Slogging Insights: Are Russians and Indians Considered Asian?

This is a hotly debated topic…do you consider Russians Asian? Why or why not? Do you consider Indians Asian? Why or why not?

Is the semantics of what continent the country is located in the end-all-and-be-all or do you take culture and genetic origins into account?

A similar question I’m interested in is are white South Africans considered Africans @Rianke Krugel? Or is there still a stigma or awkwardness if a white person says “I’m African”? Do you have to say “I’m South African”?

Russia has a big area and a lot of nations can consider themselves as "russians", but will live in different countries that were part of the soviet union.

So, I'll consider a lot of Russians as Asian peoples - because they have more relatives in China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, etc

After thinking this over for a month (😂), I can tell you that I personally very much identify as African. There is a beat to Africa, and more geographically Southern Africa that your heart aligns with if you've had the privilege of being born and raised here, regardless of your race.

In terms of naming it; I'll say I'm South African when speaking to foreigners, in part because Sub-Saharan Africa consists of 54 different countries, countless more cuisines, languages, cultures, ethnicities, etc. but the more dominant idea around 'I am South African' is to actively work against the western centred global nonchalance of continually referring to the second largest continent on the planet as if it is a single country.

When referring to Saffas as a nation, I'd use Africans, and when thinking about it personally, I'd think African. What do you think as a fellow white Saffa, Storm Farrell?

I feel similarly. In the same way that a black person born in America is American by culture, I consider myself African. But I describe myself as South African because African, Asian, middle-eastern, etc. are more often used to describe race than location. Your culture is a product of where you were raised.

As a Vietnamese I don’t think Russian are Asian but Eastern European, closer to Hungarian or Polish. But I have some Kazakh friends who I consider Asian lol. And yes, Indian are Asian but not in the same way East Asian are Asian.

For example, looking at the https://www.facebook.com/groups/1343933772408499/ group (the most famous online group that talks about all things Asian), I very rarely see any Indian in there, maybe never at all. But this question is a very interesting one because it points to how stupid some of these labels are. It’s more a spectrum than concrete boxes.

Very, very, interesting insights everyone! Thanks for speaking honestly about what some consider a sensitive topic!