As I said, no one thought of themselves as "white" when I grew up in the Northeast during the 50s and 60s. The use of "white" in the South was a different world and culture than where I grew up, which is part of the point.

People identified differently in different parts of the country. And yet, today, some people want to stereotype people based on skin color with a broad label of "white", which you seem to agree is not what "white" meant.

Meanwhile, I think we can both agree that poor people living in the Appalachian Mountains are not white under your historical definition of the word, since they are certainly not superior or powerful?

Interestingly using your definition of white, it sounds like Asians are working themselves into being considered "white" by virtue of their success. Black people are becoming white, and blacks have all sorts of derogatory terms they use to describe them.

In a perverse, way blackness as you describe it suggests if you are not oppressed, you can't be black. So, oppressed white people are black and privileged black people are white.

If "whiteness" is defined as powerful, then perhaps it is better to apply it to individuals based on their circumstances.

With respect to the latter application, I do think there are individuals of all colors that are privileged relative to other people. And I do think when you focus on what it means to be privileged, then it becomes a much more defining characteristic, then using skin color so why include it in the label?