Caucasian - a misnomer

The term Caucasian originated in the eighteenth century as part of the developing European science of racial classification. After visiting the region of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Caspian and Black seas, German anatomist Johann Blumenbach declared its inhabitants the most beautiful in the world, the ideal type of humans created in “God’s image,” and deemed this area the likely site where humans originated. (Humans actually originated in Africa.) He decided that all light-skinned peoples from this region, along with Europeans, belonged to the same race, which he labeled Caucasian.

Getting Rid of the Word ‘Caucasian’ by Carol C. Mukhopadhya

IN MEMORIAM

23 February 1944 more than half a million people from Chechnya and Ingushetia were deported from their homes to Kazakhstan and Siberia, by order of Stalin and Beria. They had been falsely accused of collaborating with the Nazis. More than 150,000 were killed outright or died on a ten-day train ride in cattle cars or at their destinations, where nothing was provided for them. Seven hundred died in one aul (village) when they were forced into a barn and the barn was set afire.

In 1957-59 many of the survivors returned to their homes after Stalin was denounced by Khrushchev. Unfortunately for the Ingush, much of their land had been given to other republics and other people were living in their homes.

In 2004 the European Parliament described the deportation as genocide.

from the student - call me "The Brain Maps"

A stereotype about men in the Caucasus is that they all have long black beards, and they like to fight. But they only fight to protect their families. The women are very modest because they are Muslim and polite because of tradition. As well, they are always trying to help their husbands and families. There is little divorce in Ingushetia.

A traditional dance is called lezginka, and the other republics copied this from Ingushetia. The women dance slowly in a circle around the men. They move their hands and arms like a swan. The men use a lot of energy jumping and spinning and kicking out with their legs. They resemble eagles. Men and women don’t touch while they dance. They are showing respect and a proper attitude toward each other.

The Caucasus - North and South both in snow seen from satellite

The Real Caucasian

No, I’m not from the Caucasus Mountains, but sometimes I’ve had to check the box labeled “Caucasian” on a form. Only if it’s a required field, only where there must be an answer supplied or you can’t finish. (The last time I saw this was on a form for a medical insurance plan. It seems they want to collect information about race or ethnicity to be able to track diseases by like groups of people.)

So we still use a category for racial self-identification that is outdated and was never correct. Many would say it’s just a euphemism for ‘white,’ which some are uncomfortable using. We have stopped using the label ‘negroid’ so why not this one. Perhaps any attempt to categorize all people in this way is doomed to failure. And perhaps a universal database of DNA profiles for all will give us real data about our risks for certain health issues, and put an end to any need to pigeon hole us.

Back to the mountains. The Caucasus is a fascinating place. I haven’t been there yet, but I’ve begun a journey of discovery nonetheless. At a suggestion from someone who lives there I read John Le Carre’s “Our Game.” First time I’ve used a spy novel as primary source material, but why not, if the novel was well researched.

Negley Farson was the American author of “Caucasian Journey” about his experiences there in 1929. He said "Strange as it may seem for they are among the wildest mountains on earth, the one thing you feel about the lonely places of the Caucasus is a deep personal tenderness, a brotherhood: and the aching wish, vain as you know it to be, that you could guard their rare beauty. They possess you. Once you have felt the spell of the Caucasus you will never get over it."

Yes, there is a real Caucasian. He’s a teenager living in Ingushetia, a republic within the Russian Federation. He’s learning English, and he sincerely wants to communicate in that language. He wants to tell people about his homeland, his life there, and his hopes for the future. He’s very real.