Why Am I “White”? How A Universal Racial Classification Signifier Raises Some Important Questions.
I’m not asking you this question in the genetic sense. Both my parents are ‘white’, as was the milkman and the postman. So whatever happened*, the two people that came together (if they were lucky)to make me were definitely blanc de peau. I want to know why something that is factually incorrect has become the most ubiquitous term in the world.
(Unfinished, draft published for initial feedback.)
There are a lot of things that have become so normal, so everyday, that we forget to question them. What we are told is democracy, versus what actually happens in politics is one example, the rather unsettling truth behind bank interest another, and the actually probably undramatically small and silent Big Bang yet another.
And of course the term “white”, which has felt a little beyond the pale to me for some time.
Firstly, but quite importantly, it’s factually incorrect.
This is me.
And this is white.
白色
As you can plainly see, I am not white in colour.
I’m pink, or beige. Or a pale sandy fawn colour. Which is a pretty baffling description of beige. you can really fall head first down the rabbit hole when trying to describe what colours look like.
But I think that those of us blessed with the gift of sight can agree that I am definitely not white in colour. Which suggests that white is not a purely visual description. So perhaps there is deeper meaning here, and that is probably worth exploring.
According to Wikipedia, white is a racial classification specifier. ‘Identifying human races in terms of skin color, at least as one among several physiological characteristics, has been common since antiquity via rabbinical literature.’ The earliest rabbinical literature is dated 200CE, meaning Common Era. Which would be the equivalent to 200 AD.The assertion that there are a number of different human races feels like a recipe for division, war and hatred. And it has been argued that there is no scientific basis behind the claim. So once again it seems that these things are not based on anything as dull as fact.
In 300 B.C., around 500 years before the rabbinical texts, some forms of classification appeared in the Greek treatise Physiogonomics. This thesis was originally attributed to Aristotle, but now believed to be another author linked to Aristotle’s Peripatetic School.
Too black a hue marks the coward, as witness Egyptians and Ethiopians, and so does also too white a complexion, as you may see from women. So the hue that makes for courage must be intermediate between these extremes. A tawny colour indicates a bold spirit, as in lions; but too ruddy a hue marks a rogue, as in the case of the fox. A pale mottled hue signifies cowardice, for that is the colour one turns in terror. The honey-pale are cold, and coldness means immobility, and an immobile body means slowness. A red hue indicates hastiness, for all parts of the body on being heated by movement turn red. A flaming skin, however, indicates madness, for it results from an overheated body, and extreme bodily heat is likely to mean madness.
Strong whiffs of the Phrenology there. Now entirely debunked as a pseudo science, but incredibly popular in the Victorian era. Phrenology has not only been criticised for its lack of scientific basis (those pesky facts again) but also its sinister racist undertones. However, phrenologist terms such as highbrow and lowbrow cling on in our modern day vernacular.
Perhaps, then, the symbolism of colours in art and anthropology betrays a rather disquieting reason why white has become such a universal label.
For example red is “the color of passionate love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure. Our prehistoric ancestors saw red as the color of fire and blood — energy and primal life forces — and most of red’s symbolism today arises from its powerful associations in the past.”
“Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. … In heraldry, blue is used tosymbolize piety and sincerity.”
And then white, “which is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning.”
I think it is entirely plausible to suggest that the term white has been so readily adopted by so many people.
It is irrefutable that white people, mostly white men in fact, have held the dominant power in the world for quite some time. As a very rough guide, if the most powerful person in the world is the President of the United States only two haven’t been white. And none have been a woman.
*I bear a striking resemblance to Pops Birley, so I’m pretty sure that all is well in that respect.
