Talk:White Americans/Archive 6

More deletions:
"The definition of White has changed significantly over the course of American history. Among Europeans, those not considered White at some point in American history include Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Irish, Finns, and Russians.[27][28][29] Early on in the United States, membership in the white race was generally limited to those of British, Germanic, or Nordic ancestry.[30]"

Please support this statement with actual scholarship from social historians who study these individual groups (not 'scholars' operating in the tradition of "whiteness studies"). Historians of the American Irish, for example, reject "race" as a tool for understanding Irish-American sociocultural exclusion and instead use religion as the most dominant factor. At every point in US history Americans knew the Irish were a European people and "white".

As far as these other groups go:

Were they ever segregated from all-white military units?

Were the males denied property rights? Voting rights?

Were they denied citizenship on the basis of not being "white"?

In all cases the answer is "no". People from Europe were always understood to be "white" as we would understand the term today. That certain pseudo-scientists ranked "human races" and that certain Americans discriminated against some of these groups has nothing to do with whether they were ever classified as "not white" in a legal sense. Even in the Jim Crow South, people of Italian or Spanish background were legally allowed to marry "white" men or women.Jonathan f1 (talk) 05:45, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Jonathan f1, regarding stuff like this? Do not mark deletions as minor. See WP:Minor edit.


 * You stated, "Please support this statement with actual scholarship from social historians who study these individual groups (not 'scholars' operating in the tradition of 'whiteness studies')." What are you talking about? There are various fields that can be validly used to source this article. WP:SCHOLARSHIP is what should be followed, not an editor's preferred field regarding this topic. Do not remove material simply because you don't like it.


 * Also, if you reply to me, do not WP:Ping me. Flyer22 Frozen (talk) 06:02, 3 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Wrong and wrong.


 * First, this has nothing to do with personal preference. My personal preference is that you support controversial claims with appropriate references.


 * Secondly, this is not merely an issue about whether or not the citation qualifies as "scholarship". You (or whoever) are citing authors who have no experience at all researching any of the groups mentioned in the statement I removed. There are subject-matter experts who study these groups professionally and if there's any credibility to the argument that a certain European group was considered "not white" at some point in US history, you should be able to find it in the relevant literature. Trawling through research in a controversial field such as "whiteness studies" is not sufficient to support what you're trying to say.Jonathan f1 (talk) 06:20, 3 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Here's one of many references.


 * "To pose the well-known question of "how the Irish became white" presupposed that the Irish did become white. But this presupposition introduced an often fatal element of circularity into the argument. According to Arnensen and Fields, "whiteness" scholars first invented a subject of inquiry and then projected forms of identity onto past actors that the available historical evidence could not sustain."


 * And it just goes on to outline how fraught this field is with methodology concerns.Jonathan f1 (talk) 06:39, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * No. Not only are your deletions unwarranted, you're being actively deceptive, Jonathan f1: an article about demography and the U.S. Census from more than a quarter-century ago, or a law professor writing a thirty-page article in the Yale Law Journal about Ozawa v. United States and United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind and a whole bunch of other stuff, two decades ago, have nothing to do with "'scholars' operating in the tradition of "whiteness studies"."
 * (And the answer to from the latter article was —you may want to argue with it but random internet commentary does not trump a law professor writing in a legal journal.)
 * I have reverted.  It's open-access now and I've added the link, so you can read the whole thing yourself if you actually have an interest in Wikipedia-standard reliable sources. -- ‿Ꞅ truthious 𝔹 andersnatch ͡ &#124;℡&#124; 17:24, 3 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Jonathan f1 stated, "My personal preference is that you support controversial claims with appropriate references." The only thing I'm supporting on this matter is you not removing material because you personally disagree with it. The removals in this case should be guideline or policy-based. Flyer22 Frozen (talk) 22:55, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

I have one major contention with this article and I'll explain it in two parts.

Firstly, it is a-historical to say that any "white" European (an immigrant group or individual) was ever denied US citizenship on the premise of race. That is quite clearly refuted in the scholarly literature (see, for example, here and here ).

Secondly, the field of whiteness studies, which has for the most part abandoned a legal basis for the "becoming white" thesis (because it's untenable and contradicted by the courts), is still fraught with its own methodology flaws. Since the turn of the 21st Century, several scholars (mostly historians who specialize in US labor history) have criticized the use of "whiteness" as an analytical approach, attacking it for incoherence, circularity, and reductionism. There are much better ways to view historical anti-immigrant sentiment than through the prism of "race". Differences in religion, politics, class and culture, or some combination, are much more useful in understanding 19th and early 20th Century nativism than these hackneyed and politically-charged theories about European immigrants not being "white" and then "becoming white" by participating in racism against black people. (Read all about it here, here and here ).

And finally, I have already provided editors here with a review of 20 years of Irish-American historical scholarship which explicitly states that researchers who operate in this sphere have rejected the argument that the Irish weren't white upon their arrival in the US. This is one of the more peculiar arguments considering that nativist groups at the time were lobbying the federal government to extend naturalization periods, a move that was specifically aimed at curbing Irish immigration. If the Irish weren't "white", anti-Irish nativists would've simply argued that Irish immigrants weren't eligible for citizenship under the 1790 Act. But not even nativists believed that.

As far as this demographic business is concerned, I'll concede that I probably should've raised this objection on the talk page before deleting any content. Just note that I had raised this issue on other talk pages and that never resulted in any input. I have no problem with the argument that there's an "undercount" in the "English American" population. I would just continue to insist you use more recent sources to support that statement. The majority of your sources date to the 80s, which may as well be centuries old as far as demographic research is concerned. The most contemporary source you cite, Sharing the American Dream, doesn't even support the statement as it appears on this page. It lends credence to this view on page 57, which is the page referenced in the article, but then on page 58 the author directly concludes that "white Americans" are increasingly identifying with "American" ancestry on surveys, specifically naming German, Irish, and English Americans (the "big three" US ancestries according to your other sources). The implication here is that there are undercounts in all major white-American ancestry groups, not just English Americans.

It's also significant to note that modern academic textbooks that deal with this subject don't mention anything about any undercount in ancestral populations, but rather uncritically accept the numbers for reported ancestries as stated in surveys. For example, in the textbook Diversity and Society, sociologist Joseph F. Healey wrote a whole chapter on European immigrant history in which he matter-of-factly states in one section that "German Americans" are the largest ancestry group in the US; he then goes on to discuss how the regions of the US where major ancestries are self-reported correspond perfectly with historical settlement patterns. It's equally significant to mention that this chapter (Chapter 2) discusses anti-immigrant sentiment in rich detail (in particular discrimination against European immigrant groups) but makes no mention of the "becoming white" nonsense discussed earlier.

Now I don't know why you're guarding this demographic content so vigorously, but I suspect it has something to do with the political content about race in the subsequent section. I also suspect that you're using this page (and probably similar pages) as a vehicle to fight racism (an otherwise noble endeavor), which would explain why you're so aggressive in your defense of this material, even going so far as to getting me banned from editing this namespace on the bogus charge of disruptive editing. In reality, all you're doing is cherry-picking bad history and contributing to what's already a critical mass of ignorance regarding the racial status of early European immigrants - which, incidentally, contributes more to racist sentiment rather than discouraging it.

Quoting page 82 of Diversity in America,

"Without denying or trivializing the resolve and fortitude of European immigrants, equating their experiences and levels of disadvantage with those of African Americans, American Indians, and Mexican Americans is widely off the mark, as we shall see in the remainder of this text. These views support an attitude of disdain and lack of sympathy for the multiple dilemmas faced today by the racial minority groups and by many contemporary immigrants. They permit a more subtle expression of prejudice and racism and allow whites to use these highly distorted views of their immigrant ancestors as a rhetorical device to express a host of race-based grievances without appearing racist."

Obviously I am going to protest this ridiculous ban. I will also take this issue to Reliable Sources for more input if no ground is made here. In the meantime I've left several references for objective editors to consider and, hopefully, use to fix this page.Jonathan f1 (talk) 22:34, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

Incorrect use of term “Caucasian”
Caucasian is not synonymous with the white race. Caucasian is a borrowed term that is factually incorrect as a synonym for white. Caucasians are labeled as specifically originating from the areas around the Caucasus Mountains (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran); this does not denote a race (which is absolutely linked to skin color - white, black, yellow, red, and brown are colors) but geographic/ethnic origin. A Black Armenian would be a Black Caucasian.

