It talks about people who “despise the Brazilian people because of the manifest admixture of African blood in their make-up.” Now this is ambiguous—most people in Brazil have non-zero African ancestry, maybe even more than white US citizens have. But it looks to me like the quoted author is in fact classifying people by skin color alone. They simply assume that Italians and various others have “swarthiness” from the same source (falsely, according to the best info I can find without really caring).
They simply assume that Italians and various others have “swarthiness” from the same source (falsely, according to the best info I can find without really caring).
Mediterranean Europeans are typically noticeably darker than Northern ad Eastern Europeans. Eye and hair color also clearly have a North-South and West-East gradient.
It talks about people who “despise the Brazilian people because of the manifest admixture of African blood in their make-up.” Now this is ambiguous—most people in Brazil have non-zero African ancestry, maybe even more than white US citizens have. But it looks to me like the quoted author is in fact classifying people by skin color alone. They simply assume that Italians and various others have “swarthiness” from the same source (falsely, according to the best info I can find without really caring).
Oh, I see your point now.
Okay, I agree that racial characteristics were sometimes determined by only skin color.
Mediterranean Europeans are typically noticeably darker than Northern ad Eastern Europeans. Eye and hair color also clearly have a North-South and West-East gradient.