Instructions
Based on this week’s readings, write a 350- to 400-word essay based on the following question from this lesson’s assigned textbook reading (Bell, 2017):

Is the transition of Jews and Irish from the non-White to White category surprising to you? Brodkin also discusses the transformations of Mexicans to White then back again. Were you aware of these changes? In addition to those listed in this chapter, what other changes in race occurred within the U.S. Census categorizations?
 

References and Readings below are from:

Myrtle Bell, Diversity in Organizations (3rd ed., 2017), Chapter 7: Whites/Caucasian Americans
Problems with the “Caucasian” Label
In Lesson 07 we also learned about Japanese-born Takao Ozawa, who in 1922 was told by a court that “only Caucasians were White, and because Japanese were not Caucasian, they were not White” (Bell, 2017). Recall that the Caucasus (the origin of the word “Caucasian”) is the mountain range seen as the border between southeastern Europe and western Asia. This was once believed to be the place where the White race originated, although this article from Slate.com (Links to an external site.) shows why this is unlikely.
Also in 1922, the Supreme Court ruled that “although an Asian Indian man was Caucasian anthropologically, he was ‘not a white person’ as ‘used in common speech’… in accordance with the understanding of the common man” (Bell, 2017). Other labels used to describe this group include Anglo and European American.