Half caste

[Pam70]

This has been troubling me for over a week. A colleague and I were discussing Wife Swap last week and she referred to one of the wives as being half caste.

I hate the term half caste and would never refer to DS or DD as such nor would I ever want them to hear someone call them such.

I didn't say anything to my colleague then and am now wondering if I should. Bear in mind that we live in Northern Ireland which is still relatively new to the idea of multiculturalism.

I don't think she said it in malice or in a derogatory way, it just rolled off her tongue presumably because she has no other term for mixed race?

But if she's using it and she's in her 30s, what hope have I that DS won't be referred to or called such at school by other kids or other parents?

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Hi, just noticed this thread while browsing this evening. I am of indian parentage, our fore fathers were originally hindu.(my parents and i are muslims). My view is that half caste is derogratory, as it originates from hindu caste system which saw people of mixed parentage, as somehow inferior to those with parents of the same colour/ caste. My dh is white and our son looks white. But we prefer mixed parentage or mixed race. I am sure other people may find this offensive, but like all people from all cultures, white or black or brown or olive. everyone is an individual and thus may not appreciate being treated the same as someone else, just because they have the same skin colour.

sorry about the olive, been reading too many make-up tips in magazines. I would be in hysterics if somebody called me that. Brown is fine!

I guess people like me didn't have a clue where the word originated from, it's always just meant people from mixed parentage. Which is why I used it for all races, not just Indians. I wouldn't use it now in the light of this thread, I just hope that no-one jumps down the throat of someone who does use it, unaware that it can be perceived as offensive.

It is confusing as so many new terms are being used and ones you thought were ok are now unacceptable! Very often I've had to search my mind for the correct word to use when describing someone, I hardly even know how to describe my own brothers! My youngest brother is half Caribbean and he also has special needs. I used to describe him as being half-caste and mentally handicapped (even sub-normal when I was little!) because these were the descriptions used by everyone and they were not meant in a derogatory way. God, if someone had insulted him I would have swung at them! But now it seems I must have spent half my life unknowingly insulting him!

I wouldn't use the term half-caste just as I would never describe someone as coloured. I can understand how people are offended by these terms, however they are not meant to be offensive, as calling someone the n word is, they are just old-fasjioned, outdated. My dad would use them for example but becasue they are the words that were acceptable when he was growing up etc. For the majority of people in our generation I think people use the words mixed-race, and some have started to say mixed-heritage, which although doesn't come naturally to me is actually better still.

thombat, i do agree that the majority of people may be using these terms without knowing they are causing offence. But i would also like to point out , that the term half caste and coloured have both been considered offensive for over a decade. I distinctly remember a collegue being very offended on my behalf, when he was asked where the coloured girl was. He replied, well that depends on which colour she was.

I can see your point, but to be fair most people would be horrified if they knew they had offended you. I think a lot of patience is required. We live in France and my gets called Tony Blair by his workmates, it gets on his tits, especially as we hate Tony Blair! But he realises that they are not deliberately being offensive. Not the same I know, as your heritage runs much deeper. A smile and a correctment would generally do the trick, otherwise people get confused and resentful as they have no idea how they have offended you.

That should read "my dh gets..."!

Yes and I understand and agree totally potty and I always correct my dad when he says 'a colured bloke'. He's not being racist, just terribly old fashioned, but I do always correct him and I hate him saying it, but i do know he means no harm, whereas if he described a person by using the 'n' word, well i wouldn't be discussing him, I'd have disowned him long ago. The term coloured is terribly outdated, and horrid. However the term half-caste was, I think, very acceptable when I was a kid, but it seems in my experience, that it's only in the last..... 10 yrs that half-caste is unacceptable and the term mixed race has been used in it's palce. Perhaps I'm wrong?

The term mixed-heritage, which is completely new to me, seems to be rather confusing, if PC. As I understand it the terms mixed-race and half-caste are used in relation to people like myself who look a bit different, i.e. not completely black, not completely white, not completely Asian, etc. A black person with Senegalese and Nigerian parents would be mixed heritage but not what we might think of as mixed-race, so I don't see how the terms can be used interchangeably.
I'm not saying that either half-caste or mixed-race is ideal, but mixed-heritage strikes me as a rather unhelpfully PC term.

My DD is mixed race (I am british white & DH is Black Jamaican) She is very 'light' skinned (term used by my DH - not sure if it's politically correct or not)

When standing outside Brownies one evening, my DD was referred to as "the little black girl" this upset me terribly as I felt (maybe wrongly) that my contribution to DD was being ignored.

