European American
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European American is a term for Americans of European descent, who are usually referred to as White or Caucasian.
Specificity
The term is more specific than White or Caucasian in that these terms in their official usage include European, Latin American, Southwest Asian, and Middle Eastern. "Non-hispanic White" is an official term that is more specific, but is still not as specific as European American. The reason for this is that 1) the term "Non-Hispanic White" excludes Hispanics who are of European (especially Spanish) descent, and 2) includes non-Europeans such as Arabs and Iranians; however, even so, when examining demographic data, the "Non-Hispanic White" category is that which corresponds most closely to European American.
Origin
The term was coined in response to the increasing racial diversity of the US, as well as to this diversity moving more into the mainstream of the society in the latter half of the 20th century. As a linguistic concern, the term is meant to discourage a dichotomous view of the racial landscape, in which "Whites" are conceived as separate from the rest of the racial groups, which have hyphenated terms denoting ancestry, such as African Americans or Asian Americans. It also represents the general end to social disunity among Americans of different European ancestry, especially the homogenization of culture and intermarriage achieved during the 20th century.
External links
http://www.EAIF.org – European American Issues Forumja:欧米人