Deciding who is white has always been heavily influenced by class and culture...

THE HISTORY OF WHITE PEOPLE

By Nell Irvin Painter

....the book traces characterizations of the lighter-skinned people we call white today, starting with the ancient Scythians. For those who have not yet registered how much these characterizations have changed, let me assure you that sensory observation was not the basis of racial nomenclature..... By LINDA GORDON, published on the Sunday Book Review, NYTimes