AIBU To ask if the term Mixed-Race is outdated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I don't want to cause offence by using outdated terms.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?

I live in a country where nearly everyone is mixed race, so we might refer to someone having a Chinese grandfather or suchlike but otherwise is there any need to refer to someone's racial purity or lack of?.

My children are mixed race. If they need to be labelled.

Why do you think there is something offensive about mixed race?

@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 🤨

Yes to this. All my black friends refer to themselves as, well, black.

Some are offended by the term BAME though.

I think the only scenarios I can imagine needing to use it are:

• retelling a story from that individual where it was pertinent to the story (e.g my friend Fred is mixed race and was telling me about the first time his grandparents met and…) in this situation, I’d use whatever term that individual used to describe themselves.
• if someone asked who Fred was and I needed to describe his physical characteristics, his race might be one of those characteristics BUT I’d never use it because I’m then both making a potentially incorrect judgement on their race, and deciding for them how to describe that person’s race, which I’m not comfortable with.

In short, use the term the individual prefers if you have to but I just don’t see how it comes up in every day life.

@RonaldMcDonald

I did diversity training recently and the said we should never use mixed race - a complete no no We were told person of colour, diverse racial or enriched racial background. My work colleague is bi-racial and said why not use this term?. They said she could of course refer to herself as she pleased but we couldn’t to others

Are you in the U.K.? POC and bi-racial are American terms. Diverse racial sounds the same.

I’m white but if you are in then uk, this sounds more like white people defining people from different or mixed ethnic backgrounds without consulting them.

As others have said, British people find BAME offensive. Far more so than mixed race.

Half cast used to be the correct term and polite way in society to describe someone, then it became outdated and raciest, same thing happened with the word mixed race, it’s now seen as racist too. Now the word is “mixed or duel heritage”, but give it 20 years I’m sure there will be a new word and right way for it to be replaced once again like it always is.

I’d be pissed it was ever changed in the first place if I’m honest, white or black never changes, so I’d be annoyed on those terms, why can’t one just be picked and stuck too? People are too woke nowadays.

My dd also has dual heritage - more if we go back a couple of generations- as dh is from a different country. She has 2 passports. Dh is not from a different ethnicity.

@Howcanthisbe123

Half cast used to be the correct term and polite way in society to describe someone, then it became outdated and raciest, same thing happened with the word mixed race, it’s now seen as racist too. Now the word is “mixed or duel heritage”, but give it 20 years I’m sure there will be a new word and right way for it to be replaced once again like it always is.

I’d be pissed it was ever changed in the first place if I’m honest, white or black never changes, so I’d be annoyed on those terms, why can’t one just be picked and stuck too? People are too woke nowadays.

My grandparents (and I think parents) were taught to say “coloured” and that’s definitely changed.

Words get used and take on a different meaning, So if a factual, benign word starts getting used hatefully, it’s no longer benign. There will always be changes.

Most importantly, words used to describe someone are acceptable or not based on how they make that person FEEL, which is an internal response. The whole time we’ve got other people deciding how someone’s race should defined, we’re going to find it difficult.

@Ursulasunderstudy

You need to use Dual Heritage not mixed race.

I'm mixed race. I wouldn't like to be called dual heritage or multiracial. Mixed race is fine.

@Pregnantmama93

I am "mixed race" and don't have a problem with it. Not sure if I like the term multi racial, but that's just me. Half caste is outdated and would offend me.

Genuine question: Why is half-caste- wrong? And why is 'coloured' wrong but 'person of colour' okay? And a general question: why is 'occidental' okay but 'oriental' wrong? Is it my age (60)?

The problem is it's only a matter of time before dual heritage will be deemed offensive .

My husband is mixed race.
Referring to him as dual heritage isn’t correct as he’s British and as much of a tourist in the country his dad was born in as anyone else- he just doesn’t identify with the culture or customs there.
He would cringe at being called a person of colour as he is aware that he is ‘white passing’ and therefore gains an element of privilege/ less racism directed at him from that.
He hates every other phrase- what do they mean?!- he describes himself as mixed race- white and black afrocaribbean.

I’m mixed race and prefer to be called mixed race, I’m guessing you are white? Seems to be white people that take offence on behalf of others,

I'm white but totally notice this. My black mates care much less about all this.

