AIBU To ask if the term Mixed-Race is outdated

[CambridgeEntry2022]

I don't want to cause offence by using outdated terms. Would it be more appropriate to use the term multi racial?

It is offensive if you don't want to be categorised by a series of initials.

I guess my husband is entitled to hate the term being applied to him if that is how he feels.

I think being colour blind or no seeing colour is an offensive idea. A person’s race and ethnicity are incredibly important parts of their identity and the history of their race.

Alternatively, it can be incredibly offensive to a person if other people insist on seeing them as a cipher for history rather than Sue from accounts. And then proceed to lecture them about it too.

Your turn.

Caste comes from the Latin word 'castus', which means pure, so describing someone as half caste is literally calling them impure. If you're a Harry Potter fan, it's akin to calling someone a Mudblood.

I agree, it doesn't matter if people's skin is black, brown, yellow or normal.

WTF is normal?

@AlexaShutUp

I agree, it doesn't matter if people's skin is black, brown, yellow or normal.

WTF is normal?

Normal is no acne.

@Greenrubber, I think you're coming at things with the right intentions. You're right that it shouldn't matter, but the reality is that racism is very real. Pretending that we're colour blind and that race/skin colour is irrelevant doesn't address the problem. We need to talk about it and tackle it head on.

@ancientgran

It is offensive if you don't want to be categorised by a series of initials.

I guess my husband is entitled to hate the term being applied to him if that is how he feels.

But earnest undergraduates are ordering us to call people BAME!

@MrsMayJune

I see no problem with BAME. There is nothing offensive about it. It is a shortened form of easily referring to ethnic minorities including white ethnic minorities. It stands for Black, Asian and other minority ethnicities. What’s offensive about that?

I think being colour blind or no seeing colour is an offensive idea. A person’s race and ethnicity are incredibly important parts of their identity and the history of their race. To not see a person’s skin colour/race/ethnicity is to not see them and to not understand what life is like for them in places or countries where they are treated unfairly.

I find BAME very offensive actually, I know it's an acronym but the way it is used in every day language and by the media just lumps all non-white people into a homogenous mass, you may as well just go back to calling people 'coloured' as BAME (as it is generally used) fundamentally has the same meaning

A person’s race and ethnicity are incredibly important parts of their identity and the history of their race I completely disagree with this too - I am mixed race (3/4 white and 1/4 asian) and I don't have anything to do with my grandparent's original culture as they chose to leave that behind when they came to the UK, so I may have brown skin, but I don't feel anything other that British, or specifically a Londoner. So if you started trying to be culturally sensitive to me because of my skin colour I would have no idea what you were doing.

I see no problem with BAME. There is nothing offensive about it. It is a shortened form of easily referring to ethnic minorities including white ethnic minorities. It stands for Black, Asian and other minority ethnicities. What’s offensive about that

My black dh dislikes the term and I can understand why. It basically lumps everyone who isn't white British together...so you're either white British or bame thus the only people who have a strong identity when divided in this way are the white British people...it feels like the bame just means not white British, which is not a positive affirmation of identity. Does that make sense?

Yes. Perfect sense.

@Comedycook

I see no problem with BAME. There is nothing offensive about it. It is a shortened form of easily referring to ethnic minorities including white ethnic minorities. It stands for Black, Asian and other minority ethnicities. What’s offensive about that

My black dh dislikes the term and I can understand why. It basically lumps everyone who isn't white British together...so you're either white British or bame thus the only people who have a strong identity when divided in this way are the white British people...it feels like the bame just means not white British, which is not a positive affirmation of identity. Does that make sense?

Totally agree with this! We hate the term BAME for this reason.

@PumpkinKlNG

Same people saying black people should be called bame or person of colour yet every single black person I know calls themselves black just like every single mixed race person I know calls themselves mixed race, why do white people keep telling us what terms we should call ourselves 🤨

Because when the language changes (I am in my 60s) as often as it does us white people are terrified of being reported for using the 'wrong' terminology. When I was young the 'n' word was used (note 'used' not 'acceptable') now it is highly offensive, but not if you're black, then you can use it. Is using BAME acceptable? Or should I use 'people of colour'? I genuinely cannot keep up with what is acceptable and what isn't.

I am "dual heritage" in that the two sides of my family come from two very different cultures, despite both my parents being white and brought up in the UK.

Mixed race is on official forms, so I assume is OK, although happy to be corrected!

Because when the language changes (I am in my 60s) as often as it does us white people are terrified of being reported for using the 'wrong' terminology

I'm white and not at all terrified of being reported

@Comedycook, why is not being white British offensive? Yes it means minority groups that are at a disadvantage relative to the majority white British population who holds the power (broadly speaking).

