I actually trace my father’s ancestery to Albania. They were Byzantines until the Turks took over in the middle ages and fled to Sicily. My mom’s side is actually mostly Irish with some Austrian and Belgian mixed in. I got the pale complexion with from her and the dark brillo-type hair and, big nose, short height and thick beard from my dad. When my hair gets too bushy, I look like a jew. When my beard grows, I look like a terrorist.
Interestingly, my son has curly blonde hair and looks like he could be a card carrying member of the Aryan Brotherhood. My wife is half Irish and half WASP.
Ironically, I started to type another post after my last one saying that a portion of Sicilians have Arab ancestry. But, I didn’t want to go into the explanation. But, now that you mentioned it:
Years ago I read a book called, “The Sicilian”, by Mario Puzo. In it, he gave a fascinating history of Sicily. He said Sicily had been invaded by many people including the Arabs and the Scots (hence the redheaded Sicilians). There was a tradition for each Sicilian family to paint their door a certain color. Unbeknownst to them, the color signified their ancestry. I believe he said red meant Arab.
My ancestors all emigrated here from Italy, all different regions in the north and south, though none from Sicily. I grew up first in a mixed-Italian neighborhood and then later in a “little Sicily”. Everyone in our school was Italian or Italian descent. And everyone was a different shade. That’s why I’ve always contended that “white”, “brown” and “black” are subjective terms. My brother and I look alike, but I have light hair and blue eyes, so people rarely guess my ancestry right. TBH, I always envied the people with darker hair, skin and eyes. I wish I didn’t burn in the sun. ;-)