But I was too angry/shocked/upset to say anything

DH uses mixed race or just mixed for DD.....it makes everyone so emotional either because they don't care what they say (and end up being insulting) or they care too much(and end up being insulting). It's very difficult to sort out what is acceptable

I find that, although 'half caste'was a term used to describe rather that offend, it is offensive. To me, it relates to the caste system and agree with Jonh Agard, half a person.
I think that 'mixed race' or 'mixed heritage' are much safer terms. DS is 1/2 black, 1/2 white (too many specifics to go into at this time of night), but looks white. He definatley wouldn't be termed 'black' on looks alone and not unless people had specifics on his heritage. However, I want all of his influences (looks, relion and culture) to play a part in who he is. Also, there are children who are mixed who do not have parents with darker skin, so how could they ever be termed back (i.e. White Romany/White British or White Albanian/ White Australian)?
It is a confusing subject and depends on the terms 'en vogue'. My Mum (very PC) taught us that Black was a rude term, because the people it applied to were varying shades, so coloured was more appropriate!!! This term was accepted (and not questionned by friends who were Black. Half-caste was also the accepted term in my area, but (now I'm older), the connotations are now recognised and new terminolgy reflects better understanding/

Scummy Mummy I agree wholeheartedly.
DH reccounted today how a work collegue had used the word 'paki' infront of him . He said he was offended but ignored it. I am always shocked that people seem to 'be able' to use these words in company - its like dragging me down with them. I have wondered about the term 'half - caste' and now that i am sure it offends even ' one' person then i will strive to never use it again.

The term "half caste" (or any kind of caste) used to be politically correct, but definitely is not today. People mostly use "mixed race" but this also is not totally PC because people take offence to both terms "mixed" and "race" (we are all of one race - the human race). So the correct term now is "of multiple heritage". But it always depends on the person. I know some black people who would go absolutely nuts if you were to say half caste in their presence, and others who use the word freely.

Personally I do think that political correctness is a load of bollocks. We should have enough common sense to be able to figure stuff out for ourselves.
As nearly everyone has said on here, one term is ok for one person, but offensive for another. That's just life isn't it? I know mums who hate the term 'working mother' (aren't we all working!) and others who use it themselves.
I hate being told what I can and cannot call a person. I would like to think that if I offended someone, they would tell me and I would apologise. Most of us are intelligent enough to know which terms are likely to offend, and which are not.

I think it was a lot less complicated before policial correctness came into being. It just makes people over analyse things instead of getting on with just being themselves.

I know that this is from months ago and I apologise but I'm new to this site and i read this thread, I just wanted to say I read the term Half Caste comes from the days of slavery, the slave owners would use this term until I think they would reach 16th caste, and thats when they would be classed as "white" and be free. I read this quite a while ago, and thats as far as my memory goes, but I'm pretty sure that is why its ofensive.

I'm sorry but I have just seen this too - half caste is extremely derogatory! I can't believe that in the 21st century it is still being used. The correct term is mixed race or dual heritage. "Half-caste" is an old slavery term - those people who do not find it offensive perhaps need to dig up a few old history books! End of rant!

this whole thing makes me cringe. my mum is white british, my dad is a moroccan berber. i would never use the term 'half caste' to describe myself or anyone. people who use the term to describe themselves tend not to understand why it is derogatory, just as white people who use it do it without realising. same goes for 'coloured.' there will always be different words over time, and in different countries, that are ok or not ok. generally, mixed race is acceptable, although there is a problem with what 'race' is anyway....god i could go on....but i won't....did a degree in all this...

Hi guys;

I was a little kid in the '60s and had the n-word and 'half-caste' used at me many times by racists, or the ignorant. When I was four and started referring to myself as H-C my black mother sat me down and told me that I was not under any circumstances H-C - I was a whole person, a whole caste, and not some kind of half, or lesser type of being. After all, that is what the caste system is about, isn't it? Categorising people into the good, the mediocre and the untouchable? H-C (as it was meant in the '60's and 70's ) was where one race was good, the other bad, but at least the 'mulattos' (another very, very, offensive word) had managed to scrape half of the good stuff.

This is why rejecting the term H-C is not mere political correctness. Intellectually, 'half-caste' as a way of defining someone can only be negative. I for one do not accept it, would not use it for my children - are they 1/4 caste? - and would gently correct those of the older generation who would (without meaning offence) describe me so.

I clearly remember my mum's face when she told me this, and I have never forgotten it (pretty amazing, considering how little I was).

Mixed race; which embraces both my dad and my mum equally.

Agree with both of you. Dizzybint - don't be so modest. Use what you have learnt and pass your knowledge on to those who need to be educated on such matters.

very difficult to condense a 10,000 word essay into a short post

Ha ha! I catch your drift and appreciate the irony. Although it would have been interesting to hear your views on "race".

it is derogatory and is a way of 'classifying' race. whole means white and then half is half white mixed with something else, meaning the person is only half a person, half as valid. I hate it , I am 'half' hispanic and call myself mixed race or mixed ethnicity as I am a mixture of my parents like anyone else not 2 halves of them. I think it more a colonial white word in origin although it is true that hindu's have the caste system and use it also. It sounds horrible and it is horrible. Don't let people use it to descibe you or your kids as even if they do not realise it they are making a value judgement about race and why is there a need to say it anyway are they not just kids?