If BAME means not white British, why is that offensive? Not being white British isn’t a crime or disgrace.

I can understand the argument that by lumping all minority groups together it avoids shining a light on the diversity with the BAME category. It can hide a multitude of problems especially when statistics are being used. For instance, say BAME people are progressing might hide that some groups with the BAME population are finding processing far more quickly than others.

Offensive I don’t get because it implies some level of internalised embarrassment. I do get that it does not appreciate diversity and diversity of outcomes within that category.

I can definitely see why half-caste is offensive it’s in the very term itself and implies half of you is acceptable.

@AlexaShutUp

As @jasmine11 said her skin colour is not what she identifies by she is a londoner

She is an individual

We can't tar everyone who has a darker skin with the same brush

Myself and my siblings are all white but we all hold different believes my skin colour has nothing to do with it

It's not about being colour blind I can see everyone is different it's not even ignoring it it's the fact that everyone is their own person and we need to be open minded about it

I hope when I say that every person who is not white has not suffered racism
Some white people have also suffered from racism

There are alot of different skin colours in Britain and they are still British just because one is darker makes them no less British

We can't judge people by their skin colour

If someone said to me hi I'm peter and I'm Muslim/Christian/vegan/Jedi OK I might ask about their religion out of interest but he could be any colour it's irrelevant

I know racism exists I just don't think we all are going about tlit the right way to eradicate it

[quote MrsMayJune]@Comedycook, why is not being white British offensive? Yes it means minority groups that are at a disadvantage relative to the majority white British population who holds the power (broadly speaking).

If BAME means not white British, why is that offensive? Not being white British isn’t a crime or disgrace.

I can understand the argument that by lumping all minority groups together it avoids shining a light on the diversity with the BAME category. It can hide a multitude of problems especially when statistics are being used. For instance, say BAME people are progressing might hide that some groups with the BAME population are finding processing far more quickly than others.

Offensive I don’t get because it implies some level of internalised embarrassment. I do get that it does not appreciate diversity and diversity of outcomes within that category.

I can definitely see why half-caste is offensive it’s in the very term itself and implies half of you is acceptable.[/quote]
Just saying someone is not white British isn't telling you anything about their heritage, all it tell you is what they're not.

Comedycook I work in the civil service and trust me, I could very easily be reported if someone takes offence at the way I've described them, even in all innocence. Interestingly my department uses BAME, which reading on here is now deemed unacceptable?

Jasmine11 - yes.

I had 4 all different race grandparents. 3 white different race grandparents and one grandparent who fitted in the ME description. We were brought up with an awareness of all aspects of our ancestry and all were equal. Difficult when one is brought up in countries which are different to the 4 that make me up!

I have the appearance very much of one race, my sister another and my brother another.

I am, what I know I am - what I hate is someone telling me that I can not be x because I don't sound like x or look like x that is insulting.

Alternatively, it can be incredibly offensive to a person if other people insist on seeing them as a cipher for history rather than Sue from accounts. And then proceed to lecture them about it too.

Spot on. And then if make them the representative of all the category you have lumped them into (but only if they fuck up).

@C8H10N4O2

I had an Indian friend at school. When I invited her round for tea it mattered because her religion (she was a Jain) meant that there were dietary restrictions. The colour of her skin was irrelevant

Dealt with by asking about dietary preferences and restrictions which would also be more accurate.

TBH as a young teenager in the 1970s it wouldn't have occurred to me not to tell my mum that my friend was Indian.

I feel that trying to avoid mentioning anyone's racial origins is rather patronising and try too hard and as has been confirmed by many posters on this thread just as rude.

My mum wasn't English BTW. She was a refugee.

Because when the language changes (I am in my 60s) as often as it does us white people are terrified of being reported for using the 'wrong' terminology

@stillcrazyafterall

Comedycook I work in the civil service and trust me, I could very easily be reported if someone takes offence at the way I've described them, even in all innocence. Interestingly my department uses BAME, which reading on here is now deemed unacceptable?

You said "us white people" . I'm white and not terrified of saying the wrong thing. I don't use the term bame because I think it is a bit pointless. I would as black, asian, mixed race. I don't know how you're defining the phrase "deemed unacceptable" ? No one is going to arrest you for using the term bame!

I feel that trying to avoid mentioning anyone's racial origins is rather patronising and try too hard and as has been confirmed by many posters on this thread just as rude

It isn't one extreme or the other. If you ask about someone's origins in a situation where you both know each already that is normal conversation. Making out that phrases are "not allowed" as some PPs here do is demonstrably nonsense.

@Oneearringlost

I would think "enriched race", especially when espoused by Equality and Diversity training, is patronising.

It is othering and seems very close to another othering description - ‘exotic’.