I agree passionately with what you have written, and especially with the point that there are various groups that were not considered “white” and have become “white,” and that this does not necessarily mean that they are treated as such, as your experiences and those of many others show. But I do not agree with the last part of what Nadia says. I have often come across this assumption, in various forms, which I find very frustrating. As Kara says, once you are seen in all aspects as “white,” in a way you are not really seen to have any culture, and you have become part of the “other” in so many ways. With skin so pale that I might just glow in the dark under the right circumstances (okay, a bit of an exaggeration! =) ), my father is Welsh and my mother is American, and her parents were Jewish refugees to the United States. I too get inquisitive questions, being mistaken for Bulgarian or Romanian, Lebanese, people telling me because of the shape of my nose I must be this or that. When a friend of mine told me she was going to the Association of Latin American Students meeting, she told me to come, because I “could pass as Hispanic”. But all of this doesn’t bother me as much as the cultural aspect. I am constantly dismissed in any discussion because everyone takes one look at me and assumes that my family has been in the United States since the Mayflower. When people do find out that I am Welsh, 99% of the time they are not at all interested in my culture. When I tried to tell my journalism teacher in high school about how the tales of King Arthur as we learn them in school are anglesized versions of the original tales from the Mabinogion, a collection of the oral tradition from Wales, he laughed in my face and told me it wasn’t true. If I were instead South Asian and spoke with him about the Ramayana, would his reaction be the same? I can’t presume to know, but I suspect that it might be different. Who or what is it that decides which cultures people value and recognize and which people dismiss and laugh out of the room? Who decides which people have a contribution to make and which people do not?

I really appreciate your last point, Anisah. I think that in many ways it is a question of being willing, and I hope that more people will be willing and daring enough to strive to be open.

Branwen

You bring up an incredibly valid point, which I think further emphasizes the haziness of race as a concept. It honestly doesn’t make much sense to me why people of all different ethnic and cultural backgrounds can be conveniently wedged under one word (“white”), which is somehow supposed to categorize them as a whole. It simply does not, but the word “white” appeared in colonial laws to distinguish English men from everyone else (Native Americans, African slaves, etc). “Whiteness” was constructed in opposition to “blackness.” And every other race in the United States was supposed to fall on a spectrum in between throughout history. I’m speaking from a sociological standpoint here, though.
I have studied cases of how different groups (Irish, Italian, and Middle Eastern – predominantly from the Levant region) have become “white” over time. Technically I’m supposed to check off the “white” box as well because up until recently, I was considered “white” for being a South-Asian American. The funny thing is, I’m not treated as such. I used to get stopped in the airport for looking suspicious because of my name or the fact that I am “ethnic” looking. But I am grateful for your perspective, Kara.

-Anisah

Interesting, eh? Thanks for sharing.