• ArtieShaw@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This is the answer. Being “white” in the US didn’t have much to do with your skin tone. It was more closely linked to ancestry, religion, and class.

    The Irish or Polish weren’t “white” but that didn’t mean that anyone thought they were Black. My understanding of the Indian caste system is incomplete, but it seems like a closer model to the racist hierarchy in the US than anything else I’ve seen.

    1. WASP and have the receipts (DAR membership, for example)
    2. WASP and no one can say otherwise (named Smith or Jones)
    3. WASP adjacent (Protestants from Germany, Scandinavia, etc.)
    4. Catholics and Orthodox Christians
    5. Jews
    6. POC. Depending on location, your mileage will vary but you’re still at the bottom