AIBU To ask if the term Mixed-Race is outdated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I don't want to cause offence by using outdated terms.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

You need to use Dual Heritage not mixed race

That assumes your parents are one heritage each. What happens if your parents are both dual but different heritages?

@FeelingLikeAnAlien

NC’d as potentially outing. One of my white friends called me ‘light skinned’ the other week. As in ‘oo you can wear that as you are light skinned’ . This is a very odd comment and a problematic term for me as I feel it reflects colourist prejudice I.e light skinned black people face less difficulties than dark skinned black people. So it is seen as more desirable to some people. Also I’m mixed and therefore not really ‘light skinned’ but mixed. Not to mention my skin is a lot darker than the friends who made the comment. Apparently it’s a big thing on tiktok now to identify as ‘light skinned’. I prefer mixed myself as I have a range of cultural identities in my family, all with strong identities. I will just stick to mixed personally.

Yeah that is becoming more of a problem in the UK. It's basically saying you're still black, but a bit lighter...but still different and I'm going to let you know. Similar to the 'one drop' rule.

(name changed as this could be outing.)

I'm mixed race.
I'm also a race scholar/researcher and and an antiracist activist.

The term mixed race is most definitely not outdated and is a term many use to describe themselves.

Personally, I used mixed race to describe myself and my children generally (or when talking about race specifically.)

I'd use mixed heritage if that seemed more applicable or relevant to the context. (E.g. maybe talking specifically about migration, nationality, or culture).

The term h.... c.... is extremely offensive and has been recognised as such for decades. It is up (or down!) there with the n word.

@whistlers

I'm more confused after reading this thread!

Can I continue to use mixed race?

If you really need to refer to someone's race on a day to day basis of course you can. As you see from the vast majority of mixed race posters on this thread it's not a problematic term.

I agree with the others who say mixed or dual heritage and mixed race are different things, although both can be applicable to some people (e.g. me) they are not equally applicable and sometimes mixed race is applicable but not mixed heritage.

The term h.... c.... is extremely offensive and has been recognised as such for decades. It is up (or down!) there with the n word.

Is it? Really?

I disagree that it's ''white people'' coming up with all the labels. I think it's Americans!

My x MIL who was adopted used to love the label coloured. It fitted, for her, and she kept going with it long after it was unacceptable. I would have felt embarrassed correcting her label to person of colour!

I think the Americans say bi-racial and think that mixed-race is offensive even though logically, the words have the same meaning (except that 'bi' is limiting it to just two, so if you correct somebody who said mixed race and insist that bi racial is the word now it makes an assumption)

@whistlers

The term h.... c.... is extremely offensive and has been recognised as such for decades. It is up (or down!) there with the n word.

Is it? Really?

Yes. Really.

Interesting. Never heard that before.

Don’t understand why mixed race is problematic and I describe myself as such on a regular basis

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.

THIS with Bells on. BAME is outdated and incredibly offensive. You're "something other than white, it's not important what". Some so-called corporate diversity champions need to educate themselves before attempting to educate others.

I describe myself as mixed race as do most others. It's not offensive at all.

Dd is mixed race. I use this term but I get the impression that in a few years it won't be acceptable.

My inclination is to say dd is half x and half y just because it's an unusual mixture and I marvel at how people from different parts of the world came together (no pun intended...) to make her. I realize it would be intrusive and long-winded to expect people to give a run-down of their genealogy (but if they want to, I'm up for it).

@Ursulasunderstudy

You need to use Dual Heritage not mixed race.

What if you have more than 2 heritages?

@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 🤨

This!

In defence of using labels, universities are being encouraged to look at how they're doing in relation to race - are white applicants more likely to be hired and promoted? Are there patterns of concern in relation to student progress and outcomes? What happens during the student journey, eg are black male students. more likely to face disciplinary action due to stereotypes? You can't tackle a problem unless you identify it and you can't identify it unless you put a name to it.

