In some societies, color metaphors are used in place of racial classifications. These often resulted in Western societies because of the variety in human skin tone. For other senses of this word, see race (disambiguation). ...

Western classifications

In the West, especially the United States, the primary color metaphor for race of individuals of African ancestry-classified as Negroid- is "black", and individuals of European ancestry-classified as Caucasoid-is "white". In Australia, Australian Aborigines are also called "black". The terms negro, colored also served as color metaphors for Negroids of African ancestry except in some places, such as South Africa, where the metaphor coloured is used for those who are racially mixed. Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Skull of the classic Niggeroid phenotype, exhibiting a pronounced dolichocephalism and both maxillary and alveolar prognathisms Niggeroid is an obsolete term once used in physical anthropology to delineate everyone indigenous to sub-Saharan and West Africa and portions of North Africa. ... This article is about the continent. ... Typical Caucasoid skull Caucasoid is a racial classification usually used as part of a phenotypal system, also including other classifications such as Australoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and sometimes others such as Capoid. ... Aboriginal Flag Australian Aborigines is a name used to collectively describe most of the indigenous peoples of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. ... Negro means black in the Spanish, Portuguese and ancient Italian languages, being derived from the Latin word niger of the same meaning. ... Colored and Colored People (or Colored Folk in the plural sense) are North American terms that were commonly used to describe people of African ancestry. ... Negroid has many different meanings. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... In the South African and Namibian context, the term Coloured (also known as Bruinmense, Kleurlinge or Bruine Afrikaners) refers to a rather heterogeneous group of people of mixed Khoisan, white European descent, Malay, Malagasy, Black (Bantu), and South Indian ancestry, especially in the Western Cape. ...

Similarly, persons of East Asian descent are called "yellow". This term was most commonly used during the late 19th century, but it is still sometimes used. The yellow peril was a perceived threat from East Asian immigration. East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... Yellow is any color of light that stimulates both the red and green cone cells of the retina, but not the blue cone cells. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yellow peril is also a humourous British term for a traffic warden. ...

Execept for those from Latin America, Indigenous peoples of the Americas are called "red", "Redskins" (generally resulting from the red war paint used by Native Americans), and "Red Indians". Mestizos- a blend of Caucasian and Native American as well as full blooded Native Americans, usually from Latin America- are commonly referred to as brown people. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Red is any of a number of similar colors at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... Redskin is a controversial term for Native Americans and one of the color metaphors for race used in North America throughout history. ... Mestizo (Brazil Portuguese. ... Look up Caucasian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Caucasian was originally a geographical term, meaning relative or pertaining to the Caucasus region (Caucasia) of central Eurasia. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The color brown is produced by mixing complementary colors, such as red and green, orange and blue, or yellow and purple. ...

At times, brown has been used as a catch-all term for nonwhites. For instance, during the American occupation of the Philippines, Governor-General William Howard Taft referred to Filipino people as his "little brown friends". The color brown is produced by mixing complementary colors, such as red and green, orange and blue, or yellow and purple. ... Governor-General of the Philippines - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was an American politician, the 27th President of the United States, the 10th Chief Justice of the United States, a leader of the progressive conservative wing of the Republican Party in the early twentieth century, a chaired professor at Yale Law... The Filipinos or the Filipino people are the native inhabitants and citizens of the Republic of the Philippines located in Southeast Asia. ...

Sometimes in the US those from the Indian subcontinent are referred to as "brown". Satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia (see note) The Indian subcontinent is a peninsular landmass of the Asian continent occupying the Indian Plate and extending into the Indian Ocean, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate. ...

In the United States, color metaphors are so commonplace that many anti-discrimination statutes use the phrase "race, color, or creed". A branch of the civil rights struggle by African-Americans was known as the "Black Power" movement; by extension, a similar civil rights movement among American Indians was (much less commonly) referred to as "Red Power". The metaphors are used somewhat informally in academic writing as well as reflected, for example, in the title of Gary B. Nash's book Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of Early America (1974). The classic image of the Black Power Movement. ...

