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Whites is a broad term used to describe people of ethnic European descent, especially those with fair skin. The term Caucasian is sometimes used with much the same meaning in the USA. It is often used in contrast with other racial color terms, such as black or, rarely, yellow or brown. Although the most prevalent term in casual conversation, the term white is increasingly rare in academic and formal discussions of racial demographics, however it is still often used in discussions of racial attitudes, particularly in the humanities, and in fields such as Black studies, Critical race theory , and Whiteness studiesThe scope of the term white has changed over time, and varies from place to place. For example, in the USA, Ashkenazi Jews and Slavs were often considered separate from the white race for many years, and have generally been considered "white" since World War II. Similarly, in Haiti, Cuba, and BrazilThis article is about Brazil, the country. For other article subjects named Brazil see Brazil (disambiguation). The Federative Republic of Brazil Republica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America. light-skinned people of mixed ( AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for arn and EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sean) descent are considered "white"; in the United States, those same people would be considered "black".
Additionally, the popular definition of white in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in often excludes all HispanicHispanic as used in the United States, is one of several terms used to categorise US citizens, permanent residents and temporary immigrants, whose background hail either from Spain or the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. The term is used as a and LatinoA Latino is a person of Latin American heritage, or of the Latin American culture. The feminine form of the word is "Latina". Latino" is a shortened form of the Spanish word for a Latin American individual, "latinoamericano. In Italy, the term is sometime peoples, sometimes including peoples of European Spanish descent. However, relatively few Hispanics in the U.S. are of primarily Spanish descent; the majority of U.S. Hispanics are mestizoMestizo Portuguese Mestico is a term of Spanish origin describing peoples of mixed European and Amerindian racial descent. The feminine form is mestiza . In the Philippines, the term Filipino Mestiso denotes a mixed-race person of ethnic Malay and any oth (mixed Spanish and Native AmericanNative Americans (also Indians Aboriginal Peoples American Indians First Nations Alaskan Natives or Indigenous Peoples of America are the indigenous inhabitants of Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. This term compri ancestry). Some Americans view all Turks, Arabs, and Iranians as non-white as well, even though these groups are believed to be close genetically to Mediterranean Europeans. Therefore, it is likely that being considered "white" is tied more to social and cultural factors than genotype or phenotype.
This usage is sometimes criticized by those who argue that it de- ethnicizes various groups. During the era of Jim Crow Laws in the US South, facilities were commonly divided into separate sections for "White" and "Colored" people. These terms were defined by law, with people of exclusively northern and western European descent being labeled "White" and African-Americans labeled as "Colored". The categorization of people of other ethnicities and mixed ancestries varied from state to state and in different municipalities.
Countries with white majorities include most the of the nations of Europe as well as countries colonized by Europeans in the 1400s- 1800s such as the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Israel, the Asiatic territories of Russia, Australia, and New Zealand. In these nations, the relatively small indigenous populations were overwhelmed by white colonists from one or more European " mother countries".
Significant minorities of whites live in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and in the various Latin American and Caribbean countries. Many of these nations have experienced considerable political conflict between the white minority (descended from settlers from the former colonial power) and a non-European majority, heightening the sense of white racial identity.
