The concept of race fluctuates from time period to time period and place to place
This is evident in the status of Italians being “white” while most mainstream Americans would consider them that, some purists would actually reject this notion and think that Italians aren’t white because of their darker skin tone
This was more commonly accepted in the industrial revolution in which Italians were the low class immigrants who were picked on and mistreated, with a famous lynching killing a few.
Fun fact is this lynching actually led to the president making Columbus Day a national holiday for the Italians to give them something in American culture and make them respected
Little tangent but yea, the race of the Italians is a weirdly divisive topic in some places