The Whiteness Myth | Throughline

In 1923, an Indian American man named Bhagat Singh Thind argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that he was a white man and was therefore eligible to become a naturalized citizen. He based his claim on the fact that he was a member of India's highest caste and identified as an Aryan and therefore white. His claims were supported by the so-called Indo-European language theory, a controversial idea that says nearly half the world's population speak a language that originated in one place. Theories about who lived in that place inspired a racist ideology that contended that the original speakers of the language were a white supreme race that colonized Europe and Asia thousands of years ago. This was used by many to define whiteness and eventually led to one of the most horrific events in history. On this episode of Throughline, we unpack the myths around this powerful idea and explore the politics and promise of the mother tongue.
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Photos Credits:
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
8:59 Part One
18:40 Part Two
31:32 Part Three
49:07 Credits

[@skyjuiceification]

Indo-European is indeed a unified language group. so in fact, it's not a theory, but an existential matter of fact.

[@tmsphere]

No its a linguistic group do you know what a linguistic group is?

[@edstar83]

@@tmsphere "No its a linguistic group do you know what a linguistic group is?" - tmsphere 2023. Yes we do but it's obvious that you don't.

[@juditrotter5176]

Fascinating. Seems like the notion of seeing some people as being ‘others’ was alive and well in the 20th Century.

[@jasonhightower6564]

Seems almost immortal, right?

[@skyjuiceification]

@@jasonhightower6564 WTF is either of u talking about?

[@Garcian_Smith]

@@skyjuiceification Clearly you weren't listening to the podcast at all if you haven't a clue...

[@HardworkDedication]

Interesting 😒 when similar and shared words and symbols between West Africa and ancient Egypt were revealed they said its not related 😂

[@edstar83]

We was Kangz

[@HardworkDedication]

@@edstar83 u wuz in caves 💀💀💀

[@carlwalker9635]

Your correct, Chiek Anta Diop, and his collegue, Theophile Obenga research had confirmed the verbal connection between Ancient Kemitic and many West African nations, Wolof, and Fulani just to name a few.

[@tashathomas8196]

Good point @Hardwork. I did undergrad at UCLA in Ancient Egyptian Studies in the early 90's. A prominent linguist actually headed that major. This was the hey day time of a cadre of Black scholars putting Egypt in Africa and exploring the implications of that assertion. UCLA was alive with the debates this work generated. The British scholar Martin Bernal (Black Athena) even did a series of presentations at UCLA during this time. The dept head and I had some great conversations. One of the things he said to me during this time, in reference to Obenga's work specifically, was that what was missing in the conversation academically speaking, was a theory and model or "paradigm" that explained the relationships between these African languages, comparable to the Indo-European language paradigm. I think it's a progressive proposal. Someone may be doing that work by now. Of course, ,all research takes institutional access and underwriting. Really good video.Helps us lay people understand how academic models are put together.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@tashathomas8196I m of one man presently studying the subject now. I can’t remember his name. I’ll come back

[@donprincoify]

I find it rather amusing that the crème de la crème of Indian caste system found himself discriminated against in America.

[@swamirivers980]

Actually not so, Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, was specifically against the Hindu caste system that Modi, whose party murdered the secular values of Gandhi, represents now.

[@PrimericanIdol]

It's called cultural relativism.

[@donprincoify]

@@PrimericanIdol One could also say the British colonizing India must be seen through the prism of their culture which has always believed in White superiority over the "inferior" brown Indian. Come on man! Surely you can do better than that lazy excuse.

[@johanna-hypatiacybeleia2465]

@@swamirivers980 This is a very important consideration, because Bhagat Singh Thind was Sikh, right?

[@HughJorgan09]

How satisfying, when the discriminator experiences being discriminated against. When his own way of "differentiating" amongst peoples is turned around on him, he can understand how objectionable, dehumanizing, how racist it actually is...even though, in all reality, his own motivation was probably only to see himself as "better than", once again, as he had grown accustomed to in the caste system that he had departed from.

