Quote:
Originally posted by IBeMe
sorry to interupt you guys's debate/convo but I am always shocked when the US counts Middle Easterns and North Africans as whites
sure some/many look very very European-esque but the majority are still a visible minority tbh. but yeah. Just wanted to comment on that lol!
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He's actually right about this.
From a genetic perspective Middle Easterners and North Africans are almost identical to Europeans. Scientists usually use the term "caucasian" to describe the whole race though, and the term "white" usually refers to just Europeans.
Also from a historic perspective (go on Google Images and look up the Ottoman Empire or the Roman Empire, they both covered Europe, The Middle East and North Africa). Also from a religious perspective, the three Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism all originated and spread around the Middle East/North Africa/Europe regions.
Also the fact that humans were able to travel directly from Europe to North Africa through Spain was huge as well, and the fact that humans would almost always die when crossing the Sahara desert meant there wasn't much genetic interchange between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa for a long time, whilst there was lots of genetic interchange between North Africa and Europe and the Middle East.
These people have been breeding with each other for tens of thousands of years, that's why they look similar. And yeah, you can tell an Egyptian person from a European person, but you can tell a Greek person from a Swedish person as well. A Greek person would probably be a "visible minority" in the US, but they're still classed as white, even though they're not quite over the line on the map that says "Asia" lol. You see a gradual change in appearance from North and South and from left to right as you go across the region.
Even in 2016 the genetic/cultural interchange is continuing with the refugee crisis. With the Middle Easterners and North Africans having a much higher birth rate than the Europeans, I expect the caucasian race will evolve to have darker skin/hair/eyes in the future.