Race is a construct where ethnicity is not. To call all people racialized as white as Caucasian is not only co-opting an ethnic identity that may be false, but also allow a distancing from their racial identity and history. As much as it is a construct, it is woven intricately into our lives and unless all races are to be removed from our language completely, it is important to be accurate especially when this information is easily accessible by anyone and touted as fact.

Please make this important edit. Thank you Akpakpala (talk) 14:28, 23 November 2020 (UTC)
 * We go by what the sources state. And many use "white" and "Caucasian" interchangeably. Flyer22 Frozen (talk) 03:11, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

The sources that refer to a white race are all outdated however. If there is an historical section reference to cucasian as a synonym should be moved there. The US is one of the few places that still accept use of this term, but many places can find this sense if it offensive, similar to mongoloid. Moreover, caucasian as a racial term also includes geographical Eurasians, MENA, South Asians, Ethiopians, etc. even the cited outdated works should make note of that. Vyaiskaya (talk) 01:24, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

Related ethnic groups
This section can follow two threads, either ethnic groups related by their common americanness, or ethnic groups related by similar West European ancestry (or in broader contemporary use, also Eurasian steppe and MENA). The social perception notwithstanding, in both cases however, African Americans are closely related to the majority of "White Americans" or more specifically Brittish or Anglo Americans, as this ethnic group is formed via significant intermixing and Americanisation (especially Southern culture). (Maintaining immigrants from Africa as separate ethnic groups to AAs, and also a scarce minority). Vyaiskaya (talk) 08:29, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

Confusion on definitions
Hey Clipasie! Lets discuss here. I can't find any evidence of your claims, if you could please paste in the parcels which you found confusing, please do so and we'll see what led them to be confusing and work from there. If they misled you, perhaps we can improve something, or at the very least we can expound as to why things are the way they are. Thank you! Vyaiskaya (talk) 19:37, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Vyaiskaya has been blocked indefinitely. -- Beland (talk) 18:06, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 April 2021
According to the 'United States Census Bureau' in 2019 the white population in the United States represented 60% of the total population, however in the article 'White Americans' it shows that 75% of the population is white, which it's a mistake. In addition, this source from the "United States Census Bureau" appears as a reference in the article. 191.99.150.76 (talk) 22:49, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Can you provide the source your seeing here.....as of now it's sourced to this. Moxy -Maple Leaf (Pantone).svg 22:53, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 April 2021
Some time ago I made a request to edit the article 'White Americans' since the white population in the United States would represent 60% of the total population. However, in the article it appears as 75% which is not true, since it is falsely considered in the article that Hispanics are also white. I ask that you please review this source carefully. 191.99.150.76 (talk) 14:48, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Provide a source to support the change. Also provide your suggested new wording for article. WikiVirusC (talk) 15:03, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 April 2021
As I said before, in the White Americans article the percentages should be edited from 75.0% and 72.0% to 60.0%. Well, according to this source: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=population&g=0100000US&tid=ACSDP1Y2019.DP05&hidePreview=true; which is cited in the article says that the category of 'White alone' represents 60% of the population. You can search for yourself, there is a category called 'white alone' where it is shown that 60% of the US population is white. and not 72% or 75%. I must remember that this source is from the United States Census Bureau. 191.99.150.76 (talk) 04:36, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
 * 60 % are the non-Hispanic whites. The distinction between Hispanic and other whites is referred to in the lede. Our article follows the primary categorization used by the census, which includes Hispanics. The definition of whites excluding Hispanics is NOT the primary or normal definition used by the census. Feel free to argue with the Census Bureau. --Rsk6400 (talk) 05:51, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

Discussion of race and ethnicity pages
See Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_United_States for more. —Lights and freedom (talk ~ contribs) 03:20, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I think the editors are reluctant to change the data in the Demographic Information section, to see the actual current stats. Also the some percentages for some states in the 2000 section is totally wrong.

CRT &sect; mislabeled.
It's currently "Critical Race Theory definition" but I don't see any definition of "white americans' just a description of CRT. 98.4.112.204 (talk) 01:30, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Religious groups in America.
While looking under white American population you provided groups of various faith in the US. I notice you didn't mention Islam. You only said other 3%. But you didn't have a problem mentioning non faith people. Please be fair. There are many decent, honest, law abiding Muslims in this country. So please give these people fair acknowledgement also.

Thank you. Cambusiness87@gmail.com 2600:1005:B012:C691:0:54:988B:1E01 (talk) 02:43, 3 December 2021 (UTC)
 * According to the source cited, less than 1 per cent of White Americans are Muslims, which I presume is why they've been included in the "other" category here. Cordless Larry (talk) 08:00, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

latinos brancos na media auto declarados tem tanto euro quanto nao brancos como ildi silva entao sao mestiços quanto a dizer que todas as regioes dos eua sao brancas soa falso os mapas raciais mostram cinturao negro no sul e leste e hispanico no sudoeste e oeste e asiatico fora x é uma tentativa tosca de dizer que brancos ainda sao predominantes em todo lado se fossem nao estariam caminhando pra ser fração do país — Preceding unsigned comment added by 179.211.79.58 (talk) 09:09, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WHITE HISPANICS In the wikipedia article about the UNITED STATES, they exclude White Hispanics saying that only 57% of Americans are White, while the U.S.Census says that 61.6% of Americans are White (as it includes White Hispanics) In fact, the percetage of White Hispanics is higher but the US Census has been very restrictive in the last count.

But the Wikipedia article about the UNITED STATES excluding Whites with Spanish ancestry (but including Whites of Italian, Greek, Jewish or Portuguese ancestry) saying that only 57% of Americans are White is ridiculous and Racist.--47.62.45.147 (talk) 12:52, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 March 2022
Add Bosnian language as a language of Bosnian-Americans(white people). More people speak it than Slovene which is in the list 77.239.28.239 (talk) 22:47, 16 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Cannolis (talk) 07:25, 17 March 2022 (UTC)

Remove languages from the info box
The preceding discussion demonstrates some problems with the language list given in the info box. I'd suggest to remove all the languages from there and to replace them with something like "Predominantly English". The reason for my suggestion is that this article is not about European Americans, which should be the right place to discuss the differences of European traditions. Rsk6400 (talk) 06:46, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Serbo-Croatian
The question of whether someone's language is a language of its own or a variety of another language may affect their identity and hence may become very controversial. I think we need good sources for the claim that Croatian and Serbian Americans consider themselves using the same language. Since the article has been stable for two months now with regard to the "Serbo-Croatian question", I'd like to ask you to establish consensus here before repeating your change. Rsk6400 (talk) 18:29, 30 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Alright, here are my arguments:
 * Numerous Yugoslav Americans (check the table on its article) will unanimously confirm their language as Serbo-Croatian, and listing it alongside Croatian and Serbian, which I have done, is a valid basis on its own and does not relate to Croats and Serbs who identify with latter.
 * Language is not an identity, if it were, the articles on these languages would not be factual as they are. Croatian and Serbian are self-proclaimed official languages of their respective countries, minority languages where they are recognized as such, but linguistically standardized varieties of one language, based on the same dialect and differentiated only by Ekavian and Ijekavian pronounciation. Their secessionism is only political and is being used to justify ethnic segregation (and in other cases, separate ethnonationalist editions of Wikipedia).
 * There might be more arguments, but yeah, I think this justifies my edit. I'm still confused why does my readdition of Serbo-Croatian require consensus, but the edit that removed it didn't (and also did not provide RS, as you ask of me). I think the best middle ground is to list all varieties in the brackets, if so is necessary. -Vipz (talk) 19:19, 30 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Please take a look at WP:BRD. It basically says that every change requires consensus, but you can make a change and hope that nobody will object. In the case of your change, somebody (i.e. me) objected. The sources to back up your claim are still missing. But since this discussion has very little to do with the article's subject, I'll suggest a different solution in the next section. --Rsk6400 (talk) 06:41, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I cannot access the census.gov domain, except here:   from this article. I don't specialize in American censuses and finding direct sources of this is difficult, but here is one. Complete removal is fine, as should be done because if my addition requires a RS, then all of these require one too, there should be no exceptions regardless of whether somebody challenged it one day, 2 months or years later. -Vipz (talk) 07:11, 31 March 2022 (UTC)
 * take a look for yourself in these sources. I had to use Wayback Machine as a proxy because the domain is geoblocked for me. -Vipz (talk) 07:31, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Remove the politics sections
The election of president trump being an example of "white backlash" is also an opinion. Do we call the election of President Obama "black backlash"? No, because there is no such thing. The same goes for white backlash. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DontShootImADog (talk • contribs) 02:25, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
 * The article doesn't offer the opinion (in Wikipedia's voice) that Trump's election is an example of "white backlash", but rather reports that some people are of that opinion - which appears to be true. It's perfectly proper for articles to document opinions that people hold, providing that reliable sources back up the existence and relevance of those opinions. Cordless Larry (talk) 16:47, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
 * WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV. Also it's a scholarly concept, not an opinion per se.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 16:53, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I've reworded the sentence as it was ungrammatical before, tried to make the attribution clearer and have also added a reference to an additional, peer-reviewed source. Cordless Larry (talk) 20:06, 5 May 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 June 2022
Add White Mexicans to related ethnic groups. 45.145.4.233 (talk) 03:50, 30 June 2022 (UTC)
 * ❌ Since so many ethnic groups are related to W.A., the selection is totally arbitrary. Instead, I removed that item from the info box. Rsk6400 (talk) 05:19, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Capital W
The article about Black Americans Americans has Black with a capital B throughout. This is an unfortunate social hypercorrection, as "black" is a simple adjective, but if that is to be the case, then writing "white" with a lowercase "w" while capitalizing Black is blatantly racist. All of this article's reference to "white" should be changed to White. Gcjnst (talk) 22:47, 6 August 2022 (UTC)


