White people

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White people are people with light skin. Most white people are of European origin. In American English, the term "Caucasian" is used to mean "white people.^[1]" Outside of North American, it refers to people or things from the Caucasus Mountains.^[1]

Before the modern age, Europeans did not think of themselves as "white". They defined their race, ancestry or ethnicity in terms of their nationality: Greek, Roman, etc.

The idea of a single white race came into use starting in the 17th century. The term white was invented during American slavery to distinguish European Americans from African American slaves.^[2][3] The people who were the strongest supporters of the white race being supreme in 20th century Europe were fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. They felt that some European peoples such as Slavs as a different race even though they were white. This was just for political purposes.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Butterfield, Jeremy ButterfieldJeremy (2015-06-18), Butterfield, Jeremy (ed.), "Caucasian", Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-966135-0, retrieved 2023-10-15
2. ↑ "The Origin of the Idea of Race".
3. ↑ "Historical Foundations of Race".