# white or euroamerican? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 15, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615 "2001-02-15T18:20:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/1 "2001-02-15T18:20:23Z")
When asked to categorize yourself, do you think the term, “euroamerican” is preferable to the term “white” - which is inaccurate for many reasons? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/2 "2001-02-15T18:24:16Z")
“Euroamerican”–that’s a good trick. A one-word oxymoron. I’m as white as negroes are black and red hair is red. The colors don’t necessarily match up with the terms being used to describe them, but that’s what we’re used to. ---
**Author:** ![Philo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@Philo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/3 "2001-02-15T18:38:22Z")
I don’t care what you call me as long as it isn’t “late for dinner.” har har. Seriously though, I don’t see the usefulness nor desirability of labelling someone by color, unless you are actually describing the person’s appearance to someone. If that’s what is going on, then any non-insulting label will do, as long as it’s understood by the listener. If someone wants to describe anything deeper than my appearance, I’d hope they would be forced to use more than a single word or phrase to do it. Euroamerican is no better than white. I’m sure that some of the white people have been born in Africa and Asia, and that some white people live in Australia as well. All we need is a scientist of pale skin to declare residency in Antarctica and you’d have to encompass all the continents in a single title. Additionally, there are people who aren’t pink colored who live in Europe and the Americas. This makes the title even less descriptive than the poor approximation “white”. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/4 "2001-02-15T20:02:34Z")
What’s the matter with “Caucasian”? ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/5 "2001-02-15T21:12:31Z")
Sometimes, when “white” seems too boring and “Caucasian” too inaccurate, I have been known to refer to myself as a “Visigoth-American”. Caucasian is inaccurate in the same way that calling Native Americans “Indians” is inaccurate. Native Americans did not come from India, and melanin-deficient people did not come from the Caucases. (Not that I am offended by being called Caucasian, just sometimes I don’t feel like using it myself) ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2001, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/6 "2001-02-15T21:22:49Z")
[Tallulah Bankhead voice] Puh-leeze, darling, white is so over! I like to think of myself as more of an ecru, or possibly a taupe. [/Tallu] America is a mosaic of colors, a big ol’ stew of contrasting flavors that make a wholly original flavor. Defining your self by your phenotype is really narrow and one-dimensional. I’m an American, full stop. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/7 "2001-02-16T03:53:31Z")
As part of White History Month… Any number of white persons can, in fact, dance with considerable verve and rythymn… A majority of the high jump records are, in fact, held by white persons… Many scientific advances were discovered by white persons, for instance, Einstein. (Well, he was Jewish, which is pretty much white.) We should embrace our ethnic heritages. There isn’t anything wrong with being white, except, maybe, that its kinda boring. OK, really boring. Peckerwood and Proud! Say it loud! And then spit! Then try and give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/8 "2001-02-16T09:03:51Z")
**Spooje** prefers words with fewer syllables, because he cannot spell. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/9 "2001-02-16T09:10:34Z")
If I’m Euroamerican, do I have to go to Eurodisney? ---
**Author:** ![Needs2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5e925/32.png) [@Needs2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Needs2know)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/10 "2001-02-16T15:23:07Z")
I’ve always called myself “Heinz 57”. My maternal grandmother was terribly proud of her father’s German ancestry. My father has always been proud of our ancestral connection to the local Monican Indians. I also believe there is a little French and certainly English on my father’s side of the family tree. Now we aren’t completely certain that there wasn’t some European Jewish ancestry mixed in with the rest of this stew. I sometimes think that it would be nice to be able to identify my heritage more strongly with one particular culture, but that just wouldn’t be true. (My mother likes to call herself German. I don’t think she’s even terribly interested in the paternal side of her family. Of course being German fits in better with her bigoted attitude about non-whites.) If I had my choice I’ve always enjoyed Irish history and legend. I’ve also always been facinated with Russia. But I don’t think I have either anywhere in my background. And I think it’s just a little to fashionable these days to play up my tad of Native American blood. (Even though a few years ago I met the chief of one of the local reservations and he claimed to recognize the “blood” in my features. He was also a big old flirt!) I know by most people’s standards that I’m white, but I also know that being “white” isn’t always exactly what we are. Needs2know ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/11 "2001-02-16T16:43:47Z")