One point of objection to these terms for race is that they can be used to reinforce subconsciously erroneous positive and negative self-images. ^[1] The numerous negative uses of black and favorable uses of white have led many people to promote alternate terminology for "black" people, for example "African-American". Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Ralph Ellison identify a number of negative metaphors in Western cultures associated with the color "black"; see Black - Usage, symbolism, and colloquial expressions. For general discussion of dark-skinned people, see Black people. ... Langston Hughes, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936 Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and newspaper columnist. ... Maya Angelou Maya Angelou (born April 4, 1928) is an American poet, memoirist, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. ... Ralph Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was a scholar and writer. ... Black is a colour with several subtle differences in meaning. ...

See also: Food metaphors for race

A number of food metaphors for race, based on common color metaphors, have emerged in recent years. ...

Russia

In Russia, persons of Caucasus descent are called Black. "White", apart from its racial meaning, is also a term denoting opponents of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War (see White movement for this usage). The Entholinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map The Caucasus, a region bordering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands. ... Black is a colour with several subtle differences in meaning. ... White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... The Russian Civil War was fought from 1918 to 1922, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, and immediately after and because of Lenins dissolution of the Russian Constituent Assembly, between Communist forces known as the Red Army and loosely allied anti-Communist forces known as the White Army. ... The White movement, whose military arm is known as the White Army (Белая Армия) or White Guard (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as Whites (Белые, or the derogatory Беляки) or White Russians (a term which has other meanings) comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the...

Sometimes, Belarus and Belarusians have been referred to (in Western languages, not Russian) as "White Russia" and "White Russians", which can be misleading; see those articles for discussion in more depth. The banner of White Ruthenia White Russia is a name that was historically applied to different regions in Eastern Europe, most often to the region that roughly corresponds to the present-day Belarus. ... The term White Russian may refer to: A member of the White movement, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. ...

India

The Sanskrit word for "caste" is वर्ण (varṇa) which has several literal meanings including "color". Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification, such as clans, gentes, or the Indian caste system. ...

• Brahmins (white-symbolizing Sattva), priests, teachers
• Kshatriyas (red-symbolizing Rajas), kings, princes, warriors
• Vaishyas (yellow-symbolizing Rajas), merchants/craftsmen
• Shudras (blue or black-symbolizing Tamas), workers, farmers

This page deals with the Hindu varna. ... White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... The Sanskrit word guna (guṇa) has the basic meaning of string or a single thread or strand of a cord or twine. In more abstract uses, it may mean a subdivision, species, kind, and generally quality. In Classical literature In Classical literature (e. ... Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ... A teachers room in a Japanese middle school, 2005. ... Kshatriya is the title of the princely military order within the Hindu varna system. ... Red is any of a number of similar colors at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... The Sanskrit word guna (guṇa) has the basic meaning of string or a single thread or strand of a cord or twine. In more abstract uses, it may mean a subdivision, species, kind, and generally quality. In Classical literature In Classical literature (e. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings - one generic, and several types of titles. ... A warrior is a person habitually engaged in war and/or skilled in the waging of war. ... In the Hindu caste system, a Vaishya (Sanskrit वैश्य vaiÅ›ya) is a member of the third of the four major castes of the varna system of traditional Indian society. ... Yellow is any color of light that stimulates both the red and green cone cells of the retina, but not the blue cone cells. ... The Sanskrit word guna (guṇa) has the basic meaning of string or a single thread or strand of a cord or twine. In more abstract uses, it may mean a subdivision, species, kind, and generally quality. In Classical literature In Classical literature (e. ... Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit. ... An artisan, also called a craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. ... Shudra or Sudra is the fourth Varna in the traditional four-section division in historic Indian society. ... Blue is any of a number of similar colors. ... Black is a colour with several subtle differences in meaning. ... The Sanskrit word guna (guṇa) has the basic meaning of string or a single thread or strand of a cord or twine. In more abstract uses, it may mean a subdivision, species, kind, and generally quality. In Classical literature In Classical literature (e. ... In classical economics and all micro-economics labour is one of three factors of production, the others being land and capital. ... Farmer spreading grasshopper bait in his alfalfa field. ...

