I suspect it’s a joke based on The Office. Oe of the main characters is a Triscuit-American called Jim. There is a different character called Asian Jim. Caucasian James = white Jim.
But “Caucasian” is now recognized as a racist term (in that using it produces racism), kind of because it’s a science-y word for “white”, an unscientific concept.
I think if you are actually describing something or someone from the actual Caucasus mountain region, it would be correct, but people might thing you meant “white” so even then you might be better off with “from the Caucasus Mountains”.
My understanding was “caucasian” applied to all groups that migrated through the caucuses and that’s why Persians and other non-European nations were included. To be clear Im in my 50s so the above could just be the result of institutionalized racism that never got addressed due to not having much in an education in sociology/
anthropology
Which leads in perfectly to another joke from the US version of The Office where Dwight claims that Kelly, of Indian heritage, doesn’t qualify for their parent company Sabre’s “Print in All Colours” initiative because Indian people are technically Caucasian
Reminds me of that old chestnut of the white guy from South Africa who, after emigrating to the US, got into trouble for stating he was “African-American.”
I had a friend who moved to the US from South Africa as a kid. When “African-American” started being used she was very confused. She would ask “How is X ‘African’ when he was born in New Jersey and only speaks English while I was born in South Africa and speak Swahili and Xhosa is not African just because Im white?” It was then I started realizing how racist some of the attempts to counter racism ended up being.
I suppose this doesn’t exactly suggest it’s deprecated in Twitter handles. But if the scientists have given up on it, why should normal people keep it?
A couple researchers suggesting a literary review of the specific usage of a word and how it is used in specific contexts within scientific literature is a far cry from the idea that scientists in general are claiming that the word caucasian is a generally racist word.
I suspect it’s a joke based on The Office. Oe of the main characters is a Triscuit-American called Jim. There is a different character called Asian Jim. Caucasian James = white Jim.
But “Caucasian” is now recognized as a racist term (in that using it produces racism), kind of because it’s a science-y word for “white”, an unscientific concept.
Who recognizes “Caucasian” as a racist term? I’m asking this in all seriousness as I have never heard this before
Caucasian should mean “from the Caucus mountain region”
As a science term for “white”, see “Too Many Scientists Still Say Caucasian” in Scientific American, also “Abandoning the word Caucasian” in the Journal of Genetic Counciling and “The Ongoing Incorrect Use of Caucasian in Medical Research” in the journal Health Equity. There are a bunch of scientists who think this.
I think if you are actually describing something or someone from the actual Caucasus mountain region, it would be correct, but people might thing you meant “white” so even then you might be better off with “from the Caucasus Mountains”.
Thank you for this.
My understanding was “caucasian” applied to all groups that migrated through the caucuses and that’s why Persians and other non-European nations were included. To be clear Im in my 50s so the above could just be the result of institutionalized racism that never got addressed due to not having much in an education in sociology/ anthropology
Which leads in perfectly to another joke from the US version of The Office where Dwight claims that Kelly, of Indian heritage, doesn’t qualify for their parent company Sabre’s “Print in All Colours” initiative because Indian people are technically Caucasian
Reminds me of that old chestnut of the white guy from South Africa who, after emigrating to the US, got into trouble for stating he was “African-American.”
I had a friend who moved to the US from South Africa as a kid. When “African-American” started being used she was very confused. She would ask “How is X ‘African’ when he was born in New Jersey and only speaks English while I was born in South Africa and speak Swahili and Xhosa is not African just because Im white?” It was then I started realizing how racist some of the attempts to counter racism ended up being.
*Caucasus
Please don’t just pull shit out of your ass and present it in public…
I didn’t make this up.
No.
Yes?
I suppose this doesn’t exactly suggest it’s deprecated in Twitter handles. But if the scientists have given up on it, why should normal people keep it?
No.
A couple researchers suggesting a literary review of the specific usage of a word and how it is used in specific contexts within scientific literature is a far cry from the idea that scientists in general are claiming that the word caucasian is a generally racist word.