Joe:>I'm Italain - American. I have never visited Italy although I plan too.
I
know that the Italian language is a dialect of Latin as well as Spanish and
Portugese.
And you should add French and Rumanian.
> I hate having to class my self as white which is more
Anglo-Saxton so I click other and say im Italian-American. So it's true not
all us Italains are dark skinned... I get a nice tan in the summer but I
don't walk around in winter with a dark pigment. And I don't have black hair
and brown eyes.
Northern Italians have fairer skin, eyes and hair. People in the "New World"
expect Italians to be darker because most of those who left Italy were from
the south, where people are darker and have that protruding nose ( that is,
in fact, a non-Latin trait, in fact, as it comes from the Arabs occupating
Southern Italy, Spain and Portugal in the Middle Ages ). My family comes
from both regions, and Portugal, so I have a brother and a sister with green
eyes and fairer hair, while another brother and I have dark hair and eyes
but I can't get much tan, only some "redness" hehe.
And, no, white is not Anglo-Saxon only. Even Arabs and Indians are
scientifically considered white. Culturally speaking, European Latin
countries have contributed much more to what has come to be known as the
"White Western Civilization" than any Anglo-Saxon country. But I know that
Italian-American thing is the result of the American perspective on ethnic
issues. In Brazil, only people who are of Japanese descent tend to be
regarded as "not completely Brazilian", but that has been diminishing a lot
as they behave less "Japanese". In Europe, what matters is where your
parents are from ( if your parents are German and you're born in France,
you'll be considered German, not French and probably won't be entitled for a
French passport ).
Bye,
Caio Rossi
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