Does anyone know how the word Caucasian came to be the label for white people?

Question

I mean it's origion, and meaning, and the fact that it's says Asian in it seems a little odd...since it's refers to white people?

Answer 1

The term Caucasian originated as one of the racial categories recognised by 19th century craniology — and is derived from the region of the Caucasus mountains[2].

Caucasoid race is a term used in physical anthropology to refer to people of a certain range of anthropometric measurements [3]. The concept of a "Caucasian race" or Varietas Caucasia was first proposed under those names by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840).[4] His studies based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the Caucasian Peoples.[5] Blumenbach writes:

Caucasian variety - I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighbourhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones(birth place) of mankind.[5]

Populations, formerly called "varieties," are no longer distinguished by Latin names, according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

The Caucasus was historically an area of fascination for Europeans.[citation needed] Prometheus and Jason and the Argonauts were myths featured in the Caucasus.[citation needed] Greek mythology considered women from the Caucasus to have magical powers.[6] In Greek mythology, this area was thought of as a kind of hell since Zeus imprisoned many Titans who opposed him (e.g. Prometheus) there.



In the United States, "Caucasian" has primarily been used as a distinction based on skin color, for a group commonly referred to as White Americans, as defined by the government and Census Bureau.[6]

In contemporary U.S. parlance, Caucasian and white are slowly being replaced with European American as a racial identifier.[citation needed] As with African American, the term has the advantage of describing two characteristics; both the ancestry of the person and his or her more immediate nationality and culture. In addition, older identifiers do not as accurately describe some populations. Many Latinos and Hispanics do not consider themselves to be Caucasian. The question of a difference between the white race and the Caucasian classification in the United States lead to at least one set of major legal contradictions in the United States Supreme Court in the pre-Civil Rights era. In the case of Ozawa v. United States (1922), the court ruled that a law which extended U.S. citizenship only to "whites" did not apply to fair-skinned people from Japan, because:

The term "white person", as used in [the law], and in all the earlier naturalization laws, beginning in 1790, applies to such persons as were known in this country as "white," in the racial sense, when it was first adopted, and is confined to persons of the Caucasian Race... A Japanese, born in Japan, being clearly not a Caucasian, cannot be made a citizen of the United States

Answer 2

The Caucasian race (sometimes called the Caucasoid race) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as, "relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, western Asia, Middle East, South Asia and North Africa" or "white-skinned; of European origin" or "relating to the region of the Caucasus in SE Europe."[1]

In Europe (especially in Russia and the surrounding area), Caucasian usually refers exclusively to people who are from the Caucasus region or speak the Caucasian languages.

Answer 3

It refers to people from an area called Caucasus

Answer 4

it has to do with the "Caucuses" region (an area that encompasses parts of the old USSR and eastern Europe). Caucasian = people Of the Caucus

Answer 5

I'm nott the type to copy and paste to pass things on as my own. Here is a link where you can find that out. It's very informative.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race

Answer 6

Wow, Marsha L had such an insightful opinion, that I now change my answer to... See answer by Marsha L.
As for the hater who calls people honkey, grow up.

Answer 7

Caucasus mountains I believe.

Answer 8

Caucasian is the German word for cracker *** honkey. I hope you can see the connection.

Answer 9

have you heard of the Caucasus?

Answer 10

Ooooh I'm waiting to see other answers. "Cause I don't know.