Alex29052

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  • in reply to: Black, Blond and Blue-Eyed Italians #38838

    Alex29052
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    It seems that many people are fascinated by the ancestry of Italians. I am half Sicilian on my dad’s side, with my mother’s side a mix of German, Irish and Northern Italian. I resemble my dad’s family in nearly every respect. I’ve got straight, dark brown/black hair, green eyes and a light olive complexion, along with a Roman nose and full lips. Italians are very diverse, but I’d have to say that all Italians should be considered Caucasian and don’t have black blood. It’s just that some look like the average white guy and others just look Mediterranean. Honestly, though, most Italians really aren’t all that ‘dark.’ Of course, some Italians look somewhat Semitic, but I can tell you that they are in the minority and exist mainly in Sicily. Most Italians physically resemble other Europeans, moreso than Middle Easterners. Most people think I’m either Greek or Italian (stereotypically speaking, of course), with every now and then someone telling me I could ‘pass’ for Middle Eastern (usually Syrian). Because Sicily is where my family is from, I no doubt have a slightly Middle Eastern appearance. This is likely due to the Moors, who once ruled much of southern Europe, including Sicily and parts of Southern Italy. They were overwhelmingly Arabs and Berbers, with maybe a few blacks scattered around. On the other hand, if you were to visit Northern Italy, most people are really rather fair-skinned. Although real blondes (as in Swedish-looking) are very rare in Italy, light eyes are fairly common everywhere, even in Sicily.

    To talk of differences among Italians in general terms, Northern Italians most closely resemble Frenchmen, whereas Southern ones look very much like Greeks, and in some cases, lighter-skinned Arabs. Most people consider Italians to be white, and I’ve really never met an Italian who didn’t identify as white. The false notion that Italians (and Greeks, for that matter) have black blood is largely due to people’s ignorance of North Africans. Many people equate African with black, which is perfectly understandable, but not entirely accurate because North Africans are of Arab/Berber stock and are regarded as Caucasian.

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    Name : Alex29052, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 
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