[@blackeyedturtle]

What an outstanding video, thank you very much for producing and posting this. I understand David Anthony's hesitancy to use the word race, in light of today's and recent history's stigmatism surrounding the use of the word. I disagree though that ancient peoples did not have the same prejudices towards one another based on racial differences. There is a movement within today's academia, placing the majority of blame of the rise of racism having it's origins within white North American (European) institutions, since the colonization of the Americas. Those who believe this really need to travel more. The racism that exists and persists in Asian countries towards each other predates colonization. Homogenous societies, especial ancient historical ones always feared newcomers who did not resemble them. Historically racism was much more pervasive on a national level than it is today. The Japanese and Chinese, hated and feared one another long before Europeans entered their spheres. Even North American indigenous peoples held strong prejudices towards those from other tribes, considering them completely different peoples, despite their physical similarities. They did not consider other tribes as being from the same source of genealogical predecessors. Many tribes did not consider tribes they held animosity towards as being human beings. When one group of people believes another group of people are inferior, feeling no kinship towards them in any way, that is racism not tribalism.

[@jamesconnolly5164]

Podcast: Starts off calling Aryan invasion theory and Indo-European language theory pseudoscientific. Podcast later on: Brings on experts that explain said theories and that they are the established consensus. wtf.

[@bertanelson8062]

Don't you love how theories become fact as soon as "experts' pontificate?

[@Thindorama]

@@bertanelson8062 You don't have to be an expert in linguistics to understand how Proto Indo-European is true beyond a reasonable doubt. It's one of the easier major scientific theories you don't need much training to verify on your own with a little dabbling.

[@GrantBlankenship]

The lie comes when people conflate the spread of a language, material culture or even genes with one kind of physical appearance or "race." In the show they point out the Yamnaya influence runs from Ireland to East Asia. Totally an affront to modern notions of race, right? It's the race bit that's bogus.

[@linushahs396]

Very informative and thought provoking. Can’t understand why this is not more widely disseminated.

[@airdavis4476]

When the new caste system built on your caste system casts you out. That must've hurt.

[@silentspectre7787]

yeah? caste is a latin origin portugese word from feudal lords of neanderthal lands of europe. eugenics and racial heirarchy was a scientific study in howard cambridge cornell and princeton. in 1870 the brutish colonialists cleverly divided indian society into 2000 castes introducing a cencus. Learn more degenerate imbecile demonizing and dehumanizing victims

[@johanna-hypatiacybeleia2465]

Indo-European linguistics isn't controversial, it's settled scientific fact. It says nothing about skin color, only words and grammar.

[@edstar83]

Indians are mixed race. Many north Indians have a high percentage of R1a. Remanence of the ancient Aryans who introduced Sanskrit, the horse and cart, the swastika into India.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@edstar83R1a does not indicate that the people looked as you think they did.

[@edstar83]

@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 Yes it does. R1a is the reason North Indians are lighter skinned and have high bridged narrow noses and some even light eyes. Compared to Southern Indians, R1a is high in Slavic countries in including Russia. It is also found in 2000 year old Tarim Basin and Scythian mummies, that are 6'4" tall with light hair and eyes and Caucasoid facial features.

[@edstar83]

@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2qlYauKbrl8iq8

[@sumerianliger]

Yep. It really annoyed me how they kept saying it was "controversial" when if you even just limit the evidence to what is presented in the video, it's really obvious.

[@lightningspirit2166]

I dont think the issue was or is purely race or skin colour ...its about cultural religous practice id3as and differences!

[@michelemiller3798]

Fascinating to learn! Really important for our modern perspective. Good job!

[@Death_Metal_Head]

This clearly isn't biased lmao: "the so-called Indo-European language theory, a controversial idea that says nearly half the world's population speak a language that originated in one place."

[@ArmThePoor161]

Everyone is biased in one way or another. You are clearly looking for a white apologist video.

