Terminology

[Uhu]

How do you feel about the term "half-caste"? Personally, I hate it because I associate it with apartheid in South Africa. I prefer to use the term mix-race for my twin DS and when people call them half-caste, I always correct them. Am I being pedantic?

KatieMac - My ex was Bajan and all his family used the term 'pickney' to describe children - I dont think its a racist term, just a west indian slang - just like they use brethren for brothers and close friends

Thanks everyone - I have always defended my DH's right to call his D what ever HE wants and I kind of 'resent' other people (white like me) telling him (or me) that he can't call her that

I learned thru 6 years of my relationship and being around a Bajan family that there are an awful lot of differences in ways of life and language between 'english' families and west indian families. Even things that as a white person I might think they would find offensive but that they use freely amongst themselves. It was 6 years of basically learning a whole other culture and was totally fascinating!!

I'm slowly learning the language(s)

I can differentiate between Jamaician and Barbados/Bajun.....but the other island are currently 'grouped' together as "not jamaican/bajun" iyswim.

Same here - i can totally tell the difference between bajan and jamaican - the rest are just 'the other ones'!!!

I can get Jamaican, Bajan and Trinidadian. My dp, however, can give you a full stereotype of each island, along with a hilarious impersonation of each island's version of a chundering old woman on the bus