 * According to WP:RACECAPS, both spellings are acceptable. Since most Black people or White people are not as black / white as a black / white thing, I personally prefer capitalizing both terms to mark them as an ethnic group. WP guidelines demand a consistent spelling within one article. Since nobody has objected for nearly three weeks now, feel free to capitalize. Rsk6400 (talk) 16:13, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

This represents a decline from 72.4%
Umm you need to point out that this isn't because there are suddenly fewer people from 2010 to 2020, period, but that the 'decline' is because of people deciding they consider themselves to be white+another race. The way you've written it is confusing and makes it sound like there's an absolute decline, when in reality it's merely a decline caused by changing self-definitions. A person of Spanish-Brazilian descent deciding to be White Alone in 2010 and White In Combination in 2020 didn't erase that person from reality, it is merely a technical change based on self-identification.173.66.17.58 (talk) 07:18, 11 September 2022 (UTC)


 * A White person is somebody who is identified by the people he lives with or self-identifies as White. Any other definition would mean accepting that Whiteness is something like a biological essence, and that's the concept of races in a biological sense, scientifically as well-founded as the Flat-Earth theory. Rsk6400 (talk) 09:30, 11 September 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 August 2022
"White America" redirects here. For the song by Eminem, see White America (song). For the white history organization, see White America, Inc. White Americans Total population 71% (235 million) White (including White in combination with other races) Regions with significant populations All areas of the United States Languages Predominantly English Religion Protestant 48%Roman Catholic 19%Mormon 2%Jewish 3%Other 3%Irreligious 24%

White Americans are Americans who identify as and are perceived to be white people. This group constitutes the majority of the people in the United States. As of the 2020 Census, 69.0%, or 235,904,818 people, were white alone or combined with another race. Non-Hispanic whites totaled roughly 201,697,647, or 63.8%.[3] White Hispanic and Latino Americans totaled about 12,579,626, or 3.8% of the population.[1] European Americans are the largest panethnic group of white Americans and have constituted the majority population of the United States since the nation's founding.

The United States Census Bureau uses a particular definition of "white" that differs from some colloquial uses of the term.[4][5] The Bureau defines "White" people to be those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa."[6] Within official Census definitions, people of all racial categories may be further divided into those who identify as "not Hispanic or Latino" and those who do identify as "Hispanic or Latino".[7][4] The term "non-Hispanic white," rather than just "white," may be the census group corresponding most closely to those persons who identify as and are perceived to be white in common usage; similarly not all Hispanic/Latino people identify as "white," "black," or any other listed racial category.[5][4] In 2015, the Census Bureau announced their intention to make Hispanic/Latino a racial category similar to "white" or "black," with respondents able to choose one, two, or more racial categories; this change was cancelled during the Trump Administration.[5][8] Other persons who are classified as "white" by the US Census but may or may not identify as or be perceived as white include Arab Americans and Jewish Americans.[9][10][11][12] In the United States, the term White people generally denotes a person of European ancestry, but has been legally extended to people of West Asian and North African (Middle Eastern, West Asian, and North African) ancestry.[13][14][15]

The largest ancestries of white Americans include German (13%), Irish (12%), English (9%), Italian (6%), French (4%), Polish (3%), Scottish (3%), Scotch-Irish (2%), and Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian, each (1%) respectively.[16][17][18][19] However, the British Americans' demography is considered a serious under-count as the stock tend to self-report and identify as simply "Americans" (7%), due to the length of time they have inhabited the United States, particularly if their family arrived prior to the American Revolution.[20][12] The vast majority of white Americans also have ancestry from multiple countries.

The United States Census Bureau uses a particular definition of "white" that differs from some colloquial uses of the term.[4][5] The Bureau defines "White" people to be those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa."[6] Within official Census definitions, people of all racial categories may be further divided into those who identify as "not Hispanic or Latino" and those who do identify as "Hispanic or Latino".[7][4] The term "non-Hispanic white," rather than just "white," may be the census group corresponding most closely to those persons who identify as and are perceived to be white in common usage; similarly not all Hispanic/Latino people identify as "white," "black," or any other listed racial category.[5][4] In 2015, the Census Bureau announced their intention to make Hispanic/Latino a racial category similar to "white" or "black," with respondents able to choose one, two, or more racial categories; this change was cancelled during the Trump Administration.[5][8] Other persons who are classified as "white" by the US Census but may or may not identify as or be perceived as white include Arab Americans and Jewish Americans.[9][10][11][12] In the United States, the term White people generally denotes a person of European ancestry, but has been legally extended to people of West Asian and North African (Middle Eastern, West Asian, and North African) ancestry.[13][14][15]

The largest ancestries of white Americans include German (13%), Irish (12%), English (9%), Italian (6%), French (4%), Polish (3%), Scottish (3%), Scotch-Irish (2%), and Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian, each (1%) respectively.[16][17][18][19] However, the British Americans' demography is considered a serious under-count as the stock tend to self-report and identify as simply "Americans" (7%), due to the length of time they have inhabited the United States, particularly if their family arrived prior to the American Revolution.[20][12] The vast majority of white Americans also have ancestry from multiple countries.

Historical and present definitions Main article: Definitions of whiteness in the United States Further information: One-drop rule Definitions of who is "White" have changed throughout the history of the United States.

U.S. Census definition The term "white American" can encompass many different ethnic groups. Although the United States Census purports to reflect a social definition of race, the social dimensions of race are more complex than Census criteria. The 2000 U.S. census states that racial categories "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country. They do not conform to any biological, anthropological or genetic criteria."[21]

The Census question on race lists the categories White or European American, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Asian, plus "Some other race", with the respondent having the ability to mark more than one racial or ethnic category. The Census Bureau defines White people as follows:

"White" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa. It includes people who indicated their race(s) as "White" or reported entries such as German, Italian, Lebanese, Arab, Moroccan, or Caucasian.[6]

In U.S. census documents, the designation White overlaps, as do all other official racial categories, with the term Hispanic or Latino, which was introduced in the 1980 census as a category of ethnicity, separate and independent of race.[22][23] Hispanic and Latino Americans as a whole make up a racially diverse group and as a whole are the largest minority in the country.[24][25]

The characterization of Middle Eastern and North African Americans as white has been a matter of controversy. In the early 20th century, there were a number of cases where people of Arab descent were denied entry into the United States or deported, because they were characterized as nonwhite.[26] In 1944, the law changed, and Middle Eastern and North African peoples were granted white status. In 2015, the US Census endorsed the idea of creating a separate racial category for Middle Eastern and North African Americans in the 2020 Census, but this plan was discarded when the Trump Administration came to power.

