You know, actually no one except Thersites has given a decent reply to Xylene's original question: this big tangent on Nazi extermination etc. is all irrelavent.
“ Originally Posted by Xylene
Just for interest's sake, why are Europeans called Caucasians, when the populations of the Caucasus Mountains are mostly of Central Asian origin? Pardon my ignorance, but did the present-day European races come from this area a long time ago? Or is there another reason? Or no reason, for that matter, just misinterpretation? ”
Thersites replied:
"The whole of old-world history consisted of the population of the steppes of Central Asia increasing to a point where they couldn't live in that area. They emigrated to [or invaded- it depends on your view] adjoining areas. The people in adjoining areas moved on...until eventually some people got pushed into the Atlantic or Pacific or Indian Ocean or wiped out or made slaves or serfs. The size and speed of incursion varied of course, peaking with peoples like the Tatars and Mongols, but it was a steady process. It continued until around the seventeenth century, when armament developments [see the musket and bow thread in the History forum] meant that nomads lost their military superiority over settled peoples. The last such event was probably the Tatar Manchus' invasion of China. W.H.McNeill, in Plagues and Peoples, suggests that bubonic plague may have become endemic among central Asian rodents in Genghis Khan's reign, so that eventually the population could never again become large enough to effectively invade neighbouring countries."
This is oly the partial story. How many of you have filled out an application form asking you to identify your race or ethnic background? This may offend some people, but in brief: Caucasion is "white," Hispanic and Asian are "yellow/tan," and Negroids are "black" or dark in color. I know that I'm going to get some counter email on that simplification. But then the questionare usually asks if you are Native American Indian, Hispanic OR Asian, or "other." I think the Nordic lineage is still considered caucasion, isn't it? So basically, it seems like the first priority of determining race - as far as politics go - is the color of your skin, and then geographic or ethnic origin.
