[Lexicog] Prototypical "white"

[Chaz and Helga Mortensen]

Growing up in the US, Latin Americans are not really considered white. 
On census forms, for example, one can mark his race (or leave it blank) 
and one of the options is "white, not of Hispanic origin". All of the 
Latins I knew growing up were Mexican and therefore mestizo and rather 
dark. It was rather surprising to me when I watched Mexican TV that 
most of the personalities were really just as white as I was. When we 
went to Costa Rica and Colombia, it was obvious that socio-economic 
status was predictable by color. (In Panama, it is less predictable.) 
Many Latins do consider themselves to be white.

I don't consider Arabs or Chinese white and my guess is that most North 
Americans consider Arabs to be "Middle Eastern", possibly 
"Mediterranean" or just "Arab", and Chinese to be "Oriental" or "Asian" 
or just "Chinese."

It occurred to me that people from India are Indo-European but very 
dark. I wonder if some people consider them "white."

-Chaz

On May 12, 2006, at 11:40 AM, Fritz Goerling wrote:

> As we are discussing prototypes at the moment, here is another
>
> example which I discussed last week with my students coming
>
> from 4 different countries south of the Sahara (black Africa).
>
> I asked them whom they would consider a “white (person)” (un blanc).
>
> To my surprize all of them answered: Caucasians, Arabs, Chinese and
>
> mestizos. Well, I, a German, do not consider myself a Chinese, but
>
> I can accept to be classed with Chinese, Arabs and mestizos as white.
>
> Any comments on “whiteness” from “your” point of view?
>
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