Hope you have your answer now @CambridgeEntry2022? You can see mixed race people don't have an issue being called mixed race. There are other boards on Mumsnet where you can ask such a question that are perhaps more suitable for such questions AIBU tends to encourage quite inflammatory debate.

I'm mixed race. Totally fine with this expression, my children are also mixed race. I hate BAME with a passion. Also to pp asking why half caste is offensive its because its how slavers referred to mixed race stock to get a higher price. It's also bound up in all kinds of historical colonial negative descriptors. I would assume anyone who used it in this day and age was deliberately trying to cause offense in a passive aggressive manner.

Complete minefield when so many of us in modern Britain are a bit of this and a bit of the other. Mixed heritage and bi-racial don’t adequately cover a lot of people with multiple heritages and multi racial backgrounds.

My eldest DD refers to herself as mixed race (her grandmother is from Trinidad and has an Indian/African/French background). My DD’s skin colour is white so terms like POC do not adequately cover her. She is also pan sexual so when it comes to DI forms she ends up ticking the ‘Other’ box more than once.

I don’t like the term dual heritage. I think you can be dual heritage and still be white (e.g one parent spanish and one parent Scottish) or black and be dual heritage (one parent from Zimbabwe and one from Jamaica) for example.

Your heritage is nothing to do with race.

I’m fine with being called mixed race. I find half caste out dated but don’t take offence if someone over 70 uses it. I just correct them!

@bibliomania

In defence of using labels, universities are being encouraged to look at how they're doing in relation to race - are white applicants more likely to be hired and promoted? Are there patterns of concern in relation to student progress and outcomes? What happens during the student journey, eg are black male students. more likely to face disciplinary action due to stereotypes? You can't tackle a problem unless you identify it and you can't identify it unless you put a name to it.

Yes and universities have been doing this for year's, it is not a new thing. The data they use is from the self-declared identity from the student themselves, albeit they are.encouraged to pick from the list of terms prescribed by the government.

Why do perfectly inoffensive, valid descriptors suddenly become problematic?
It's hard to keep up these days

I agree. I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then it was offensive to describe a black person as black. The correct term at the time was coloured. DH is nearly 70, and I have to keep reminding him not to say coloured. He really isn’t racist, he just has memory problems (stroke related).

Also, I'm of dual heritage but I'm not mixed race

So am I @WorraLiberty

I am mixed race and think it is a fucking horrible term. So we are not all OK with it. Would far prefer mixed or dual heritage

And this is why a lot of people struggle. I’m sure that sometimes a description comes across as a racist slur where none is intended.

I've also used the term mongrel to refer to my background.

So have I @Rheia1983. My mum’s side of the family come from different parts of Europe.

It seems that while white people tiptoe round the various terms in order to not sound offensive someone is bound to upset somebody else regardless.

Isn't it easier just to avoid any mention of race or colour. That's what I do

I would usually try to do that, but then it can come across as try too hard when a simple descriptive term is so much easier.

oh wow, I didn't know that that HC word meant a more expensive slave it is shocking how long it takes for a word to fall out of use completely. Even when I was a child in Ireland in 70s & 80s I knew it was bad but I didn't know why.

on the subject of h...c....I recommend a poem by John Agard. A friend of mine who is mixed race says how much it speaks to her.
www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2019-01/Half-caste%20by%20John%20Agard.pdf

@TipseyTorvey

I'm mixed race. Totally fine with this expression, my children are also mixed race. I hate BAME with a passion. Also to pp asking why half caste is offensive its because its how slavers referred to mixed race stock to get a higher price. It's also bound up in all kinds of historical colonial negative descriptors. I would assume anyone who used it in this day and age was deliberately trying to cause offense in a passive aggressive manner.

I did not know that.

As soon as I learned about the caste system in India, I found the term half-caste unacceptable.

Also in a university setting, we've taken disciplinary action against a student who repeatedly used the term half-caste towards another student. The other student had very patiently explained more than once why this wasn't appropriate, so when he persisted in using it, it was viewed as intentional harassment.