China

Huang (yellow) is a common surname, but does not refer to the East Asian race as was popular in Western languages until recently. However, the Yellow Emperor was a legendary founder of China. Yellow is also identified with the "center" cardinal direction, while China is known as Zhongguo "middle country". Huang is the transliteration of the Chinese surname (Simplified Chinese: 黄; Traditional Chinese: 黃; Hanyu Pinyin: ), which also has the literal meaning yellow. ... Yellow is any color of light that stimulates both the red and green cone cells of the retina, but not the blue cone cells. ... Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor or Huang Di (Chinese: 黃帝, Simplified Chinese: 黄帝, pīnyīn: huángdì) is a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero who is said to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese. ... A compass rose showing the cardinal directions In geography, the four cardinal directions are north, east, south and west. ... This article is on the geographic and cultural entity. ...

Hua (華), one of the most common terms for "Chinese", literally means "multicolored", "flowery", or "splendid". The different usages and names for China in world languages are generally consistent with how knowledge of Chinas existence first reached each culture, by two distinct routes: the northern land-route through Central Asia to East Asia The land of the Seres became known in the Europe as the...

White (白 bai) means "plain" or "free of charge" in many common expressions and was not traditionally used to refer to Europeans or descendants, who were indentified as "people from [across the] ocean" or some variety of "barbarian". Contemporary Chinese, has, however, adopted Western usage to a large extent. Black (黑 hei) is typically applied to those of African race today. However, the term "black resident" (黑户) also refers to unregistered rural migrants in cities (as in black market). White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... Black is a colour with several subtle differences in meaning. ... The black market or underground market is the part of economic activity involving illegal dealings, typically the buying and selling of merchandise or services (for example sexual services in many countries) illegally. ...

Names of ethnic minorities sometimes contain colors, not to indicate skin tone, but simply for identification, possibly based on traditional clothing or geographical direction.

• Red, Black, Blue/Green, White, Flowery (multicolored) Miao (Hmong)
• the Bai (literally White) are a sedentary lowland people of Yunnan
• Black Bone and White Bone Yi
• The Qing dynasty Manchu military were divided into Eight Banners identified by color and with ethnic associations

The Hmong, also known as Miao (considered derogatory by some: see below) (Chinese: è‹—; Pinyin: Miáo; Vietnamese: Mèo or HMông; Thai: แม้ว (Maew) or ม้ง (Mong); Burmese: mun lu-myo), Hmong: Hmoob, are an Asian ethnic group speaking the Hmong language, whose homeland is in the mountainous regions of... Bamileke languages (ISO 639 alpha-3, bai) Bye - k thx bai Baccalaureus in Arte Ingeniaria Band Aid (band) BAI - Soviet early armoured car, predecessor of BA-6 Bai, a Chinese ethnic group Banco Africano de Investimentos, present in List of Angolan companies BAI the official name of ferry company Brittany... White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... Yunnan (Simplified Chinese: 云南; Traditional Chinese: 雲南; Hanyu pinyin: ) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwestern corner of the country. ... The Yi people (own name in the Cool Mountain dialect: ꆈꌠ, official transcription: Nuosu, IPA: [nɔ̄sÅ«]; Chinese: 彝族, Pinyin: Yìzú; the older name Lolo is now considered derogatory in China, though used officially in Vietnam as Lô Lô) are a modern ethnic group in China and Vietnam. ... The Qing Dynasty (Manchu: daicing gurun; Chinese: 清朝; pinyin: qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: ching chao), sometimes known as the Manchu Dynasty, was founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China expanded into China proper and the surrounding territories of Inner Asia, establishing the... One of the Qianlong Emperors Manchu bodyguards (1760), notice the distinctive hat The Manchu (Korean 만주, Manchu: Manju; Simplified Chinese: 满族; Traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: MÇŽnzú) are a Tungusic people who originated in Korea, an area known in English as Manchuria. ... The Eight Banners (In Manchu: jakÅ«n gÅ«sa, In Chinese: æ—— baqí) were administrative divisions into which all Manchu families were placed. ...

