[alicorn]

I find it curious and vaguely racist that the word 'clan' is almost exclusively used in reference to immigrant and poc families and with an allusion to inherent criminality. This despite the fact that many Western countries have a handful of large, old families which own an inadequate proportion of the companies, resources, have outsized political influence and so on, and those families are almost exclusively in many generations from the country in question. They are as clan-ish as a 'clan' gets, but since they do not match the 'criminal immigrant' stereotype, nobody ever calls them a 'clan'. It irks me.

[fakedang]

Are you sure about that? Members of rich families in the US are routinely called as part of a clan - Roosevelt clan or Vanderbilt clan. Or they're collectively called something like Boston Brahmans.

It's less used in Europe, but they are still referred to as aristocratic clans.

[mbg721]

To me the connotation has always been something like Hatfields and McCoys, not exactly positive, but not linked to race.

[fakedang]

Brahmans isn't related to race either. It's just an alliteration. You're right that they are mostly referred to in the plural form (eg: The Roosevelts bought out....) but the clan usage is fairly common too (eg: he's a member of the Roosevelt clan/dynasty).