I guess he is my Asian Caucasian HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY THAT RHYMES!!!!!!!!!! sorry... I hope that didn't offend anyone. I meant it in the nicest way possible.

amal

[sereia 0]

pretty simple. MENA is white. my husband liked to call himself african american too but it is wrong!

[AlHayatZween 2]

unless you are not white...

like the Saharawi from south of Ouarzazat, Zagora, M'hamid... on into Mauritania...

it is madness.......

[polarbear 0]

pretty simple. MENA is white. my husband liked to call himself african american too but it is wrong!

Yeah, but if they have the same skin tone as the hispanic group, why are they considered white? Seriously, my husband can't get people to stop speaking to him in Spanish before they even try the English Not saying they should be hispanic, but to me, they aren't white either

[Jenn! 918]

pretty simple. MENA is white. my husband liked to call himself african american too but it is wrong!

Yeah, but if they have the same skin tone as the hispanic group, why are they considered white? Seriously, my husband can't get people to stop speaking to him in Spanish before they even try the English Not saying they should be hispanic, but to me, they aren't white either

As I understand it, racial differences aren't only about skin color, but also things like cranial shape. In any case, it's all fairly controversial, I think, and can quickly become arbitrary and meaningless.

[sandinista! 1,816]

pretty simple. MENA is white. my husband liked to call himself african american too but it is wrong!

Yeah, but if they have the same skin tone as the hispanic group, why are they considered white? Seriously, my husband can't get people to stop speaking to him in Spanish before they even try the English Not saying they should be hispanic, but to me, they aren't white either

As I understand it, racial differences aren't only about skin color, but also things like cranial shape. In any case, it's all fairly controversial, I think, and can quickly become arbitrary and meaningless.

for sure! there are many, many ways to classify differences and similarities amongst different people around the world, from lactose tolerance to incidence of sickle cell gene (which is actually far more common amongst greeks and italians than sub-saharan africans). i read this a long time ago, and thought it was an interesting take on the subject.

Race Without Color: Basing race on body chemistry makes no more sense than basing race on appearance--but at least you get to move the membership around.

as well, interpretations of race in me/na can be pretty interesting and varied too, i saw this on another website-

In the Sahara, I remember seeing a person with substantially darker skin than Condoleeza Rice mock her for being black. As far as he and most other people in town were concerned, the colour of his skin had nothing to do with whether he was black or not - what counted was his non-sub-Saharan patrilineal ancestry (ie, not being descended from slaves or serfs, at least through the male line.) That said, I doubt he would have been considered white on the coast, no matter where his forefathers came from...

[Carolyn 1]

I think that the single "race" box is rapidly becoming pointless...

I am a high school teacher in an urban setting--most of our students are "people of color" although probably at least half of them are multiracial. We also have to pick one for students who do not specify on their school application for demographic/testing purposes (including my favorite--No Child Left Behind). How stupid. What would you check for the black and Mexican student? Or the Mexican of Italian ancestry? Or the Dominican who obviously had African ancestors? I asked our office manager, and she said that if she has to pick for a student, she basically goes by what a student LOOKS like (and sometimes what language they speak at home).

We have a rapidly changing world, and many people, including our spouses, don't fit neatly into racial categories--and what is the point, really?

Ciao,

Carolyn

P.S. People frequently speak to my Moroccan Berber husband in Spanish, too!

[sarahaziz 0]

It's so confusing cuz they don't list it in detail like it's listed here. I 've been putting mediterranean, African, East ASian.

If you are from Algeria, why are you putting East Asian? I think, you should put "white."

lol you're right brother, i used to mainly put african we also don't consider ourselves arab but in america algerians pretty much categorized arab

[sarahaziz 0]

im a dark algerian i don't know how i got yellow or tanned. everyone in my family is pale white.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Altho Arab, I have no interest in being regarded as White. I pick "Other" or leave it blank. When I contract for the US government, we always have this fight. I don't know what they put me down as.

The State Dept has agreements with many countries to classify their citizens as "White", no matter how absolutely absurd it is. One of my cousins married a full blooded Native from South America, and when she saw his papers classifying him as "White", she had a fit, declaring that she didn't marry a White guy. They said, yes you did. People from his country are classified as White no matter what their ancestry is.