[@dustistreet5108]

Actually true. All of our ancient ancestors did originate in one area until they were dispersed to fill the earth.

[@silentspectre7787]

NPR is a propaganda machinery run by unapologetic far left extremists

[@parjanyashukla176]

@@dustistreet5108 And nobody changed in their culture as they moved about, right?

[@edstar83]

Except modern day genetics shows North Indians have a high percentage of R1a. Remanence of the ancient Aryans who introduced Sanskrit, the horse and cart, the swastika into India.

[@nwasoul]

Nice. I would love to read more. You have any good reading material? I heard it was a myth that aryans invaded.

[@edstar83]

@@nwasoul kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2qlYauKbrl8iq8

[@BE74297]

Hi Which other countries have R1a?

[@carlosabram6030]

@@edstar83 your proof is another KZbin video and not an actual citation of evidence

[@Aniwazoa]

Very interesting.

[@VernonNickersonSCHOOLCOACH]

Here's a curiousity question for those listening why does the NPR narrator consistently say Finn instead of Thind??? Odd, especially since she begins by correctly spelling and pronouncing it correctly. How did that mispronunciation occur so frequently and miss the radar of NPR 'S editorial staff?

[@arkoobi]

Thank you!!!! 🏆

[@poncepg4991]

Thank you for the eyes opening document. I'm Asian.

[@kennethmcrae8503]

Pit graves date back to 80,000 years ago..

[@matthewatdefiantlegends7629]

Mind-blowing stuff!

[@paulomilan515]

This was so good

[@amberdavidson6827]

Race is a modern construct. If anything referring to people as "tribes" seems more appropriate and they are referred to as such in the ancient texts. Tribes inter-mixed and shared languages. It seems more appropriate to address things this way. Their were brown people that came from the Caucaus mountains, Iran, India, Middle East, just as their were tribes that were fair with lighter eyes. The swastika is ancient and it is sad that it was appropriated in such a negative light in modern times. These "Race" narratives need to be exposed.

[@edstar83]

Everything is a "construct" to marxists. If that were true then when two white people have a baby, it would come out looking Sub Saharan or Chinese instead of looking like them.

[@jamesmcelroy5830]

I have read that the swastika is the oldest symbol of prosperity in the world. Is that true? I know it’s been found all over the world. And everyone has a different theory on what it exactly means.

[@johnwightman7549]

never heard this word "amnaya" before. If they left no writing and no-one heard them speak who made up this name?

[@scythermantis]

"Yamnaya Kultura" just means "Pit grave culture" in Russian; if you paid attention, they were named by their burial practises.

[@AquariusNation777]

Good video

[@robin314]

Awesome explanation, thank you!!!

[@nprpodcasts]

We're so glad it was helpful!

[@aicram62]

33:05 When we work together we can do great things. Also great horrible things.

[@mickyfingaz5132]

The fear of dark skin may be due to the fact that when people mix there is always a potential for the light skin to dissappear. Maybe

[@mr.horrorchild4094]

People dislike behaviors not skin color

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@mr.horrorchild4094people connect behavior with skin color.

[@rakeshchand1354]

Color in sanskrit is varna , 4 varna in india

[@theempyrean1227]

Sikhs are Kshatriya not Brahnin.

[@gabbar51ngh]

That's what they say. Majority of them just stole the kshatriya surnames. That's it.

[@MrMLD1972]

❤

[@anthonyzestley3980]

The Tower of Bable

[@mariussielcken]

Edge cases imply a center

[@jocelynemayfield3261]

Karma,

[@lisanidog8178]

Xenophobia still exists!

[@DesertWolfSurvival]

The English didn’t believe the Irish or Italians to be white 😅so i guess it’s all about who you ask.

