C. O. Bonham

 Sorry I’ve been dropping the ball lately on my blog posts I will try to get two up this week. Here’s #1 enjoy.  🙂

Where in the world is Caucasia and who are these Caucasians I keep hearing about?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Caucasia as a region in South East Europe between the Black and Caspian Seas, divided by the Caucasus Mountains into Ciscaucasia to the North and Transcaucasia to the South. A Caucasian is therefore an inhabitant of this area.

I keep seeing this nationality on applications and forms I have no idea who they are or even what their flag looks like.

The only thing I know for sure about them is that I am not one of them. I might be white but that is really just another way to say that you’re not Black or Hispanic. Actually that’s another thing about applications that I have noticed. There are like five different ways to classify Hispanics.

If there is an option to select “other” I will check that before anything else. Even if you don’t elaborate I think that “Other” is the most accurate term for an American to use anyway. We don’t really belong to those other countries, Cultures, and labels anymore (especially when you’re born here.) America was supposed to be the great melting pot where everyone was equal. We shouldn’t need racial classifications anymore because everyone is just American.

What do I write under Other? If there is room I write: I am an American of Anglo Germanic decent.
If there is very little room I write: American.

If there is no “Other” I check White. I am not offended by the word White. I am offended that these forms want me to claim that I’m from Caucasia when I am not. It’s kind of like this woman I met once, she said not to call her African-American because her family came from Ireland.

Needless to say that lacking an Other or White I will leave that section blank before I will claim myself as Caucasian.

Now don’t put words in my mouth here. By all means embrace your heritage and I am all for ancestral pride. Whether you’re Irish-American or African-American or even Vulcan, genealogy can be a fun and worthwhile endeavor.  Who knows maybe everyone has a little Caucasian in their blood.  

But until I know for sure I refuse to be counted among them.

P.S. There is a clue to my next post in here. Leave a comment and see if you can guess the topic before I post, hopefully, on Wednesday.