Go figure.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

pretty simple. MENA is white. my husband liked to call himself african american too but it is wrong!

Yeah, but if they have the same skin tone as the hispanic group, why are they considered white? Seriously, my husband can't get people to stop speaking to him in Spanish before they even try the English Not saying they should be hispanic, but to me, they aren't white either

As I understand it, racial differences aren't only about skin color, but also things like cranial shape. In any case, it's all fairly controversial, I think, and can quickly become arbitrary and meaningless.

for sure! there are many, many ways to classify differences and similarities amongst different people around the world, from lactose tolerance to incidence of sickle cell gene (which is actually far more common amongst greeks and italians than sub-saharan africans). i read this a long time ago, and thought it was an interesting take on the subject.

Race Without Color: Basing race on body chemistry makes no more sense than basing race on appearance--but at least you get to move the membership around.

as well, interpretations of race in me/na can be pretty interesting and varied too, i saw this on another website-

In the Sahara, I remember seeing a person with substantially darker skin than Condoleeza Rice mock her for being black. As far as he and most other people in town were concerned, the colour of his skin had nothing to do with whether he was black or not - what counted was his non-sub-Saharan patrilineal ancestry (ie, not being descended from slaves or serfs, at least through the male line.) That said, I doubt he would have been considered white on the coast, no matter where his forefathers came from...

There is more genetic diversity in Algeria than in many mena countries due to the intense slave trade of europeans brought through Algiers by the barbary pirates and ottomans between 1400 and 1800s...over 1,000,000 slaves were brought into Algiers.In1631 an entire city from Ireland was kidnapped back to Algiers (BALTIMORE IRELAND)noted in Des Akins book called the STOLEN VILLIAGE.This was not the case in Morocco.This is reflected in how different the people in the west of Algeria look from eastern Algerians.My husband is half saharawi from GHAIRDAIA and MOZABITE and his mom is andalusian,......his fathers family is very dark.He calls himself blue not black...

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

Altho Arab, I have no interest in being regarded as White. I pick "Other" or leave it blank. When I contract for the US government, we always have this fight. I don't know what they put me down as.

The State Dept has agreements with many countries to classify their citizens as "White", no matter how absolutely absurd it is. One of my cousins married a full blooded Native from South America, and when she saw his papers classifying him as "White", she had a fit, declaring that she didn't marry a White guy. They said, yes you did. People from his country are classified as White no matter what their ancestry is.

Go figure.

Also not all mena people identify themselves as sunni or arab.The mozabites from Ghairdaia are ibadi muslim and are not ethnically arabic at all.They would very much say they were black...Algerians from the sahara do not have a problem with being black...they are ....often they call themselves blue....the tuaregs of the sahara are resentful of arab racism and presently are fighting arabization. They do not practice sunni islam nor do they want to be identified as arab whatsover

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

Altho Arab, I have no interest in being regarded as White. I pick "Other" or leave it blank. When I contract for the US government, we always have this fight. I don't know what they put me down as.

The State Dept has agreements with many countries to classify their citizens as "White", no matter how absolutely absurd it is. One of my cousins married a full blooded Native from South America, and when she saw his papers classifying him as "White", she had a fit, declaring that she didn't marry a White guy. They said, yes you did. People from his country are classified as White no matter what their ancestry is.

Go figure.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

Altho Arab, I have no interest in being regarded as White. I pick "Other" or leave it blank. When I contract for the US government, we always have this fight. I don't know what they put me down as.

The State Dept has agreements with many countries to classify their citizens as "White", no matter how absolutely absurd it is. One of my cousins married a full blooded Native from South America, and when she saw his papers classifying him as "White", she had a fit, declaring that she didn't marry a White guy. They said, yes you did. People from his country are classified as White no matter what their ancestry is.

Go figure.

[MrsAmera 41]

When speaking with my son's doctor and asked about his ethnic background I was told (Middle Eastern doctor in a prevelant Middle Eastern area), that I should always mark caucausian, hispanic and african american on health questionaires because of the high prevelance of inter-mixing of populations in North Africa and Spain. There are certain diseases that are prevalent in specific ethnic groups that might not be done if these boxes are not checked. Just an FYI for those with Moroccan or N/A spouses.