[@abdullahkarim4678]

Frech brought Caste Sushgdm

[@silentspectre7787]

portugese

[@1414malachi]

Yes the indo-european language family has it origins coming from the Indus Valley but these languages developed their , from an people group that we’re european these so-called aryans had their own way of communicating prior the the so-called “ invasion” now while settling with these other cultures new words, phrases, and ideas was picked up and an merger over a long period of time became what we know to be the photo indo- european languages now , with photo meaning (primitive) and (indo) meaning a prefix indicating India) making another way of saying it just by its definition , would be an primitive sub- language with an heavy indian influence

[@edstar83]

I lost brain cells reading that thanks bro.

[@1414malachi]

@@edstar83 yeah sure kid an here’s another one to so easily lose whatever so-called brain cells you have, just because you can’t make sense out of something doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t make sense at all

[@barbarawhittingham3941]

Oh you poor poor things. If you are not killing and destroying, you are showing a mad racist who maim and torture his own people and say he is better than them, How very sad to never love yourself and yearning to be so called “White!” How pathetic, I feel sick

[@brianabrom6115]

The more race or skin color is used as an excuse to deny or grant human rights or determine abilities or intelligence is such a waste of time and useless.

[@parjanyashukla176]

The reason for these kinds of useless issues is that all European academics are not real scholars but instead pseudo-scholars. They are more interested in espousing theories asap because it fattens their ego amongst their peers.

[@bobbykiefer4306]

I don't think all European academics are pseudo scholars. That's a glittering generality.

[@parjanyashukla176]

I have personally done a review of the so-called "scholars" who work in the field of the so-called "Indo-European" studies. Based on my own analysis I can say that around 70-80% are pseudo-scholars who have any of the following traits: 1. Start with a conclusion and do research to fit in their predetermined conclusions 2. Have ulterior motives that have been prescribed by either a government or the private sector 3. Are anachronistic, i.e. use modern conceptions to fit history into their modern intellectual models, which makes no sense whatsoever 4. Find it difficult to accept that something in history remains unexplained. A theory is needed urgently to capture it. The real scholars are very diligent and careful, they number in a few hundred at best.

[@bertanelson8062]

Following a narrative that brings success rather than ostracism.

[@carlwalker9635]

Your absolutely correct, ignore the Caucasians who will insult you. The President of Stanford University was just outted as a complete fraud through his entire academic/scientific career. Western Academia is based on defending a Cosmology of Psuedo Narratives which were instituted in the 19 th century, in particular during the World Fairs of the mid 19 th century thru the early 20 th century. Be

[@VernonNickersonSCHOOLCOACH]

​@@parjanyashukla176Excellently composed doxumentation to support your argument.

[@lightningspirit2166]

America was then a christian European state,with mostly European cultural practices I think this was the main issue not ...skin colour ,although skin volour would also have been a factor.

[@laszlonemet4425]

Breakmans

[@Rebone]

Me coming from South Africa, listening to all this to the end brings a lot of pain. What's being described is not dissimilar to what Africans in South Africa went through, from colonization to legislated apartheid under the National Party, where scientific racism informed the status quo. The Nats had learned these obsolete racist theories from the Nazis, and had supported their experimentation in neighboring Namibia during 1918 when Germany exterminated the Himba, Nama and Hereo people.®®®

[@edstar83]

When South Africa was founded there were no black tribes there that's why the spot was chosen.. Black people came later after marxist infiltration. of South Africa turning a majority White first world world Nation into a third world nation were white people became a minority and cruelly hunted down by black majority. Encouraged by the black communist government.

[@scythermantis]

Yes, and what the Palestinians are going through now!

[@lisanidog8178]

The caste system of India is as bad as our cast system here. The Rich, whiny Middle Class, and Poor. The Poor being either ignored or villainized and labeled all sorts of demeaning names like they’re bacteria. Disgusting.

[@victorguzman2302]

There is always been racial profiling and discrimination in this country, in spite of the “whites” not being original indigenous from the American Continent. Now, the name America is not connected to the “whites”. The name America is derived from a Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first person to map the continent.

[@royleevaughn2990]

There is racial profiling and discrimination in every country. Even more in other countries... The main character of this documentry is a Brahman, the highest level in the cast system.