Euro! Euro and Proud! Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/12 "2001-02-16T17:04:45Z")
Well, okay, if you want to nit-pick, “Caucasian” does mean, technically, “someone from the Caucasus”. However, it’s also a useful term that’s been around for a long time, to mean a person with “white” skin, as opposed to “black” skin or “red” skin or “yellow” skin. > **[Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/)** > > The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation. #wordsmatter > [@](#): > > Main Entry: Cau·ca·sian > Pronunciation: ko-'kA-zh&n, kä- also -'ka-zh&n > Function: adjective > Date: 1807 > 1 : of or relating to the Caucasus or its inhabitants > 2 a : of or relating to the white race of humankind as classified according to physical features b : of or relating to the white race as defined by law specifically as composed of persons of European, No. African, or southwest Asian ancestry InfoPlease gives the breakdown of “Ethnicity and Race by Country” using the term “Caucasian”. However, their data comes from the countries themselves; some countries use “white”, some use “European”, some use “Caucasian”. > **[Ethnicity and Race by Countries](https://www.infoplease.com/world/social-statistics/ethnicity-and-race-countries)** > > The people of the world (and how they're counted)Every country on earth, no matter how isolated, has some ethnic diversity; the mingling of people from more than one ethnic group. We usually talk about diversity in regards to how the majority of the... > [@](#): > > Australia Caucasian 95%, Asian 4%, aboriginal (353,000) and other 1% > > Bahamas black 85%, white 15% > > Bolivia Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mestizo (mixed European and Indian ancestry) 25%–30%, European 5%–15% Some countries break down “white” into further categories. > [@](#): > > Brazil white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and African 38%, African 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1% Some countries make up their own categories and avoid any of these terms. > [@](#): > > Iceland homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norwegians and Celts > > Ireland Celtic, English > > Spain composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types And BTW, here we are. > [@](#): > > United States white 83.4%, black 12.4%, Asian 3.3%, Native American 0.8% (1992) So, the point of the OP is to make up yet another category, that of “Euroamerican”? Looks like you’re in good company, then. And P.S. This one’s my favorite. > [@](#): > > Gabon (1993) Bantu tribes, including six major tribal groupings: Fang 25%, Punu 23%, Nzeiby 13%, Mbede (Obamba/Bateke) 9%, Kota 7%, and Myene 5%; Pygmies 0.7%, naturalized population 0.3%, **foreigners 15%** (bolding mine) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/13 "2001-02-16T17:15:55Z")
And, of course, if you’re using “Euroamerican” to mean “white”, it would be even more inaccurate, because what about all the non-white Europeans and Americans? Or would “Euroamericans” of color have to find a different word to describe themselves, or a qualifying adjective? “Non-white euroamerican”? Sounds like “non-white Caucasian”, and makes about as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/14 "2001-02-16T19:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by berdollos \* > \*\*When asked to categorize yourself, do you think the term, > “euroamerican” is preferable to the term “white” - which is inaccurate for many reasons? \*\* Cassius Clay et hoc genus omne, can claim Euro-American status as well as African-American status, however one would be hard pressed to describe him as white. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/15 "2001-02-17T00:25:53Z")
… what bugs _me_ is when people use “Anglo” as a synonym for white. I may be white, but I ain’t no Anglo! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/16 "2001-02-17T00:37:18Z")
What about the guy from Britain. He has the choice of descending just as likely from the Celts, Picts, Saxons, Frisians, Jutes, the Danes and finally the Normans. The Angles couldn’t have made that big an impact on the genetics of the British. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2001, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-or-euroamerican/54615/17 "2001-02-17T04:47:24Z")
I’ve been to Europe. It’s weird. I aint no euroamerican.