[Agastya]

(04-14-2014 08:13 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  

(04-14-2014 04:14 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

my Dad was full Lebanese.

Being "white" and from the Middle East is another crazy complexity in all of this!?!?

Do you know your families roots before the Middle East?

(04-14-2014 04:52 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

Vast majority of traditional Lebanese were white

Traditional Lebanese people were white???

Are you sure? That sounds weird to me?

White people come from Northern Europe?!

Middle Eastern whites are usually much more diverse genetically.

Much different genetically compared to the Whites in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland, etc..

(I think)?

(04-14-2014 04:52 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

until the Muslims came along.

Is it possible that you have muslim blood in you?

Wait?!!

"Muslim" is a religion. It's not genetic!?

Right?

Maybe, I mean "Arab"?

Is it possible that you have any Arab blood in you?

If your family was in the Middle East for a long time, it's very possible..

(04-14-2014 04:52 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

I still have the "roman nose."google it"

I googled it, it said..

An Aquiline nose (also called Roman nose) is a human nose with a prominent bridge, giving it the appearance of being curved or slightly bent. The word aquiline comes from the Latin word aquilinus ("eagle-like"), a reference to the curved beak of an eagle.

The wikipedia page quoted some old author saying..

"this type of nose is primarily found among Mediterraneans, Middle Easterners, and North Africans."

But, honestly, I see a lot of different people with this type of nose. Whites, Arabs, Jews, Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, etc. etc..

You ever think of doing one of those DNA tests?

There are plenty of Middle Easterners who can completely pass for white. I know a large number of Persians and Armenians who are indistinguishable from the average white guy. The Lebanese, generally speaking, look whiter than most other Middle Eastern ethnicities. This does not, however, preclude any Lebanese person from having significant Arab, Turk, or Kurdish ancestry. Members of all three ethnicities, along with their slaves and mercenaries of Central Asian, African, or Indian descent, have been raiding the Levant ever since the inception of Islam. The Mongols also staged several successful attacks on area, and undoubtedly did their best to spread their genes whenever possible. The entire area, moreover, has been a hotspot for pilgrimage and trade for the past two thousand years, meaning that any Middle Easterner's claims to complete racial purity(white/black/whatever) are dubious at best.

I believe claims of relative homogeneity from people like Icelanders or Papua New Guineans. In other words, ethnicities whose homelands were fairly isolated from the rest of the world, and saw little foreign presence at all. If a Middle Eastern or Indian guy tries to spout claims of racial purity, I have to call bullshit. Areas that literally stand at the crossroads of multiple continents get trod over by so many foreigners(traders/invaders/what-have-you) that considerable mixing has to take place.

The concept of Aryanism also existed long before Alexander the Great. The Aryans were a race of Caucasian nomads who supposedly invaded both India and Iran around 2000 B.C.E. The first name that the country of Iran received from its inhabitants was Airyanam Vaejah, or "expanse of the Aryans"; its later title of Eranshahr means "empire of the Aryans". Similarly, the Persian emperors who preceded Alexander often called themselves the "Light of the Aryans".

I have a fairly aquiline nose too. Funny how I'm a Dravidian from South India.

The biggest driver of stupid race arguments is sheer ignorance. The complete lack of historical knowledge displayed by most people(throughout the country, not just this forum) is disturbing. People use this ignorance to justify their complete degradation of other cultures. I've seen respected posters mouth off about how Africa never had civilization of any kind(the entire fucking continent!), making colonialism somehow less horrible. Others question Islamic culture's ability to produce thinkers or philosophers, despite the existence of Rumi, Amir Khusro, or Khalil Gibran.

If historical education in the West were even slightly better, I doubt that any of these arguments would even take place. Sometimes I wonder if we're being kept stupid on purpose.