E-mail from a Caucasoid

... to me, an Arab (Jew).

From my mailbox:

Hi Eugene Volokh

I read your article on hate speech and noticed you referred to Caucasians as white. That is a racial slur and has been for many centuries. It is usually followed in America by white trash, or whitey. There is no such race as white just Caucasoid, or the Caucasian race. No one in my Caucasian group would ever call themselves white since it is an insult. I noticed you are of the Middle East Arab (Jew) race which many of them hate Caucasians and the new term in the media is Orange. Would appreciate it if you used the word Caucasians in your future articles unless your a racist Arab yourself. Thanks.

I learn something new every day!

Comments

[mydisplayname]

In contrast, I'm reminded of a friend -- a citizen of an African nation -- who responds to being called an "African American" by stating "Just because I'm black, you wrongly assume I'm an African American."

[David Matthews]

News to me, too. Then again, I had a friend, a blond-haired, blue-eyed recent immigrant from Ukraine, who was insulted that he had to check the "Caucasian" box for his race. "I'm not a filthy Caucasian! I'm from Ukraine."

I prefer "person of non-color." Thx.

[Eugene Volokh]

Person of pallor?

[TwelveInchPianist]

pig-mentally challenged.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Melanin challenged.

[TwelveInchPianist]

I prefer to identify as pig-mentally challenged my self.

[ragnar_rahl]

Well, from Ukraine's perspective Caucasian probably literally means "from the Caucasus." Like, just drive east, pass by Crimea, and you're there.

[BillyG]

I have a little bit different interpretation (I'll just go with I'm not from the Caucuses), but I'm pretty sure everyone from Iceland to Italy to Poland and back would be more than a bit surpised to be called Caucasian.

[shawn_dude]

Freckles are a color.

[rsteinmetz]

I'm not sure what you ancestry is I assume it includes Jews from the middle east. But not all prople from the middle east are Arabs. Ask any Egyptian or Persian.

I understood that the Russ were originally Viking invaders who established an empire in what is now Russia.

Much like the Greeks who took over the Egyptian Empire and established the Ptolemaic Pharaohs.

Or the Yuan Dynasty in China established y Mongols.

Were were the Caucasians?

I've never run across the term "Orange" except in reference to the Men of Orange who supported William of Holland and of course the sports teams of the University of Syracuse New York which is apparently merely a fashion statement.

[OtisAH]

It's just "Syracuse University".

[Leo Marvin]

Isn't it The Syracuse University?

[FlameCCT]

The Orange Order of Ireland.

[Eidde]

Known by their fabulous orange hairpieces.

[ragnar_rahl]

"But not all prople from the middle east are Arabs. Ask any Egyptian or Persian."
Egyptians are generally recognized as, and generally identify as, Arabs. You are correct about Persians though.

[Bremen]

"the new term in the media is Orange"

Pretty sure that's referring to one particular Caucasoid, not all of them.

[santamonica811]

Wait...Orange is the new "white?" I thought it was the new black?????

[I'll never get another setup like this in my lifetime.]

[Longtobefree]

Come back tomorrow folks, he'll be here all week

[Longtobefree]

The fact that the world is full of bigots who look at your skin color to determine who you are (in their eyes) is not exactly a new thing to learn.

[Eugene Volokh]

Well, those weren't the new things I was pointing to.

[Eidde]

Caucasian, please!

[NToJ]

These aren't the people who built the stock market.

[FlameCCT]

The US gov't used to have 3 race categories: Caucasian, Mongoloid, & Negroid.

It now has 5 race categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White.

I would note ethnicities; Hispanic, Latino, European, Middle East (Arab & Jew), among others are considered in the White race category.

BTW: Don't blame the messenger.

[Eidde]

Doesn't "Alaska native" overlap with "American Indian"?

[shawn_dude]

Just to pick a nit here but Hispanic isn't automatically considered to be white. The standard set of questions are "Hispanic/Latino" and then followed by the 5 you mention plus "two or more races" and often an "other" or ability to choose nothing. Both question are required to be asked. Citizens from Chile might legitimately choose Asian and Dominicans might choose Black, neither of which are white.

(My experience here is limited to IPEDS. YMMV.)

[Smooth Like a Rhapsody]

But lest we forget that any "Hispanic" who shoots a black teenager while said teenager is beating him up is, de facto, "white"

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Also worth remembering: By shooting a black teenager he becomes a hero to right-wingers.

[MonitorsMost]

As we know from Seinfeld, the Ukraine is weak. But apparently strong enough to stretch down all the way to the Middle East.

[TwelveInchPianist]

Weak?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQATvEtNB6I

[Auditpop]

To me there is only one "race". The human race. Unlike dogs and cats, which cannot interbreed as they are difference species, humans of all ethnicities can as we are all the same thing. We may come from different cultures but we are all part of the same race.

[Smooth Like a Rhapsody]

You are conflating "race" with "species".

[Anon A Mus]

Just refer to me as "genetically-tanned challenged" if you must.

[ActualRightWingPatriot]

LOL! Incredible.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Where is the chart for standard-issue (stridently intolerant but they'll tell you they're 'colorblind') conservatives?

[Eidde]

Very interesting.

[Smooth Like a Rhapsody]

So he's (?) just preening, then.

[Auditpop]

Yes, you are correct. My comparison is not meant to be taken literally. I was trying to emphasize that to me, no matter what color or ethnicity we are, we are all the same, not just morally, but scientifically. That attitude makes it easier for my not to be to quick to make judgments about people.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

It often is obvious, from points ranging from race-targeting voter suppression to a Muslim ban, or embrace or appeasement of white nationalism, or changing positions on drug abuse when downscale whites are the addicts, or -- as with a number of Republican Party officials or conservative elected officials -- the circulation of emails depicting a black president and his family as bone-in-nose savages or apes gorging on watermelon or struggling to hoard a box of fried chicken.