White people, rather than being a straightforward description of skin color, is a term denoting a specific set of ethnic groups and functions as a color metaphor for race.
The definition of "white person" differs according to geographical and historical context. Various social constructions of whiteness have had implications in terms of national identity, consanguinity, public policy, religion, population statistics, racial segregation, affirmative action, eugenics, racial marginalization and racial quotas. The concept has been applied with varying degrees of formality and internal consistency in disciplines including sociology, politics, genetics, biology, medicine, biomedicine, language, culture and law.
Read more about White People: History of The Term, Census and Social Definitions in Different Regions
Famous quotes containing the words white and/or people:
“The villagers are untying their disguises, they are shaking hands.
Whose is that long white box in the grove, what have they
accomplished, why am I cold?”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Without hesitation, I place Freud among the heroes. He dispossessed the Jewish people of the greatest and most influential of all heroes—Moses.”
—Salvador Dali (1904–1989)