I got stuck

...reading about this today. With all the news about the conflict (war!) in Georgia, there was talk about this region of the world..the Caucasus. (the area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea)

What's I wanted to share is that this region of the world is where we find the origins of the word CAUCASIAN.

Is this to somehow suggest that white people are from this area of the world? Nope. Like so many words, the meaning has gotten muddied over time.

Here's some interesting parts of the story:

-In the 19th century, scientists working to classify the races of the world began t believe that by looking at skull features, the people of Caucasus' were the "first race". This was heavily influenced by their belief that this mountainous region was where Noah's arc landed - and thus was the birth place of human civilization. (or the re-birth)

-Over many years, Europeans then began to apply virtue to this classification - saw themselves in this "pure and/or original" race..applied light skin color as part of the virtue ...and started to refer to themselves as Caucasian. Other folks - some Asian Indians, for example, are technically Caucasian - but that definition fell out of favor.

-In the 20th century, the word Caucasian to mean "white" fell out of use in Europe and elsewhere, except for in the States. When they say "Caucasian" in Europe, they are now, once again, referring to folks from Georgia or their neighbors. To identify "white" they may use "Europid" or "Europoid".

There are other twists and turns in the story of this term, I've only shared some parts that caught my eye. Click HERE and/or HERE to read some good articles if you want to learn more.

I need to get a social life.