Is it the typical 2+ generation mix of Italian/irish/anglo? In addition to whoever is fair skin and raised in America?

I ask this because

Arabs are considered ‘white’
North Africans can also be considered ‘white’
Persians are ‘white’
And many non-English speaking central Asians are also white
Also what about the fair skin Latinos and Hispanics that have more Spaniard blood in them than anything else

Like these groups all have a diversity in skin tone but for the ones which are fair skin they seem to automatically be assimilated into the white people of America if they live here.

Their cultures are completely different but some how the way they’re viewed by others seems to negate that. I’ve noticed being a fair skin Arab I’m treated differently once I reveal I speak Arabic fluently and seem closer to my roots than people typically think.

Europeans and Asians — does this dynamic seem common in your countries of residence too?

If you're skin is white, you're white basically in the US

It's entirely socially constructed and therefore malleable and changing

But isn’t white connected to western values inherently

Many fair skin people from abroad can be very different in values, perspective, and culture

This is why I laugh when people try to clown “white culture”. It’s literally like 20 distinct cultures that were brought here by immigrants within the last 100 years or so.

Latino/Hispanic is fake 'race' created in the US

in america race is very black or white and it’s something i’m only just unlearning

It's entirely different in Europe

The UK is the most Americanized country in Europe and even there a big part of Brexit was being against white immigrants from Eastern Europe

Ethnicity is even more paramount the further East you go

I ask because many times I’ve seen fair skin people get insulted when they’re called white

I’ve seen it with Armenians, Spaniards, and middle eastern people

That's a good question.

I think when people say "white" their talking about Americans of European descent. Also recognizing "old school" American values and culture back when we became our own country.

Isn’t white = primarily of European descent?

This is what I suspected

Not a person of color.

The funny thing is that Armenians in Armenia get mad if you say they're not European/white

Certainly every Spaniard in Spain would say they're white

If you ain’t getting kicked out a diner in the 1950s, you white

unable to be defined

I had an Armenian friend blow up on a Pakistani friend who called them white

But mind you they were raised here and look fairly European

I probably would think the same but if I knew they spoke the language or stood for different things I’d be hesitant in calling them ‘white’ because the typical stereotypes wouldn’t apply to them

This. It's always changed based on the needs of the majority. There was even a time when people of Mexican and Japanese descent were considered white in the early 20th century. Same thing happened with Italians.

Race is a social construct. Always has been always will be.

Now if you're asking about white values and culture, might be a different conversation

The Spaniard I knew was a 2nd Gen American and was insulted by being called white and they didn’t know Spanish

Agreed I think the reason is some immigrants/children of immigrants don't want to get lumped in with white Americans and so they say they're not white even if, I mean, they are

Similar phenomenon with some black Dominicans not wanting to be called black as I understand

The only reason Arabs are considered white on the census is because Syrian immigrants in the 1800s lobbied to be called white for obvious socioeconomic reasons

The identity isn’t real

It’s not a singular thing but it’s a wide variety of different lineages in family of indo-european descent

Agreed when I said they are white I meant just viewed as white by the general public