President Abraham Lincoln was descended from Samuel Lincoln and was of English and Welsh ancestry.

Gloria Vanderbilt, noted artist and designer, was of Dutch descent. In cases where individuals do not self-identify, the U.S. census parameters for race give each national origin a racial value.

Additionally, people who reported Muslim (or a sect of Islam such as Shi'ite or Sunni), Jewish, Zoroastrian, or Caucasian as their "race" in the "Some other race" section, without noting a country of origin, are automatically tallied as White.[27] The US Census considers the write-in response of "Caucasian" or "Aryan" to be a synonym for White in their ancestry code listing.[28]

Social definition In the contemporary United States, essentially anyone of European descent is considered White. However, many of the non-European ethnic groups classified as White by the U.S. Census, such as Arab Americans, Jewish Americans, and Hispanics or Latinos may not identify as, and may not be perceived to be, white.[29][30][31][32][33][34]

The definition of White has changed significantly over the course of American history. Among Europeans, those not considered White at some point in American history include Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Irish, Finns, and Russians.[34][35][36] Early on in the United States, membership in the white race was generally limited to those of British, Germanic, or Nordic ancestry.[37]

David R. Roediger argues that the construction of the white race in the United States was an effort to mentally distance slave owners from slaves.[38] The process of officially being defined as white by law often came about in court disputes over pursuit of citizenship.[39]

Critical race theory definition Main articles: Critical race theory and Whiteness studies Critical race theory developed in the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by the language of critical legal studies, which challenged concepts such as objective truth, rationality and judicial neutrality, and by critical theory.[40] Academics and activists disillusioned with the outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement pointed out that though African Americans supposedly enjoyed legal equality, white Americans continued to hold disproportionate power and still had superior living standards.[41] Liberal ideas such as meritocracy and equal opportunity, they argued, hid and reinforced deep structural inequalities and thus serves the interests of a white elite.[42] Critical race theorists see racism as embedded in public attitudes and institutions, and highlight institutional racism and unconscious biases.[43] Legal scholar Derrick Bell advanced the interest convergence principle, which suggests that whites support minority rights only when doing so is also in their self-interest.[44][45]

As Whites, especially White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, or WASPs, are the dominant racial and cultural group, according to sociologist Steven Seidman, writing from a critical theory perspective, "White culture constitutes the general cultural mainstream, causing non-White culture to be seen as deviant, in either a positive or negative manner. Moreover, Whites tend to be disproportionately represented in powerful positions, controlling almost all political, economic, and cultural institutions."[citation needed]

Yet, according to Seidman, Whites are most commonly unaware of their privilege and the manner in which their culture has always been dominant in the US, as they do not identify as members of a specific racial group but rather incorrectly perceive their views and culture as "raceless", when in fact it is ethno-national (ethnic/cultural) specific, with a racial base component.[46]

Demographic information See also: Americans and European Americans White alone 1790–2020 Year	Population	% of the U.S.	% change (10 yr)	Year	Population	% of the U.S.	% change (10 yr) 1790	3,172,006	80.7	Steady	1910	81,731,957	88.9	Increase22.3% 1800	4,306,446	81.1	Increase35.8%	1920	94,820,915	89.7	Increase16.0% 1810	5,862,073	81.0	Increase36.1%	1930	110,286,740	89.8	Increase16.3% 1820	7,866,797	81.6	Increase34.2%	1940	118,214,870	89.8 (highest)	Increase7.2% 1830	10,532,060	81.9	Increase33.9%	1950	134,942,028	89.5	Increase14.1% 1840	14,189,705	83.2	Increase34.7%	1960	158,831,732	88.6	Increase17.7% 1850	19,553,068	84.3	Increase37.8%	1970	178,119,221	87.5	Increase12.1% 1860	26,922,537	85.6	Increase37.7%	1980	188,371,622	83.1	Increase5.8% 1870	33,589,377	87.1	Increase24.8%	1990	199,686,070	80.3	Increase6.0% 1880	43,402,970	86.5	Increase29.2%	2000	211,460,626	75.1	Increase5.9% 1890	55,101,258	87.5	Increase26.9%	2010	223,553,265	72.4	Increase5.7% 1900	66,809,196	87.9	Increase21.2%	2020	235,904,818	71.6   Increase5.6% Source: United States census bureau.[47][48][49][50] The fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 United States Census

White Americans constitute the majority of the 332 million people living in the United States, with 61.6% of the population in the 2020 United States Census. This represented a national white demographic decline from a 72.4% share of the US's self-identified 'white alone' population in 2010.[6][51][note 1]

The largest ethnic groups (by ancestry) among White Americans were Germans, followed by Irish and English.[53] In the 1980 census 49,598,035 Americans cited that they were of English ancestry, making them 26% of the country and the largest group at the time, and in fact larger than the population of England itself.[54] Slightly more than half of these people would cite that they were of "American" ancestry on subsequent censuses and virtually everywhere that "American" ancestry predominates on the 2000 census corresponds to places where "English" predominated on the 1980 census.[12][55]

Geographic distribution

Ambox current red Americas.svg This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2020) White Americans are the majority racial group in almost all of the United States. They are not the majority in Hawaii, many American Indian reservations, parts of the South, the District of Columbia, all US territories, and in many urban areas throughout the country. Overall the highest concentration of those referred to as "non-Hispanic whites" by the Census Bureau are found in the Midwest, New England, the northern Rocky Mountain states, Kentucky, West Virginia, and East Tennessee.[56] The lowest concentration of whites was found in southern and mid-Atlantic states.[7][57][58]

Although all large geographical areas are dominated by White Americans, much larger differences can be seen between specific parts of large cities.

States with the highest percentages of White Americans, either White Alone or in combination with another race as of 2020:[59][failed verification]

Vermont 95.6% Maine 95.4% West Virginia 94.4% New Hampshire 93.7% Wyoming 92.0% Montana 90.9% Idaho 90.2% Iowa 89.8% North Dakota 88.0% Kentucky 87.5%

Income and educational attainment Main article: Affluence in the United States § Race Further information: Personal income in the United States and Household income in the United States Race Income.png

personal and household incomein the United States Censusin 2005 Ambox current red Americas.svg This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2020) White Americans have the second highest median household income and personal income levels in the nation, by cultural background. The median income per household member was also the highest, since White Americans had the smallest households of any racial demographic in the nation. In 2006, the median individual income of a White American age 25 or older was $33,030, with those who were full-time employed, and of age 25 to 64, earning $34,432. Since 42% of all households had two income earners, the median household income was considerably higher than the median personal income, which was $48,554 in 2005. Jewish Americans rank first in household income, personal income, and educational attainment among White Americans.[61] In 2005, White households had a median household income of $48,977, which is 10% above the national median of $44,389. Among Cuban Americans, with 86% classified as White, those born in the US have a higher median income and educational attainment level than most other Whites.[62]

The poverty rates for White Americans are the second-lowest of any racial group, with 11% of white individuals living below the poverty line, 3% lower than the national average.[63] However, due to Whites' majority status, 48% of Americans living in poverty are white.[64]

White Americans' educational attainment is the second-highest in the country, after Asian Americans'. Overall, nearly one-third of White Americans had a Bachelor's degree, with the educational attainment for Whites being higher for those born outside the United States: 38% of foreign born, and 30% of native born Whites had a college degree. Both figures are above the national average of 27%.[65]

Gender income inequality was the greatest among Whites, with White men outearning White women by 48%. Census Bureau data for 2005 reveals that the median income of White females was lower than that of males of all races. In 2005, the median income for White American females was only slightly higher than that of African American females.[66]

White Americans are more likely to live in suburbs and small cities than their black counterparts.[67]

Population by state White Americans of one race or alone from 2000 to 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White_American_by_state_in_the_USA_in_2010.svg

