Are Armenians white?
One of the most frequent questions that I get asked is my ethnicity. People have mistaken me for being Jewish, Georgian, Turkish, Tartar, Indian, Assyrian, Moroccan, Gypsy, Lebanese and a lot of other nationalities. People often ask me if I'm white. I prefer to tell them that I'm middle eastern/Mediterranean. If I tell them that I'm Caucasian they start arguing that I don't have "white features" or that I don't have the "European look". But then how come Italians who are very dark skinned (especially Sicilians and Corsicans) are European, or Spaniards who are mixed with North Africans or many Russians in Urals and Siberia have predominant mongoloid features, yet there's no hesitation to call them white.
Armenians are Caucasian. They are typically referred to, as "Indo-European". Armenia is situated at the confluence of east and west, it has a very long history and has been invaded many times by different ethnic groups.
Here are some pictures of famous Armenians. You can see they all look different, yet they are all Armenians.
I'm very interested in my genealogy and I plan to take the DNA test when I save enough money. Most Armenians claim that they are 100% Armenian because Armenians rarely marry outside of their "race". But it's wrong to claim that you are purely Armenian since most people do not know their family background outside of a few generations and until recently there was no scientific way to prove once hereditary genes. I know that my fathers side of the family lived in Iran (in Isfahan) since the 17th century. I don't know much about my dad's side of the family and unfortunately my grandparents died so there's no way to find out more about my father's family. I did some research and I know that my mother's family is from Sasun and Mush which are now the territory of Turkey. They are often referred to as "Sasunci". I know that I might have Assyrian and Persian blood in me.
In my family we all look different. Some of my family members have blue eyes and fair hair, others are very dark-skinned and have raven black hair. I assume we inherited different genes from different ancestors. And it's great!
Here are pictures of me and some of my family.
On a final note, I want to add that Armenians are related to everyone. Don't you know where Noah lived? ;)
Blessings,
~Shushanna.
Definitely not white. Saying that you are white is like saying a person mixed with black and white is white.You are not one over the other. You are mixed.
ОтветитьУдалитьI wrote this post years ago. It needs to be edited because I have done more research over the past couple of years.
УдалитьI think it's wrong to compare Armenians to a biracial person. We are not biracial.
Armenian ehtnogenesis occurred thousands of years ago, in the Bronze age.
According to the Armenian DNA project. The current Armenian population are descendants of different nations that lived in that region during those times (Armens, Colchians, Hattians, Hayasa, Hayk, Hittites, Hurrians, Kaskians, Luwians, Mitanni, Mushkis, Pala, Phrygians, Urartians, etc.) and the ancient invaders who conquered or passed through the Armenian lands (Assyrians, Gamrik-Gimirri-Cimmerians, Galatian Celts, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Scythians, Macedonians, Medes, Persians, etc.)
So, I can't give you a definite answer to what race Armenians are. I personally consider myself Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern.
Dear Shushanna, Don't let western-Hollywood nonsense stereotypes bother you. Armenia has some of the richest cultural heritage on earth. I would be very proud if I were you! Sincerely,
ОтветитьУдалитьGary B.
Thanks for taking time to read my post! I am definitely not influenced by Western "hollywood" culture. But I have always been curious about my ancestry and Armenian history. That's what inspired me to write this post. And judging by how many people visit this post, I assume that a lot of people are just as curious. :)
УдалитьPure garbage. Russians in the Urals and Siberia are 100% pure white and never mixed with any mongoloids because that was always forbidden. Take a look at the faces of Russians from any city/town and Siberia or Urals. Also, Russian settlers have historically lived completely separately from mongoloids.
ОтветитьУдалитьWhere do your facts come from? Please, give me some reference. Russians in the Urals are not 100% white. In fact, I have two close friends whose family is from the Urals. They are both mixed with Udmurts. If you do research about Russian DNA results, you'll find out that a lot of Russians in that region are mixed. Unfortunately,a lot of Finno-Ugric nationalities have assimilated with Russians and are losing their cultural identity. Check out these links:
Удалитьhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russification
http://ftp.eki.ee/index.php?id=10947
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Russians