Korea

The word, 인종 een-jong, is used when describing a person's race, which also incorporates his or her skin color. White 백 baek, used with 인 een to make 백인, baek-een, literally means white-person in Korean, cognate to Chinese bai ren and Japanese hakujin. 흑 heug is used to describe persons of African descent, (i.e. 흑인, cognate to Chinese hei ren and Japanese kokujin). White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Central Asia

The five cardinal directions were historically identified with colors. This was common to the Central Asian cultural area and was carried west by the westward migration of the Turks. These directional color terms were applied both to geographic features and sometimes to populations as well. A compass rose showing the cardinal directions Cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four principal directions or points of the compass in plane. ... Central Asia is a region of Asia. ...

• North: Black
  • Heilongjiang "Black Dragon River" province in Northeast China, also the Amur River
  • Black Sea: north of Turkey
  • Kara-Khitan Khanate
• South: Red
• East: Green or Blue (青 "qīng" corresponds to green or blue)
• West: White
  • White Sheep Turkmen
  • Ak Deniz "White Sea" in Turkish indicates the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, or the Mediterranean Sea
• Center: Yellow
  • Huangshan "Yellow Mountain" in central China
  • Golden Horde: "Central Army" of the Mongols

Compass rose with north highlighted and at top North is one of the four cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the primary direction: north is used (explicitly or implicitly) to define all other directions; the (visual) top edges of maps usually correspond to the... Black is a colour with several subtle differences in meaning. ... Heilongjiang (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江省; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江省; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Postal System Pinyin: Heilungkiang) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. ... Approximate extent Northeast China (Simplified Chinese: 东北; Traditional Chinese: 東北; pinyin: Dōngběi; literally east-north), historically known as Manchuria, is the name of a region (ca. ... The Amur (Russian: Амур) (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江; Hēilóng Jiāng, literally meaning Black Dragon River) (Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or Black River) (Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning Black River) is one of the worlds ten longest rivers, located between the Russian Far East and Manchuria of... Map of the Black Sea. ... The Kara-Khitan Khanate (Simplified Chinese: 西辽; Traditional Chinese: 西遼; pinyin: XÄ« Liaó) (1124 or 1125-1218), also known as Western Liao was established by Yelü Dashi (耶律大石) who led around 100,000 Khitan remnants after escaping Jurchen conquest of their native country, the Khitan dynasty (also known as Liao Dynasty). ... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... Red is any of a number of similar colors at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST, internally called HT-7U) is a project being undertaken to construct an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, in eastern China. ... See Green for the color. ... Blue is any of a number of similar colors. ... A compass rose with west highlighted This article refers to the cardinal direction; for other uses see West (disambiguation). ... White is a color, (more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... The Akkoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (Azeri-Turkish: Ağqoyunlular/Akkoyunlular) were a Turkoman tribal federation that ruled present day Azerbaijan, eastern Anatolia, northern Iraq and western Iran from 1378 to 1508. ... Map of the Sea of Marmara Satellite view of the Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara (Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Modern Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίδα) (also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea) is an inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating the... The Aegean Sea. ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... Yellow is any color of light that stimulates both the red and green cone cells of the retina, but not the blue cone cells. ... Huangshan 2002 Mount Huangshan is a mountain range in Anhui province in eastern China. ... The Golden Horde was a Mongol state established in parts of present-day Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan after the break up of the Mongol Empire in the 1240s. ...

Notes and references

1. ↑  Moore, Roger B., Racism in the English Language, 1976; Hughes, Langston, "That Word Black", The Return of Simple

See also

• Racial Slur Yellow A website dedicated to how the term yellow should be not used to refer to Asians.
• Ascribed status
• Achieved status
• Conspicuous consumption
• Power
• Social class
• Social hierarchy
• Social structure of the United States
• Status class
• Status group
• Status symbol