White American (of one race or alone) population as of 2000, 2010 and 2020 censuses[68][49][69] State	2000	2010	2020	Growth Pop. 2000	% 2000	Pop. 2010	% 2010	Pop		% growth between 2000, 2010 and 2020 Alabama Alabama	3,162,808	71.1%	3,275,394	68.5%	3,320,452	67.7% +3.6% Alaska Alaska	434,534	69.3%	473,576	66.7%	505,392	68.4% +9.0% Arizona Arizona	3,873,611	75.5%	4,667,121	73.0%	5,322,337	70.9% +20.5% Arkansas Arkansas	2,138,598	80.0%	2,245,229	77.0%	2,314,512	75.2% +5.0% California California	20,170,059	59.5%	21,453,934	57.6%	22,796,122	55.6% +6.4% Colorado Colorado	3,560,005	82.8%	4,089,202	81.3%	4,582,927	80.7% +14.9% Connecticut Connecticut	2,780,355	81.6%	2,772,410	77.6%	2,765,128	76.7% -0.3% Delaware Delaware	584,773	74.6%	618,617	68.9%	697,763	66.3% +5.8% Washington, D.C. District of Columbia	176,101	30.8%	231,471	38.5%	273,194	39.4% +31.4% Florida Florida	12,465,029	78.0%	14,109,162	75.0%	16,422,961	69.9% +13.2% Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia	5,327,281	65.1%	5,787,440	59.7%	5,955,483	58.9% +8.6% Hawaii Hawaii	294,102	24.3%	336,599	24.7%	373,261	26.9% +14.4% Idaho Idaho	1,177,304	91.0%	1,396,487	89.1%	1,510,360	87.1% +18.6 +0.6% Illinois Illinois	9,125,471	73.5%	9,177,877	71.5%	9,218,227	69.4% +0.6% Indiana Indiana	5,320,022	87.5%	5,467,906	84.3%	5,541,791	82.2% +2.8% Iowa Iowa	2,748,640	93.9%	2,781,561	91.3%	2,824,521	89.7% +1.2% Kansas Kansas	2,313,944	86.1%	2,391,044	83.8%	2,422,462	80.9% +3.3% Kentucky Kentucky	3,640,889	90.1%	3,809,537	87.8%	4,011,254	84.4% +4.6% Louisiana Louisiana	2,856,161	63.9%	2,836,192	62.6%	2,815,652	61.1% -0.7% Maine Maine	1,236,014	96.9%	1,264,971	95.2%	1,297,041	94.8% +2.3% Maryland Maryland	3,391,308	64.0%	3,359,284	58.2%	3,307,874	52.7% -1.9% Massachusetts Massachusetts	5,367,286	84.5%	5,265,236	80.4%	5,196,037	76.6% -2.0% Michigan Michigan	7,966,053	80.2%	7,803,120	78.9%	7,744,974	74.9% -0.9% Minnesota Minnesota	4,400,282	89.4%	4,524,062	85.3%	4,623,146	81.5% +2.8% Mississippi Mississippi	1,746,099	61.4%	1,754,684	59.1%	1,758,893	57.1% +0.5% Missouri Missouri	4,748,083	84.9%	4,958,770	82.8%	5,140,335	82.4% +4.4% Montana Montana	817,229	90.6%	884,961	89.4%	916,524	88.5% +8.3% Nebraska Nebraska	1,533,261	89.6%	1,572,838	86.1%	1,638,052	83.4% +2.6% Nevada Nevada	1,501,886	75.2%	1,786,688	66.2%	1,988,463	57.2% +19.0% New Hampshire New Hampshire	1,186,851	96.0%	1,236,050	92.3%	1,276,203	92.4% +4.1% New Jersey New Jersey	6,104,705	72.6%	6,029,248	68.6%	5,912,280	65.2% -1.2% New Mexico New Mexico	1,214,253	66.8%	1,407,876	68.4%	1,078,927	51%	+15.9% +15.9% New York (state) New York	12,893,689	67.9%	12,740,974	65.7%	12,643,349	63.2%	-1.2% North Carolina North Carolina	5,804,656	72.1%	6,528,950	68.5%	7,448,459	64.2%	+12.5% North Dakota North Dakota	593,181	92.4%	605,449	90.0%	645,938	88.9%	+2.1% Ohio Ohio	9,645,453	85.0%	9,539,437	82.7%	9,480,688	79.01%	-1.1% Oklahoma Oklahoma	2,628,434	76.2%	2,706,845	72.2%	2,814,884	68.5%	+3.0% Oregon Oregon	2,961,623	86.6%	3,204,614	83.6%	3,469,096	80.8%	+8.2% Pennsylvania Pennsylvania	10,484,203	85.4%	10,406,288	81.9%	10,350,687	77.7%	-0.7% Rhode Island Rhode Island	891,191	85.0%	856,869	81.4%	812,920	77.3%	-3.8% South Carolina South Carolina	2,695,560	67.2%	3,060,000	66.2%	3,243,442	63.4%	+13.5% South Dakota South Dakota	669,404	88.7%	699,392	85.9%	715,336	82.7%	+4.5% Tennessee Tennessee	4,563,310	80.2%	4,921,948	77.6%	4,990,938	72.2%	+7.9% Texas Texas	14,799,505	71.0%	17,701,552	70.4%	20,609,365	69.1%	+19.6% Utah Utah	1,992,975	89.2%	2,379,560	86.1%	2,573,413	83.7%	+19.4% Vermont Vermont	589,208	96.8%	596,292	95.3%	607,751	94.8%	+1.2% Virginia Virginia	5,120,110	72.3%	5,486,852	68.6%	5,708,856	64.3%	+7.2% Washington (state) Washington	4,821,823	81.8%	5,196,362	77.3%	5,430,920	72.6%	+7.8% West Virginia West Virginia	1,718,777	95.0%	1,739,988	93.9%	1,760,749	91.8%	+1.2% Wisconsin Wisconsin	4,769,857	88.9%	4,902,067	86.2%	5,107,545	84.4%	+2.8% Wyoming Wyoming	454,670	92.1%	511,279	90.7%	588,374	88.7%	+12.4% United States United States of America	211,460,626	75.1%	223,553,265	72.4%	235,904,818	71.6%	+5.7%

