Why are white people often called Caucasian?

If you follow the line of thought that all human beings are equal, you would probably not like to debate Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German anthropologist who lived between 1752 and 1840 and proposed a "race" division. For him, there are five types of people: Caucasians, Mongols, Ethiopians, Americans, and Malays. Although the scientist did not rely solely on the color of individuals, many consider this classification racist and outdated.

In his historical writings, the German explains that one or two traits of a human being alone are not sufficient to categorize them into one group - several must be analyzed. In Blumenbach's description, Caucasians have "white color, rosy cheeks, brown hair, straight oval faces, foreheads, narrow noses, and small mouths." Scientists still detail features such as teeth and chins.

The name "Caucasian" comes from the Caucasus Mountains, near Georgia (between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea), where the best examples of this archetype would be found. The German also believed that the first Caucasians emerged in this very place; therefore, nothing more natural than baptizing them with the site title. However, today, the only correct thing is to call Caucasian only the citizens born in this locality.

Although Blumenbach despises skin color as a determining factor in classifying “races, ” the term Caucasian has become a synonym for white people. Out of curiosity, for the anthropologist, the Asians were the Mongols and the Africans, Ethiopians. Obviously, this view is no longer accepted today (as it has become the basis for various racist movements) and has been replaced by ethnicities.

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