# Are there places where whites are an oppressed minority? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572 "2010-01-26T21:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/41 "2010-01-31T17:53:58Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > If you want to go into the past, you might claim the Balkans under the Ottoman Empire, although that may stretch your definition of “non-white” which is, of course, not well-defined anyway. What? I used to be a teacher in the Balkans, and about a quarter of my students were ethnically Turkish. Although most of them were dark-haired and -eyed, that was true of all of my kids. Some of my Turkish kids were blond and blue-eyed. I think they would be very surprised to hear themselves described as non-white. Under the Ottoman Empire, people were separated by _religion_, not race or nationality. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/42 "2010-01-31T18:04:59Z")
**mswas** : From what I’ve seen, the (very) few minorities that can be spotted in this part of Appalachia tend to be of lower classes. But then, again, same goes for a good portion of whites. So… not comparatively, no. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/43 "2010-01-31T18:16:06Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Not really. Appalachian Highlanders and Scots-Irish aren’t oppressed, and they aren’t minorities. They’re just poor. In the words of a friend of mine from Arkansas, “They aren’t just poor, they’re po’.” ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/44 "2010-01-31T20:26:44Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > :dubious: There are ‘Caucasoid’ Turks & ‘Mongoloid’ Turks, but with the tendency toward strong epicanthal folds, I would lean toward Uyghurs being toward the Mongolesque end of the spectrum. Some of them are pretty light-skinned, but that’s true of ethnic Japanese & Manchu as well, & we don’t typically class them as ‘white’. The Uyghurs are pretty well all over the map in their skin color, and some do even have Chinese-looking eyes, but the majority that I’ve met don’t - and I have met a lot more than your average American, as you may know 😛 My wife, a Uyghur, is noticeably darker-skinned than most any European, but her eyes are as round as mine. The result makes her her look so much like a Latina that Mexicans and Hondurans routinely speak Spanish to her and are quite surprised when she doesn’t understand. She gets the dark skin from her mother; her father is light-skinned and ruddy and could easily pass for European; I would guess somewhere between a quarter and a third of the Uyghurs are similarly pale-skinned. Many of the rest could easily be mistaken for Hispanics of mestizo lineage. I myself, as whitebread as they come, was often mistaken for Uyghur on Urumqi buses when I wore the traditional hat and shirt; only when I opened my mouth did people realize I was a foreigner. > [@](#): > > As for the Chinese perception, surely it’s the lack of either Sino-Tibetan linguistic heritage or historical ties to a Han ethnic identity that’s in play here; the Uyghurs are seen as barbarians &/or backward people of the interior. Do the Chinese really say, “You’re not yellow enough.”? If so, I’d like some confirmation. Getting the honest opinion of a Chinese racist is every bit as hard as getting the honest opinion of a white racist, so I can’t be sure of the answer to your question. The official stance of the Chinese government is that everybody is equal and is treated equally, just as it was the official stance of the American government in the “separate but equal” era, and a foreigner who talks with a Chinese will usually get that official line. If you look over the stuff that blatant Chinese racists posted on the Internet back in July last year, it sounds pretty well the same as what a white racist says about blacks and Mexicans: i.e., the Uyghurs are all violent, dishonest, prone to rape, they’re taking our jobs away, and the government is giving them special favors. The latter complaint largely arises from the fact that the Chinese government allows all ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, to have two children, while the Han are normally permitted only one. But it is bizarre to hear how many Chinese complain that the police never arrest Uyghur criminals, while in reality the jails are always full of Uyghurs who are usually arrested on the flimsiest of excuses, (including wearing Muslim _hijab_ headscarves). I have no doubt you’re right that Chinese prejudice against Uyghurs isn’t based purely on color or eye shape, if that’s what you’re saying; there are too many Uyghurs that look similar to Chinese for that to be the case. But of course, white racism against blacks isn’t purely color-based either; just ask Homer Plessy or any other African-American light-skinned enough to pass for white, who were still subjected to the full force of Jim Crow and white bigotry. In our case too, there was a myth that the other race was barbaric, backward, and criminal, even the ones that looked like us. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/45 "2010-01-31T22:11:14Z")
Well when the Muslims rules in Europe, the whites there were a minority and were oppressed. In some places like Alabania the majority converted and thus were no longer oppressed, but Christians and Jews and other religions have been oppressed by Arab invaders, of course that assmes that people of the mid east are not “white” in your definition. And yes the Christians and Jews and others were oppressed. They had to pay special taxes, identify as such, refused to be able to express their religion etc, etc. Even today you find that. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/46 "2010-02-01T04:31:00Z")
Han Chinese view Uigher’s as being different or alien. It’s not the skin color per say. That said, a Uigher stands out like a sore thumb in Shanghai just from their light skinned appearance. When I first came to China in the 1980’s, I was often asked if I was Uigher given my skin (white bread no crust American) and that I could speak Mandarin. Uighers also dress differently, generally practice Islam, speak a Turkic languange, historically often invaders, claimed independence before being reunited with the motherlandm etc. No doubt in my mind that the predjudice would beless if Uighers could ‘pass.’ ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/47 "2010-02-02T21:42:06Z")
> [@Danimal](#): > > I myself, as whitebread as they come, was often mistaken for Uyghur on Urumqi buses when I wore the traditional hat and shirt; only when I opened my mouth did people realize I was a foreigner. I stand corrected. Good grief you’re pale. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/48 "2010-02-03T02:04:08Z")
All over the US, according to the teabaggers and Fox news. Help! I’m being oppressed! I need to buy a Palin biography! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572/49 "2010-02-03T03:21:19Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > there are many white expats living in Japan and Korea and many of them (Engrish teachers and such) probably are not well-off compared to the locals and are not exactly “celebrated for their diversity” either. I used to be one of those white English teachers in Japan, and I certainly didn’t feel like an oppressed minority. A minority, yes, but I never felt at a disadvantage because of my skin color per se. I had some difficulty with things like getting my Internet set up because I wasn’t a Japanese citizen or permanent resident, but that would have been the same regardless of my ethnic background. I strongly suspect that as a white, English-speaking foreigner I actually had an advantage over other types of foreigners in Japan when it came to how the locals perceived me. As for not being “celebrated for their diversity”, why do you think they keep hiring foreign English teachers? While there are Japanese who’d be happy if all the foreigners just went home, there’s also a clear demand for interaction with real, live foreigners. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-places-where-whites-are-an-oppressed-minority/526572.md?page=2)