On a side note, I find it odd that 'coloured' is now deemed offensive but 'person of colour' is PC. I thought the whole point about 'coloured' is that it denotes somebody as different from the default. But so does POC. White/black etc is just factually descriptive.

It's like saying you should refer to somebody as a 'person of fatness' because 'fat' is rude.

Just to add he would find half caste offensive- caste is about class as well as race and to call someone half caste kind of implies they don’t fully deserve their lot in life.

@SourAppleChew

I’m mixed race and prefer to be called mixed race, I’m guessing you are white? Seems to be white people that take offence on behalf of others,

I'm white but totally notice this. My black mates care much less about all this.

On a side note, I find it odd that 'coloured' is now deemed offensive but 'person of colour' is PC. I thought the whole point about 'coloured' is that it denotes somebody as different from the default. But so does POC. White/black etc is just factually descriptive.

It's like saying you should refer to somebody as a 'person of fatness' because 'fat' is rude.

Person of fatness 😂😂😂 I’m howling! This is how I’m going to describe myself from now on.

I'm mixed race.

Dual heritage and multiracial are both offensive to me.

Dual heritage assumes I was raised in two distinct cultures. I wasn't. It makes a lot of assumptions about who I am as a person.

Multiracial assumes I don't know my origins. I do. I'm half one race, half another.

BAME means I look a bit foreign, but you have no idea what kind of foreign. If you're so unsure you have to lump me in other ethnic origins, you probably shouldn't be referring to my ethnic origins in any capacity.

Person of colour is no different to coloured IMHO. Everyone has a colour of some kind. It's just a stupid, clumsy way of describing people.

Half-caste is offensive as it suggests the one side of me is OK and the other side is bad. It's also inaccurate as caste system is not used in either of my races.

Mixed race is just fine. It's accurate, it's not offensive, and I've used the term my whole life long.

Muggleborn is also OK given it doesn't pass judgement on either race, and I was only really raised in one culture, despite belonging to two.

Mudblood is offensive. Only people with the same ethnic origins as me are allowed to use it when referring to each other - we can reappropriate the term if we choose, but you're not allowed to.

@rwalker

The problem is it's only a matter of time before dual heritage will be deemed offensive .

I've always found it offensive.

You can't tell by looking at me what my heritage is. Heritage is very different to ethnicity. It's about how you're raised, not what you look like.

@Joulesty

My husband is mixed race. Referring to him as dual heritage isn’t correct as he’s British and as much of a tourist in the country his dad was born in as anyone else- he just doesn’t identify with the culture or customs there. He would cringe at being called a person of colour as he is aware that he is ‘white passing’ and therefore gains an element of privilege/ less racism directed at him from that. He hates every other phrase- what do they mean?!- he describes himself as mixed race- white and black afrocaribbean.

‘White passing’ is the most awful term. My children are multi racial. One is blonde, one is a read head. One has green eyes, the other blue.

They consider themselves multi-racial. You might assume they were white but their DNA says 38% sub Saharan African and they are proud of it.

Its interesting how terms change - I always felt like I wouldn't be offended if the person didn't mean to hurt me, but someone once referred to me as half-caste and it felt like being slapped in the face. I had a really visceral emotional response, even though the person probably didn't mean it badly. Mixed race or biracial is fine to me - it seems to describe what I am in a neutral way - but probably best just to ask what people prefer.

I'm mixed race and perfectly happy with the term.

We were told person of colour, diverse racial or enriched racial background.
Wow. Just wow.
I'm reading on here that mixed race is an acceptable term to many so why do these so-called experts have to meddle with terminology - most people I know don't like to offend anybody so, like a PP said, why do acceptable terms have to keep changing?

* I’m mixed race and prefer to be called mixed race, I’m guessing you are white? Seems to be white people that take offence on behalf of others, I do not like dual heritage or bi racial even worse. I will continue to refer to myself as mixed race.*

^This

@Esspee I agree. White-passing feels like an attempt to erase my ethnic origins - like I'm not quite foreign enough to count as mixed race.

It feels like an attempt to shut me out.

I am half chinese-malay and half Irish. I call myself mixed race. A lot of my white friends have said "why don't you say you are dual heritage?" I guess I could but I don't find mixed race an offensive term.

Someone once called me a mongrel tho... that shit IS offensive.