White population by state (includes Hispanics who identify as white)[70] State	Pop. 2016	% 2016	Pop. 2017	% 2017	percentage growth	numeric growth Alabama Alabama	3,371,066	69.35%	3,374,131	69.22%	-0.13%	+3,065 Alaska Alaska	490,864	66.20%	486,724	65.79%	-0.41%	-4,140 Arizona Arizona	5,753,506	83.28%	5,827,866	83.06%	-0.22%	+74,360 Arkansas Arkansas	2,372,843	79.41%	2,381,662	79.27%	-0.14%	+3,740 California California	28,560,032	72.68%	28,611,160	72.37%	-0.31%	+51,128 Colorado Colorado	4,837,197	87.47%	4,894,372	87.29%	-0.18%	+57,175 Connecticut Connecticut	2,891,943	80.60%	2,879,759	80.26%	-0.34%	-12,184 Delaware Delaware	667,076	70.02%	670,512	69.70%	-0.32%	+3,436 Washington, D.C. District of Columbia	305,232	44.60%	313,234	45.14%	+0.54%	+8,002 Florida Florida	16,022,497	77.56%	16,247,613	77.43%	-0.13%	+225,116 Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia	6,310,426	61.18%	6,341,768	60.81%	-0.37%	+31,342 Hawaii Hawaii	370,362	25.92%	366,546	25.67%	-0.25%	-3,816 Idaho Idaho	1,567,868	93.32%	1,599,814	93.18%	-0.2%	+31,946 Illinois Illinois	9,909,184	77.20%	9,864,942	77.06%	-0.14%	-44,242 Indiana Indiana	5,679,252	85.61%	5,690,929	85.36%	-0.25%	+11,677 Iowa Iowa	2,860,136	91.35%	2,864,664	91.06%	-0.29%	+4,528 Kansas Kansas	2,519,340	86.64%	2,519,176	86.47%	-0.17%	-164 Kentucky Kentucky	3,901,878	87.96%	3,908,964	87.76%	-0.20%	+7,086 Louisiana Louisiana	2,958,471	63.13%	2,951,003	63.00%	-0.13%	-7,468 Maine Maine	1,261,247	94.81%	1,264,744	94.67%	-0.14%	+3,497 Maryland Maryland	3,572,673	59.30%	3,568,679	58.96%	-0.34%	-3,994 Massachusetts Massachusetts	5,575,622	81.71%	5,576,725	81.29%	-0.42%	+1,103 Michigan Michigan	7,906,913	79.60%	7,914,418	79.44%	-0.16%	+7,505 Minnesota Minnesota	4,687,397	84.84%	4,708,215	84.43%	-0.41%	+20,818 Mississippi Mississippi	1,771,276	59.33%	1,766,950	59.21%	-0.12%	-4,326 Missouri Missouri	5,069,869	83.23%	5,080,444	83.10%	-0.13%	+10,575 Montana Montana	926,475	89.20%	935,792	89.08%	-0.12%	+9,317 Nebraska Nebraska	1,693,622	88.78%	1,700,881	88.58%	-0.20%	+7,259 Nevada Nevada	2,208,915	75.15%	2,235,657	74.57%	-0.58%	+26,742 New Hampshire New Hampshire	1,251,836	93.77%	1,256,807	93.59%	-0.18%	+4,971 New Jersey New Jersey	6,499,057	72.38%	6,489,409	72.06%	-0.32%	-9,648 New Mexico New Mexico	1,716,662	82.31%	1,715,623	82.16%	-0.15%	-1,039 New York (state) New York	13,856,651	69.85%	13,807,127	69.56%	-0.29%	-49,524 North Carolina North Carolina	7,212,423	71.01%	7,276,995	70.83%	-0.18%	+64,572 North Dakota North Dakota	663,424	87.81%	661,217	87.53%	-0.28%	-2,207 Ohio Ohio	9,578,424	82.41%	9,579,207	82.16%	-0.25%	+783 Oklahoma Oklahoma	2,923,751	74.56%	2,921,390	74.32%	-0.24%	-2,361 Oregon Oregon	3,569,538	87.29%	3,607,515	87.08%	-0.21%	+37,977 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania	10,525,562	82.31%	10,507,780	82.06%	-0.25%	-17,782 Rhode Island Rhode Island	892,287	84.37%	890,883	84.07%	-0.30%	-1,404 South Carolina South Carolina	3,393,346	68.2%	3,440,141	68.47%	+0.27%	+46,795 South Dakota South Dakota	733,199	85.10%	738,554	84.92%	-0.18%	+5,355 Tennessee Tennessee	5,231,987	78.68%	5,276,748	78.57%	-0.11%	+44,761 Texas Texas	22,166,782	79.44%	22,404,118	79.15%	-0.29%	+237,336 Utah Utah	2,774,606	91.14%	2,820,387	90.93%	-0.21%	+45,781 Vermont Vermont	589,836	94.62%	589,163	94.47%	-0.15%	-673 Virginia Virginia	5,891,174	70.01%	5,904,472	69.71%	-0.30%	+13,298 Washington (state) Washington	5,820,007	79.93%	5,887,060	79.49%	-0.44%	+67,053 West Virginia West Virginia	1,712,647	93.66%	1,699,266	93.58%	-0.08%	-13,381 Wisconsin Wisconsin	5,049,698	87.47%	5,060,891	87.32%	-0.15%	+11,193 Wyoming Wyoming	543,224	92.87%	537,396	92.76%	-0.11%	-5,828 United States United States	248,619,303	76.87%	249,619,493	76.64%	-0.23%	+1,000,190 Non-Hispanic population For a more comprehensive list, see List of U.S. states by non-Hispanic or Latino white population. Non-Hispanic white population by state[70] State	Pop. 2016	% 2016	Pop. 2017	% 2017	percentage growth	numeric growth Alabama Alabama	3,198,381	65.80%	3,196,852	65.58%	-0.22%	-1,529 Alaska Alaska	454,651	61.31%	449,776	60.80%	-0.51%	-4,875 Arizona Arizona	3,819,881	55.29%	3,849,130	54.86%	-0.43%	+29,249 Arkansas Arkansas	2,175,521	72.80%	2,177,809	72.49%	-0.31%	+2,288 California California	14,797,971	37.66%	14,696,754	37.17%	-0.49%	-101,217 Colorado Colorado	3,791,612	68.56%	3,827,750	68.26%	-0.30%	+36,135 Connecticut Connecticut	2,428,332	67.68%	2,404,792	67.02%	-0.66%	-23,540 Delaware Delaware	597,728	62.74%	599,260	62.30%	-0.44%	+1,532 Washington, D.C. District of Columbia	249,141	36.40%	255,387	36.80%	+0.40%	+6,246 Florida Florida	11,273,388	54.57%	11,343,977	54.06%	-0.51%	+70,589 Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia	5,499,055	53.32%	5,507,334	52.81%	-0.51%	+8,279 Hawaii Hawaii	317,026	22.19%	312,492	21.89%	-0.30%	-4,534 Idaho Idaho	1,382,934	82.32%	1,408,294	82.02%	-0.30%	+25,360 Illinois Illinois	7,915,013	61.65%	7,849,887	61.32%	-0.33%	-65,126 Indiana Indiana	5,280,029	79.59%	5,280,420	79.20%	-0.39%	+391 Iowa Iowa	2,696,686	86.13%	2,695,962	85.70%	-0.43%	-724 Kansas Kansas	2,215,920	76.21%	2,209,748	75.86%	-0.35%	-6,172 Kentucky Kentucky	3,767,092	84.92%	3,768,891	84.61%	-0.31%	+1,799 Louisiana Louisiana	2,760,416	58.91%	2,747,730	58.66%	-0.25%	-12,686 Maine Maine	1,243,741	93.50%	1,246,478	93.30%	-0.20%	+2,737 Maryland Maryland	3,098,543	51.43%	3,077,907	50.86%	-0.57%	-20,636 Massachusetts Massachusetts	4,972,010	72.86%	4,953,695	72.21%	-0.65%	-18,315 Michigan Michigan	7,489,609	75.40%	7,488,326	75.17%	-0.23%	-1,283 Minnesota Minnesota	4,442,684	80.41%	4,455,605	79.89%	-0.52%	+12,921 Mississippi Mississippi	1,697,562	56.86%	1,691,566	56.69%	-0.17%	-5,996 Missouri Missouri	4,855,156	79.71%	4,859,227	79.48%	-0.23%	+4,071 Montana Montana	897,790	86.44%	905,811	86.23%	-0.21%	+8,021 Nebraska Nebraska	1,515,494	79.44%	1,516,962	79.00%	-0.44%	+1,468 Nevada Nevada	1,465,888	49.87%	1,470,855	49.06%	-0.81%	+4,967 New Hampshire New Hampshire	1,212,377	90.81%	1,215,447	90.52%	-0.29%	+3,070 New Jersey New Jersey	5,002,866	55.72%	4,962,470	55.10%	-0.62%	-40,396 New Mexico New Mexico	789,869	38.31%	783,064	37.50%	-0.81%	-6,805 New York (state) New York	11,047,456	55.69%	10,972,959	55.28%	-0.41%	-74,497 North Carolina North Carolina	6,447,852	63.48%	6,486,100	63.13%	-0.35%	+38,248 North Dakota North Dakota	641,945	84.96%	639,029	84.59%	-0.37%	-2,916 Ohio Ohio	9,229,932	79.41%	9,219,577	79.08%	-0.33%	-10,355 Oklahoma Oklahoma	2,592,571	66.12%	2,581,568	65.67%	-0.45%	-11,003 Oregon Oregon	3,115,656	76.25%	3,139,685	75.79%	-0.46%	+24,029 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania	9,841,619	76.96%	9,796,510	76.50%	-0.44%	-45,109 Rhode Island Rhode Island	773,405	73.13%	768,229	72.50%	-0.63%	-5,176 South Carolina South Carolina	3,165,176	63.82%	3,203,045	63.75%	-0.07%	+37,869 South Dakota South Dakota	710,509	82.47%	714,881	82.20%	-0.27%	+4,372 Tennessee Tennessee	4,931,609	74.17%	4,963,780	73.91%	-0.26%	+32,171 Texas Texas	11,862,697	42.51%	11,886,381	42.00%	-0.51%	+23,684 Utah Utah	2,400,885	78.86%	2,434,785	78.49%	-0.37%	+33,900 Vermont Vermont	580,238	93.08%	579,149	92.86%	-0.22%	-1,089 Virginia Virginia	5,247,231	62.36%	5,241,262	61.88%	-0.48%	-5,969 Washington (state) Washington	5,049,817	69.36%	5,091,370	68.75%	-0.61%	+41,553 West Virginia West Virginia	1,688,472	92.33%	1,674,557	92.22%	-0.11%	-13,915 Wisconsin Wisconsin	4,710,928	81.60%	4,713,993	81.34%	-0.26%	+3,065 Wyoming Wyoming	492,235	84.16%	486,565	83.99%	-0.17%	-5,670 United States United States	197,834,599	61.17%	197,803,083	60.73%	-0.44%	-31,516 Politics White Americans tend[quantify] to vote for the Republican Party ever since the 1960s when the party pushed for the Southern strategy electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South.[citation needed]

