I largely agree with you that Western means white in many contexts. Just not all. The usage of so many terms for white, far from proving a uniform history of white supremacy over different eras and continents, actually demonstrates the ambivalent and volatile nature of whiteness as a concept, that it is not something absolute but rather disputed and impermanent.

I don’t agree with identifying peoples as Western based on appearance. It is valid to consider Japan as Western in certain discussions because it forms an integral part of US imperialism today. Same for Israel, Guam, and other places. India right now is at a turning point and seems to be trying to join the west. Yet I acknowledge that in other contexts these countries are not really part of the club and could then be considered non-Western. It’s a matter of geopolitics not biology.

So I take the Parenti view on this one. It doesn’t matter to me what we call Western as long as communication is clear. At best, it is a waste of energy like it is a waste to argue whether certain nations are/were Actually Existing Socialism. At worst, it validates the existing class structure by accepting the division as natural. Like I’m not interested in fine-tuning exactly which ethnicities I would consider Aryan because the very premise is racist and unnecessary. We have terms like imperial core and global south, which shift the focus properly to social relations rather than racial ideology.