OK, but 'white' means roughly 'of European descent.' — The Great Whatever
Yes, it does. Ethnic identity is only our thoughts and words. If people, for example, thought of black people as white people, then within our categories they would be "white." — TheWillowOfDarkness
To say someone belongs within a category because of their skin (e.g. a white person has the identity of "white" and a black person has the identity of "black") is entirely a social construction — TheWillowOfDarkness
They would be "white?" Well, they would be black ex hypothesi, as you just said. We could use the word "white" to mean what we now mean by "black," sure. But that wouldn't make black people white. This is a use-mention confusion. — The Great Whatever
Not at all – there are different groups of people, and one of the outward signs of this is a different superficial experience, e.g. in skin tone. — The Great Whatever
Not in terms of our understanding of others. Who belongs to a group depends on whether we categorise them as a part of it. — TheWillowOfDarkness
If it weren't for the slave trade, there would still be black people, obviously. Why would you say something so clearly false? — The Great Whatever
OK, but people from sub-saharan Africa are black. — The Great Whatever
No amount of expression will make it so that your ancestors originated from somewhere other than from where they actually did. — The Great Whatever
In the case of ethnic identity? Clearly not. No amount of expression will make it so that your ancestors originated from somewhere other than from where they actually did. — The Great Whatever
It doesn't mean "my ancestors were European." — TheWillowOfDarkness
That's not ethic identity. It a description of where your ancestors lived. — TheWillowOfDarkness
Are you asking me why people use words to group things into certain categories? — The Great Whatever
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