In 2012, 88% of Romney voters were white while 56% of Obama voters were white.[71] In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain won 55% of white votes.[72] In the 2010 House election, Republicans won 60% of the white votes.[73]

Some academics and commentators have argued that Donald Trump's presidential election victory in 2016 is an example of "White backlash".[74][75][76]

Year	Candidate of the plurality	Political party	% of White vote[citation needed]	Result 1980	Ronald Reagan	Republican Party	56%	Won 1984	Ronald Reagan	Republican	66%	Won 1988	George H. W. Bush	Republican	59%	Won 1992	George H. W. Bush	Republican	40%	Lost 1996	Bob Dole	Republican	46%	Lost 2000	George W. Bush	Republican	55%	Won 2004	George W. Bush	Republican	58%	Won 2008	John McCain	Republican	55%	Lost 2012	Mitt Romney	Republican	59%	Lost 2016	Donald Trump	Republican	57%	Won 2020	Donald Trump	Republican	58%	Lost Culture From their earliest presence in North America, White Americans have contributed literature, art, cinema, religion, agricultural skills, foods, science and technology, fashion and clothing styles, music, language, legal system, political system, and social and technological innovation to American culture. White American culture derived its earliest influences from English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish settlers and is quantitatively the largest proportion of American culture.[77] The overall American culture reflects White American culture. The culture has been developing since long before the United States formed a separate country. Much of American culture shows influences from English culture. Colonial ties to Great Britain spread the English language, legal system and other cultural attributes.[78]

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America

Three members of the Kennedy political dynasty, John, Robert and Ted Kennedy. All eight of their great-grandparents emigrated from Ireland. In his 1989 book Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, David Hackett Fischer explores the details of the folkways of four groups of settlers from the British Isles that moved to the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries from distinct regions of Britain and Ireland. His thesis is that the culture of each group persisted (albeit in modified form), providing the basis for the modern United States.[79]

According to Fischer, the foundation of America's four regional cultures was formed from four mass migrations from four regions of the British Isles by four distinct ethno-cultural groups. New England's formative period occurred between 1629 and 1640 when Puritans, mostly from East Anglia, settled there, thus forming the basis for the New England regional culture.[80] The next mass migration was of southern English Cavaliers and their working class English servants to the Chesapeake Bay region between 1640 and 1675. This spawned the creation of the American Southern culture.[81]

Then, between 1675 and 1725, thousands of Irish, Cornish, English and Welsh Quakers plus many Germans sympathetic to Quaker ideas, led by William Penn, settled the Delaware Valley. This resulted in the formation of the General American culture, although, according to Fischer, this is really a "regional culture", even if it does today encompass most of the U.S. from the mid-Atlantic states to the Pacific Coast.[82] Finally, a huge number of settlers from the borderlands between England and Scotland, sometimes by way of northern Ireland, migrated to Appalachia between 1717 and 1775. This resulted in the formation of the Upland South regional culture, which has since expanded to the west to West Texas and parts of the American Southwest.[83]

In his book, Fischer brings up several points. He states that the U.S. is not a country with one "general" culture and several "regional" culture, as is commonly thought. Rather, there are only four regional cultures as described above, and understanding this helps one to more clearly understand American history as well as contemporary American life. Fischer asserts that it is not only important to understand where different groups came from, but when. All population groups have, at different times, their own unique set of beliefs, fears, hopes and prejudices. When different groups moved to America and brought certain beliefs and values with them, these ideas became, according to Fischer, more or less frozen in time, even if they eventually changed in their original place of origin.[84]

Admixture See also: Race and genetics Admixture in non-Hispanic whites Some white Americans have varying amounts of American Indian and Sub-Saharan African ancestry. In a recent study, Gonçalves et al. 2007 reported Sub-Saharan and Amerindian mtDNA lineages at a frequency of 3.1% (respectively 0.9% and 2.2%) in American Caucasians (in the United States, "Caucasian" includes people from North Africa and Western Asia as well as Europeans).[85] Recent research on Y-chromosomes and mtDNA detected no African admixture in European-Americans. The sample included 628 European-American Y-chromosomes and mtDNA from 922 European-Americans[86]

DNA analysis on White Americans by geneticist Mark D. Shriver showed an average of 0.7% Sub-Saharan African admixture and 3.2% Native American admixture.[87] The same author, in another study, claimed that about 30% of all White Americans, approximately 66 million people, have a median of 2.3% of Black African admixture.[88] Shriver discovered his ancestry is 10 percent African, and Shriver's partner in DNA Print Genomics, J.T. Frudacas, contradicted him two years later stating "Five percent of European Americans exhibit some detectable level of African ancestry."[89]

White Americans (European Americans) on average are: 98.6 percent European, 0.19 percent African and 0.18 percent Native American. Inferred British/Irish ancestry is found in European Americans from all states at mean proportions of above 20%, and represents a majority of ancestry, above 50% mean proportion, in states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Scandinavian ancestry in European Americans is highly localized; most states show only trace mean proportions of Scandinavian ancestry, while it comprises a significant proportion, upwards of 10%, of ancestry in European Americans from Minnesota and the Dakotas.[90]

Admixture in Hispanic whites In contrast to non-Hispanic or Latino whites, whose average European ancestry is 98.6%,[90][91] genetic research has found that the average European admixture among White Hispanic and Latino Americans is 73%, while the average European admixture for Hispanic Americans overall (regardless of their self-identified race) is 65.1%.

"Average admixture," however, can be a misleading measure, as it conflates vastly different population groups and ignores marked differences within individual Latino populations. Each Latin American country has a unique demographic history. The genetic profile of American Latinos varies from group to group and is a result of unique immigration histories, as Mexicans and Mexican-Americans make up the majority of Hispanics in the United States but other South American groups may have a different degree of admixture. The Cuban exiles "fleeing the Castro regime in the 1960s and ’70s were almost entirely white, educated and middle or upper class," for instance, the descendants of recent Spanish immigrants to Cuba.[92] This can also be seen in immigrant populations of Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela. Those who came during the Mariel Boatlift, on the other hand, were more racially diverse.

See also flag	United States portal map	Europe portal American ancestry Anglo Emigration from Europe European Americans Hyphenated American Middle Eastern Americans Non-Hispanic or Latino whites Race and ethnicity in the United States Stereotypes of white Americans White Anglo-Saxon Protestant White ethnic White Latino Americans White Southerners List of United States cities by percentage of white population White Americans in California Notes Of the foreign-born population from Europe (4,817 thousand), in 2010, 62% were naturalized.[52] References "2020 Census Redistricting: Supplementary Tables". United States Census Bureau. August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021. "Religious tradition by race/ethnicity (2014)". The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Retrieved April 5, 2019. "QuickFacts: United States". www.census.gov. "Analysis | There's a big problem with how the census measures race". The Washington Post. February 6, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2021. Demby, Gene (June 16, 2014). "On The Census, Who Checks 'Hispanic,' Who Checks 'White,' And Why". NPR.org. Retrieved July 23, 2021. Karen R. Humes; Nicholas A. Jones; Roberto R. Ramirez, eds. (March 2011). "Definition of Race Categories Used in the 2010 Census" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 3. Retrieved September 8, 2013. "The White Population: 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. August 2001. Retrieved March 10, 2011. "Public Comments Received on Federal Register notice 79 FR 71377: Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2015 National Content Test" (PDF). Census.gov. December 2, 2014 – February 2, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2019. "Census Bureau explores new Middle East/North Africa ethnic category". Pewresearch.org. March 24, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2017. Sources: Korelitz, Seth (March 1997). "The Menorah Idea: From Religion to Culture, from Race to Ethnicity". American Jewish History. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 85 (1): 75–100. ISSN 0164-0178. 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Languages Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Português Русский தமிழ் 中文 20 more Edit links This page was last edited on 20 August 2022, at 19:44 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaMobile viewDevelopersStatisticsCookie statement — Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.98.36.59 (talk) 20:11, 21 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Not sure precisely what this request is asking, but I've collapsed it due to its massive length. --Aquillion (talk) 02:37, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Trump did not win plurality in 2020
In the Politics section, the table of “white” voting percentage for “plurality” winners in presidential elections is plainly wrong. Trump lost the 2020 popular vote by 7 million votes. He should be removed from the table. He also, by the way, did not win a plurality of the popular vote in 2016. His opponent did. Cieljaune (talk) 16:28, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2023
Whiteness was invented to keep enslaved African Americans oppressed. Before the 17th century, nobody thought of themselves as white.

