Hi I have just been sent a questionnaire from a university that asks
about my ethnicity and top of the list is the word Caucasian.  My actual
ethnic category was not listed. If academics can't get their act
together on this issue then who will? Paula

-----Original Message-----
From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Johnson
Sent: 11 January 2009 22:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: use of the word "Caucasian"

Thanks Suman: this is correct!!!!! Nearly all South Asians except those
with curly hair (?some 'Hill Tribes' or 'dravidian' groups, I believe)
are Caucasian (and, for that matter, Aryan).
 
Mark R D Johnson
Director, MSRC/CEEHD
De Montfort University
Leicester LE2 1RQ
0116 201 3906

________________________________

From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK on behalf of SUMAN
FERNANDO
Sent: Sun 11/01/2009 16:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: use of the word "Caucasian"



I agree with Lisa. For those interested in history of the myth of 'race'
as a biological entity: I believe this term started when Blumenbach
(mid-19th C) decided that shape of skull was best indicator of 'race'
and that a skull found in the Caucasus mountains was typical of skulls
of a particular race of people spread thru' Europe, North Africa and
Middle-East. Incidentally today, "All Caucasian people are known as
'blacks' by Russian people." This is from an article in The Guardian
some  years ago at the time of the Russian attacks in Chechnya and
intense racism in Russia against people from Chechnya. Perhaps still
applies. 

 

Suman

 

 

Suman Fernando 
<http://www.sumanfernando.com> 

Hon. Senior Lecturer in Mental Health 
European Centre for Migration & Social Care (MASC) 
University of Kent at Canterbury, Kent CT2 7LZ 
Visiting Professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences 
London Metropolitan University 

________________________________

From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lisa Fontes
Sent: 11 January 2009 15:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: use of the word "Caucasian"

 

Hi All!
I thought maybe we could get a little dialogue going about the word
"Caucasian" which I find highly problematic, but which seems to persist
even among enlightened people.

The word Caucasian began to be used for "white people" when the major
racial groups were termed Negroid, Mongoloid and Caucasoid. It was
coined when people thought racial groups were largely biologically
determined and not--as we now know--mostly socially determined and
virtually meaningless from a biological standpoint.

I cringe when I see the word "Caucasian" used for people of European
origin. It has strong racist connotations for me. I use "white people"
or "people of European origin" or--when in the United States--"European
Americans". Granted, none of these terms is perfect--but I find them
less problematic than the term "Caucasian.' What do others think?

Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.
Author: Interviewing Clients Across Cultures: A Practitioner's Guide
(2008, Guilford Press)

           Child Abuse & Culture: Working with Diverse Families (2008,
Guilford Press)