[@Albanach-je1nk]

This should be taught in Scjools everywhere

[@jamesconnolly5164]

The Indo-European language theory is not at all controversial in academia. It is the overwhelmingly accepted consensus. The languages of northern India are still called Indo-Aryan while the south Indian languages are called Dravidian. The invasion theory (now corroborated with genetic evidence on top of the linguistic evidence) accounts for why the northern Indian languages are Indo-European (the Indo part meaning of India) and why the southern Indian languages are not. Anyway, that was way too academic and nuanced a response for antiwhite hacks who don't care about the facts and just need to prove a point to arrive at antiwhite conclusions.

[@parjanyashukla176]

The invasion theory is just nonsense, with not a shred of evidence.

[@martinvanburen4578]

That theory is universally created and accepted by....Europeans. The invasion theory is not accepted at all. In fact the genetic tests and evidence states clearly that today's Indian people are pretty much the same Indian people that were there since the times of the Indus Valley with some admixture due to foreign invasions of Persians, Muslims and some White people. It seems like every European has a version of this idea that foreigners created India. That is absurd. There is more evidence Sanskrit is older and than all other Indo-European language and thus all of the foundation of Indo-European language hinges on Sanskrit first and foremost. Even more so, the Europeans used Sanskrit to claim that Sanskrit comes from outside of India but without a single shred of evidence. Going back to the invasion theory, it is now known as migration theory. This is only exists because...the Europeans wrote the books. they published the books. They set the standards. That will change soon.

[@scythermantis]

What do you mean 'Anti-White'? 'White' isn't even anything real that exists, so how can one be 'anti' something that's entirely an artificial construct? You know that the 'original' Europeans were actually dark-skinned, blue-eyed peoples like the Funnel Beaker culture who were mostly overrun and displaced by the Yamnaya, right?

[@johnsnowkumar359]

This was the argument about 100 years ago. See 3:09 of video. Just look at the video in article about the Sikh. well before 1966. Year 1966 was when immigration was opened to non Europeans. There was an issue with Fins. About 500 years ago as governments and Swedes and Fins and Norwegians sent government sponsored explorers further up north towards the Arctic circle, they found that these three countries had aboriginal settlement of Inuits / Eskimos north of the Arctic Circles. About 400 years ago, the Inuits / Eskimo villagers of the extreme north regions of these countries were deported and sent to Imperial Russia in exchange for money. Why" because these were sizable areas compared to the population. That time, the area was thinly populated: the population of Finland had 1 million whites and Norway had 1 million whites. So the2 million strong Swedes and 1 million strong Norwegians and 1 million strong Finns could ill afford to keep the aboriginal Eskimos within their borders near the Arctic circle.

[@davidschlessinger9945]

Anglos had centuries of genocidal racism before the German version crept up in the 20th century

[@asmirann3636]

Germans always and still look up to the English. German worldview is basically the English worldview badly translated into German. Germans have no real experiences or ideas. They just build on existing on ideas sitting with the dark and gloomy German mentality. This is why their ideas, theories and philosophy are dark and nefarious.

[@ozark8043]

#antiwhite ✅

[@mariussielcken]

Caucasians domesticated the horse and invented the wagon, went forth conquering and literally the rest is history. That's not a theory.

[@bertanelson8062]

NPR does it again. Believe it or not. Your choice. Special effects, no extra charge.

[@andrewbaker-fe6kn]

When others post a comment look at the comments like mine because I have some good insight!!! If you would just asking nicely

[@andrewbaker-fe6kn]

Just to remember that we are all one human race and just a variety human beings in the world 🌎🌍 and it is awesome because what if everyone was the same it would be super duper boring of a society!!!😮😮😮😊😊😊❤❤❤🆒🆒🆒💯💯💯🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲👍👍👍🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷💪💪💪🗽🗽🗽🔥🔥🔥

[@mr.horrorchild4094]

No one really believes this.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@mr.horrorchild4094unfortunately.