Talk:Semitic people

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 30 November 2025

Change "Frank M. Snowden" to "Frank M. Snowden Jr." CyrkleFan (talk) 14:13, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

 Done Day Creature (talk) 16:51, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Identification of pro-Caucasian racism

source of statement not cited. ~2026-11429-03 (talk) 22:42, 20 February 2026 (UTC)

Can somebody put a tag on that sentence? It is written in a very obtuse way that obfuscates the point it is trying to make. Is it about the term "antisemitic" narrowing the layperson's definition of "Semite"? (The sentence being "Identification of pro-Caucasian racism has either partially or completely devalued the use of the term as a racial category, with the caveat that an inverse assessment would still be considered scientifically obsolete.") Chris3145 (talk) 14:47, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

I've deleted the sentence for now. I think it was supposed to have something to do with the last sentence of the article, which is also very obtuse:

Characterizations of "Semite" as having little to no value on the socially constructed racial spectrum combined with its overuse due to popularization stemming from pro-Caucasian racism, as identification with antisemitism and as an antisemite was politically advantageous in Europe at least during the late 19th century—for example, Karl Lueger, the popular mayor of fin de siècle Vienna, skillfully exploited antisemitism as a way of channeling public discontent to his political advantage—thereby diluting anti-Judaism, have been made since at least the 1930s.

Maybe someone can figure out a better way to say this and put it back in... Slava570 (talk) 13:55, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 13 April 2026

This is not an obsolete term. It is a co-opted term by the racist Zionist regime. ~2026-22863-74 (talk) 19:33, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. SuperPianoMan9167 (talk) 19:35, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

Correct quote

In the article it states. "[Noah] especially blessed Shem and his sons, (making them) black but comely [שחורים ונאים], and he gave them the habitable earth. He blessed Ham and his sons, (making them) black like the raven [שחורים כעורב], and he gave them as an inheritance the coast of the sea. He blessed Japheth and his sons, (making) them entirely white [כלם לבני], and he gave them for an inheritance the desert and its fields."

However, you source "Friedlander, Gerald (1916). Pirkê de Rabbi Eliezer : (the chapters of Rabbi Eliezer the Great) according to the text of the manuscript belonging to Abraham Epstein of Vienna" at https://archive.org/details/pirkderabbieli00frieuoft on page 172. When you go to the link and look at the actual translation it says "dark but comely" and "dark like the raven." If you are going to put something in quotations, the implication is that you are directly quoting something. ~2026-29491-15 (talk) 18:10, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, you were right. I changed it. The thing is, I think this whole section should be deleted, but I just didn't want to do it yet. The one secondary source that was there before was totally misleading (I corrected it a while ago). The rest has no other sources, except for this primary source. I tried to look into it and I think it's all original research, and I don't know how to fix it or if it can be fixed. Slava570 (talk) 19:44, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

New term?

The article states "Semites is an obsolete term for an ethnic, cultural or racial group". If that term is obsolete, what term has it been replaced by? ~2026-30291-03 (talk) 00:43, 30 May 2026 (UTC)

Nothing. The classification system including "Semites" is obsolete. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 04:35, 30 May 2026 (UTC)

Maybe "Semites is [or 'was'?] a term for a now obsolete ethnic, cultural or racial group" is preferable then? The current phrasing can be interpreted as merely the term, not the actual grouping, being obsolete. ~2026-30291-03 (talk) 09:32, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

The sources appear to recommend restricting "Semitic" to linguistic usage or avoiding it as an ethnic category, but I do not see a source explicitly stating that the term itself is obsolete. Is there a source that specifically characterizes "Semites" as an obsolete term? If not, would wording such as "a formerly used ethnic classification" or "a historical classification now generally avoided outside linguistics" better reflect the cited literature? - - Cipher Nox (talk) 13:45, 26 June 2026 (UTC)

The sources support saying it's obsolete as a racial/ethnic category, but you are right that the single word Semitic is not obsolete generally, since it's still used in the linguistics field. However, the page is titled "Semitic people," (also "Semites") meaning that the two-word phrase is obsolete, which is supported. Slava570 (talk) 14:10, 26 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification. My confusion wasn't about the linguistic meaning of "Semitic" or why "Semites" as an ethnic classification became obsolete (since modern anthropology refers to those groups by their specific ethnic identities, such as Arabs and Jews, rather than collectively as "Semites"). It was more about why the "Semitic" element in "antisemitism" remains in established use. I understand now that, although the underlying ethnic classification fell out of use, the established term "antisemitism" remained in use and evolved independently. - - Cipher Nox (talk) 15:02, 26 June 2026 (UTC)