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Original poster

How should white people refer to other races (in UK)

391 replies

seesawteddy · 18/04/2019 09:31

I am not being provocative, I genuinely need to know what words are offensive because I think I mess up sometimes.
I thought ‘brown people’ was okay because that’s what my Indian friends use to refer to themselves and each other, but just read on here it’s offensive, so must just be the norm for my group of mates.

Another one is ‘people of colour / PoC, it’s the term my friend from Iraq uses and he’s doing a phd to do with race equaity. But I’ve had a few funny look recently when I used it.

The problem with Asian/Midde Eastern/Pakistani etc is sometimes I don’t know what someone’s heritage is, and also I think it is rude if they are actually British citizens.

So if I want to say something like “What have been the experiences of ___ in UK airports?”
How would I say it?

OP posts:

PlainSpeakingStraightTalking · 18/04/2019 10:04

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

skippy67 · 18/04/2019 10:06

It's not a minefield. Black for black people, mixed race for, you know, mixed race people and Asian for Asian people. It's really not that difficult...

Camomila · 18/04/2019 10:10

I think some people are struggling with when they don’t know people’s ethnicity...looking at him DS could be from a lot of places, Asian, South America, white with a tan...

JustDanceAddict · 18/04/2019 10:11

If someone was mixed race id say they were mixed race. It used to be ‘half-caste’ in the 80s which is awful but that’s what I grew up with!!!

rutnoast · 18/04/2019 10:12

At work (medical report writing) we generally use white, black, asian (or south-east asian if specifically meaning Indian/Bangladeshi/etc rather than Chinese).

Personally, I am uncomfortable saying "people of colour" as it's too similar to "coloured". And we all have colour!
I also prefer "mixed race" to "dual heritage" - not all mixed race people necessarily have dual heritage. That seems like it's making a lot of assumptions...

I might, at a push, say "they had brown/dark skin", but I wouldn't describe someone as "brown" unless I knew they were happy with it.

RosaWaiting · 18/04/2019 10:14

I'm finding all this bonkers

I am apparently "brown". It might be age related, but I really thought someone was being racist towards me till a friend from India - and I mean actually from India - said to me that "brown" was the term to use now. She's about 20 years younger than I am.

I really hate it and generally always avoid reference to anyone's skin colour tbh. I'm also not brown anyway. Are we going to start running through a full range of foundation shades and risk being wrong and causing offence?

JustDanceAddict · 18/04/2019 10:14

Oh and there is a lot of teasing within friendship groups regarding religion, colour etc but I tell DD - who hangs around with more of a mixed group sometimes - that it’s only ok if no-one is offended and it’s done with affection. If someone says they don’t like it then stop and she mustn’t take it if she feels uncomfortable either.

Itwouldtakemuchmorethanthis · 18/04/2019 10:14

Asian in the uk means people from the Indian subcontinent, but meant people from the Far East elsewhere in the world. I’ve never heard an Arab describe themselves as Asian.
People of colour, is just ludicrous but I find BAME equally ridiculously pompous. This does seem to be a uniquely white problem. The words are less important than the intent.

keepforgettingmyusername · 18/04/2019 10:15

People of colour sounds so bad to me, sort of old fashioned and othering.
If I don't know what someone's heritage/nationality is, I ask the person or if they aren't there refer to them as a foreign national if they were born abroad or, if British, 'I believe they are of Chinese descent' or whatever, and happy to be corrected. I'm sure someone will be along to tell me how racist that is soon but it's my best attempt at not offending anyone

AuntieCJ · 18/04/2019 10:15

Nish Kumar refers to himself as brown. That'll do for me.

RosaWaiting · 18/04/2019 10:15

Skippy67 "It's not a minefield. Black for black people, mixed race for, you know, mixed race people and Asian for Asian people. It's really not that difficult..."

it is if you have my skin colour. People don't know - and why should they? I also hate that we seem to be expected to know everything about ethnicity and religion blah blah.

AryaStarkWolf · 18/04/2019 10:17

I mean do you ever really have to lump everyone who isn't white as one non white group though?

PlainSpeakingStraightTalking · 18/04/2019 10:19

If someone was mixed race id say they were mixed race. It used to be ‘half-caste’ in the 80s which is awful but that’s what I grew up with!!!

Yup - and DS - as I said - very well educated mates use this term today to describe each other.

skippy67 · 18/04/2019 10:20

Rosa it's not a minefield if people just ask rather than assume. If they get it 'wrong", then allow themselves to be corrected and move on. No biggie. I've been called, mixed, half caste, and a few other things(!), because of my colour. I just say, actually, I'm black, job done.

NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace · 18/04/2019 10:20

It's not a minefield. Black for black people, mixed race for, you know, mixed race people and Asian for Asian people. It's really not that difficult...

Well, like I said .... i'm not really white am I?????

CuriousaboutSamphire · 18/04/2019 10:21

It's not a minefield Given the number of threads about it, from black, white Asian etc poster alike, it clearly is, if people choose to make it so!

The truth is that there is no one correct answer. There are as many correct answers as there are people, as far as can tell. This thread illustrates that quite well....

skippy67 · 18/04/2019 10:22

If people choose to make it so. Exactly.

NiceLegsShameAboutTheFace · 18/04/2019 10:22

The truth is that there is no one correct answer. There are as many correct answers as there are people, as far as can tell. This thread illustrates that quite well..

Well said

skippy67 · 18/04/2019 10:23

Nicelegs, I dunno...

RosaWaiting · 18/04/2019 10:23

Skippy I really hate being asked because IME it's usually the build up to a racist remark. Also might be a generational thing?

otherwise, I don't know why anyone wants/needs to know.

PerpetualStudent · 18/04/2019 10:24

For the people saying ‘you’ll always offend someone’ and ‘we can never get it right’ isn’t the point to have this kind of discussions? Ask particular people/social groups etc what terms they prefer? Surely there’s no definitive right answer, but a need for respectful, mutual dialogue, in light of how oppressive and damaging the use of racialised language has been in the past?(and of course continues to be!)

I feel, as a white British person I have a duty to remain open-minded and ready to be informed about the experiences of people of colour (insert preferred term here!) and the connotations of different terms both in individuals’ personal preferences and in reference to social/political history.

brizzlemint · 18/04/2019 10:25

A lot of people seem to use POC nowadays, I think it's awful. Is ethnic minorities acceptable? That covers all who are not from the dominant culture in the country. or is that now offensive as well?

DonneWithThis · 18/04/2019 10:25

The current usage is BME - Black and Minority Ethnicities

skippy67 · 18/04/2019 10:26

Well said Perpetual

brizzlemint · 18/04/2019 10:27

Why is black separate from minority ethnicities? I mean they are a minority ethnic group and so are the rest so I don't see why it's singled out?

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