Sources:

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~marto/semiohst.htm https://history.princeton.edu/news-events/news/invention-race https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-02-09.htm 213.252.245.95 (talk) 09:35, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate.  — Paper9oll  (🔔 • 📝)  12:59, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

The consideration of Arabs as part of the White Race prior to 1944
The article states that before 1944 Arabs were not considered White for US citizenship purposes (footnote 29). However, the case Dow v. United States, decided in 1915 by the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals came to the opinion that, with respect to Christian Arabs from the Levant, they were White for naturalization purposes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_v._United_States. It is unclear what influence this decision had on the passage of the 1917 Asian Barred Zone Act, or on the provisions of the 1924 Immigration Act. 104.162.232.248 (talk) 14:20, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

Critical race theory definition
It is stated that Derrick Bell's interest convergence principle "suggests that whites support minority rights only when doing so is also in their self-interest", which paints Dr Bell as being racist towards whites. Can someone with more knowledge of his scholarship revise? For example, did he say "most whites? Or "whites generally"? SpxB fan (talk) 20:20, 8 February 2023 (UTC)


 * I looked up Derrick Bell's interest convergence theory as he originally published it (entitled Comment: Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest Convergence Dilemma). Apparently the link to the PDF has been blacklisted by Wikipedia, I'm not sure why. But it states:
 * "Translated from judicial activity in racial cases both before and after Brown, this principle of "interest convergence" provides: The interest of blacks in achieving racial equality will be accommodated only when it converges with the interests of whites."
 * Based on the context, Bell is talking more about the whites as a whole, on a systemic level, rather than saying that every single white person is interested in preservation of their interests/advantages.
 * FYI, I happen to be white, and I happen to agree with critical race theory which is basically saying that non-white people currently face widespread, systemic discrimination including unconscious bias. I admit to feeling more reservation when I see a group of black people having a party close to my house compared to a group of white people. Jojojlj (talk) 02:44, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 3 April 2023
The early Spanish settlement of parts of the country needs to be mentioned, given they were the first European group to settle parts of the present USA; also, because Spanish ethnicity among White Americans is often underestimated in regions like New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, and California because of the Hispanic and Latino category. Ironictyn98 (talk) 20:07, 3 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. M.Bitton (talk) 23:12, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 April 2023
Add this map to the infobox.

File:White American by state in the USA in 2010.svg

185.203.18.167 (talk) 08:17, 22 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: The map is lacking a legend to explain what the different colours mean. I would also argue that it's not a very helpful map due to the similar colour shades used for different values. Actualcpscm (talk) 14:41, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 24 April 2023
Add White Puerto Ricans to see also. 45.8.146.82 (talk) 05:30, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ USS Col a! rado🇺🇸 (C⭐T) 08:53, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 5 May 2023
Add not to confused with American white ibis on the top page.

5.182.37.93 (talk) 10:43, 5 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: This does not seem like a cause for confusion. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 10:57, 5 May 2023 (UTC)

Why is Slavery in the United States not mentioned in the article? The term white was created to oppress Black people.
The term white was created slave owners in Virginia to separate themselves from Black people. Whiteness was invented to oppress Black people.

Source:

https://theconversation.com/amp/whiteness-is-an-invented-concept-that-has-been-used-as-a-tool-of-oppression-183387 45.86.231.25 (talk) 03:25, 8 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Nope, that was Nazi white people. Not the same as white people. Binksternet (talk) 03:34, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

White or white?
I'm almost afraid to ask, but I need to know before I do any editing: Should it be White or white? It's both ways throughout the article. Shouldn't we be consistent? Or does it really even matter? Is there a stated WP policy on this? Is there a better place on WP to bring this up? Apologies for my ignorance, but I'm a newbie. :)

In an effort to be a real troublemaker, I'm also gonna ask about Black vs. black in the Black people and African Americans articles. Yesthatbruce (talk) 08:20, 12 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Update: I managed to find Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Capital letters, where I see that this issue has been discussed to death, with no resolution. I'm more than happy to just let it go ... for now, anyway.
 * All of which is to say: Never mind. :) Yesthatbruce (talk) 09:49, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 June 2023
Add Racism in the United States to see also. 107.197.218.252 (talk) 09:30, 20 June 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅  Coco bb8  (💬 talk • ✏️ contribs) 14:23, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 August 2023
Germans have influenced American cuisine and white American cuisine. Add information the culture section. Hamburgers are of German origin.

Source:https://books.google.com/books?id=ULLygtLOI-kC&pg=PR13 2600:6C50:7EF0:4A70:3DFD:2B2D:C486:598D (talk) 21:30, 7 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Pinchme123 (talk) 04:40, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 August 2023
Many White Americans believe discrimination against whites exists

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/poll-white-americans-discrimination/ 2600:6C50:7EF0:4A70:C4DD:FB11:8DBF:20D2 (talk) 02:10, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Pinchme123 (talk) 02:23, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Update of ethnic Group 2020 US Census
Hi on October 10th 2023 The White American population was released on for the 2020 US Census and the percentages are out of date. Please update with the map and ethnicity percentages from the most recent census. To help I have provided a link

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Thank you Historyguy93 (talk) 19:08, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 November 2023
Please Update ancestry percentages to reflect figures released in 2020 US census

Change X The most commonly reported ancestries of non-Hispanic White Americans include German (13%), Irish (12%), English (9%), Italian (6%), French (4%), Polish (3%), Scottish (3%), Scotch-Irish (2%), and Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and Russian (each 1%), respectively.[18][19][20][21]

To Y According to the 2020 US Census, The most commonly self - reported ancestries of white Americans are English (46.6 million), German (45 million), and Irish (38.6 million) either alone or in any combination made up over half of the White alone or in combination population in 2020.

Change top photo to updated more relevant photo of largest white group by US County on the same 2020 census document

Source

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/10/2020-census-dhc-a-white-population.html Historyguy93 (talk) 03:06, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: The suggested prose is not grammatical. Spintendo  23:45, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

Questionable census data
This reads more conspiratorial than questioning, but I'm genuinely confused: did 7+ mil. White Americans disappear between 2010 and 2020? Checking the data, it appears millions of White Americans vanished(?) seemingly not moving to other states with not many notable state population increases, mainly decreases throughout. So where did they go? It can't be covid, right? Was the census reorganized to separate general ethnicities further? UnexpectedSmoreInquisition aka USI (talk) 04:43, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 March 2024 (2)
The term white was invented to distinguish European Americans from African American slaves.

https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/historical-foundations-race 193.187.88.196 (talk) 11:28, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Largoplazo (talk) 13:37, 7 March 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 March 2024 (8)
The largest white MENA alone groups in America were Iranian (413,842), Lebanese (328,137) and Egyptian (313,720).

Source: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/10/2020-census-dhc-a-white-population.html 193.187.88.196 (talk) 11:47, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Largoplazo (talk) 13:43, 7 March 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 March 2024 (6)
White Americans are aging out.

https://thehill.com/homenews/race-politics/4138228-americas-white-majority-is-aging-out/ 193.187.88.196 (talk) 11:38, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Largoplazo (talk) 13:44, 7 March 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 March 2024 (7)
Eastern European immigrants from Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary arrived in America in the 1820s. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-introductiontosociology/chapter/white-ethnic-americans/ 193.187.88.196 (talk) 11:40, 7 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Largoplazo (talk) 13:44, 7 March 2024 (UTC)