to wonder why people still use this word.

[Creepycrawler]

Half caste

My children are mixed race and my son when to his friend's house for a sleepover last night.
I was chatting to the mum when she used this term about another boy who '' is half caste as well''. Luckily, my son was in the car and didn't hear.
I was recently in hospital and having a conversation with someone who also used the term and I excused myself to go outside and sat somewhere else.

... And it's not just here. Several years ago H' s (Nigerian) aunty visited from Africa and used the term. We were both very uncomfortable and H told her we don't use that word.

Do people really not understand that it's offensive?

There is still a lot of racism where we live now (South Wales) and we get a lot of it at school ( where I work). I don't think this woman made the comment intentionally but surely people know by now not to use it?

Well I certainly hope you know everything you don't know you don't know so you can look it up and educate yourself lest you be subject to the righteous condemnation of some person on the Internet who happens to know more than you on any given subject.

That was the politically correct word I was taught in schools

i actually remember some 35 years ago having a class on this!!!

I realise it’s changed and wouldn’t use it myself.

It’s been decades.

Black and mixed race people dont have a duty to inform other people how not to be racist.

People who actually care about not being racist will educate themselves.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was deliberate. A lot of really odd posts on this thread, and a lot of apologism for racism.

@ItsFunToBeAVampire I think a lot of people forget just how white a lot of this country is.
I just looked up the county I was born and raised in and it's almost 97% white now so I imagine it was much nearer to 100% not too long ago. If you don't mix with people of other ethnicities I can understand why some words that are considered offensive can pass you by. You don't know what you don't know.

I agree with this. I’ve just done a mental inventory of all the people I regularly come across in my daily life and I can’t think of a single one who isn’t white.

Where did you look up the ethnic mix of your county?

Yes, because they're not calling out racism. Their being condescending to people who haven't done anything wrong and patronising the people they think they're defending

Yes, quite worryingly.

@olderthanyouthink

Don't jump in me before knowing my situation!

My kids are black!

I'm fed up with skin colour having to be mentioned all the time!

I very rarely say or hear other people comment on things like this, but I didn't actually realise that mixed race or half-caste were offensive. I suppose because I don't know why they are offensive and don't know the history of the words. To me they are just factual statements that someone has a white parent and a not-white parent. Dual heritage to me says someone's parents came from different countries and nothing about skin colour. So I do believe that many people don't know it's seen as offensive by the people the phrases are referring to.

I also lose track of what is the appropriate term for a person of colour, but again I rarely comment on someone's colour so hopefully don't cause offense.

I was advised to use mixed ethnicity.

My MIL uses it. She also refers to BAME people as "coloured". She says that, at 84, she's too old to change.

That's what people are trying to say, but then are being told - mixed race is incorrect and also offensive.

But yes agree, when younger half caste used to be term we used, but in my teens found out it was considered offensive and no longer use.

Well you think she didn't mean to be offensive, so obviously there are still people who don't know it's offensive.

Why would that be? What should they do?

They don't have any obligation at all. It is, however, pretty disingenuous or just downright silly to actively avoid mentioning that you find it offensive to people you realise full well truly don't know and then also wonder with no sostenuto sense of irony how it's possible they still don't know.

I come across people who don't know all sorts of things that I thought were absolutely basic common knowledge. I hope my attitude is always "oh hey, I can't believe you don't know this thing, I have information to share!" rather than saying nothing and running off to speak behind my hand about them with all the people who already do know.

I appreciate that but for a long time 're word coloured was considered offensive so either a person of colour or a coloured person would have been offensive ,
I always and go along with what people refer themselves as but it can be a minefield My friend is African a and describes herself as black ,a few years ago I supported her for an autism assessment ,we struggled finding the place and when she phoned them up saying we are at thetrain station and tried describing both as they said they would meet us we were going round the hous,s without actually saying one of us was white and one of us was black(her preferred term)

Many people these days regard "mixed race" as an offensive racist term. I'm happy to freely inform you of that, it's no great burden on my part.

Actually, @ItsFunToBeAVampire Don’t worry - I found it. Out of 332 local authorities, mine is the 323rd least diverse, with 97.8% of the population being white.

It's not something I've heard used for a very long time, so most people must know that it's not acceptable, but sadly it wouldn't surprise me if people still use it to be racist, or, also because they live in a very undiverse area and simply don't know - not that it makes it OK to be ignorant, but if people are happy to learn and be corrected then not use it again then I personally think that doesn't make them a bad person, just sheltered.

But there are black and mixed race people on here saying that they don't find the term mixed race offensive. But that doesn't matter because a white woman on a course told other white people that the it is. Can you not see how offensive that is?!

Another one.

@LakieLady someone called my black dad coloured to me (mixed black/white) and my black cousins, she didn't mean offence but we were all 😮 I dont think she was as old as your MIL but maybe and she lived in a suuuuper white and slightly racist area

OK - so if I (a white person) hear another white person describe someone as coloured, or half caste - or worse, an unambiguous racial slur - what do you suggest I do? Assume that everyone present is white.

I don't like mixed race as it suggests there are multiple races. There aren't.

Wouldn't dual heritage apply to people with a Welsh and a Polish parent too? (For example)

Language matters. But when it becomes the only thing that matters, above intent and behaviour and we descend into a never ending cycle of catching people out, I do wonder what goal this is serving.

"BAME".🙄

Unless it was said with malice, I would never take offence to people referring to my children as half-caste, but I would gently inform them of the correct terminology so that they know for the next time they use that term. I've been corrected on my terminology when I've been completely unaware and I've been so thankful that those people didn't take offence and instead were kind enough to educate me. Whilst it's not necessarily my place to educate people, and some argue that they should educate themselves, people don't always know that there is something to be educated on if it's not something they'd use in language regularly.