I've seen 'white' Roman Catholics from southern Italy that are far more swarthy than many Muslims from Iran or Lebanon. And I'd be hard pressed to visually distinguish an orthodox Greek from a muslim Turk... So yes, it's very much a socially constructed matter. Incidentally I believe Arabs, Persians, Turks, etc are often classified as caucasian (particularly on the US census I believe?) So these cultural definitions aren't even consistent within specific societal context. I've even seen some racists online say that Italians aren't white, because they aren't nordic.
I suppose this is meant to be changed. I can't say I paid attention to what the 2020 census actually said, but on this matter Wikipedia says:
> White American, European American, or Middle Eastern American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Following consultations with Middle East and North Africa (MENA) organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab world.[18] However, this did not occur on the 2020 Census.
Seems to me that describing people based on their continent of origin, rather than their apparent 'race', is distinctly not racist. Though there is something to be said for the arbitrary nature in which Eurasia is split into 'two continents'.
