A Person Whose Parents Are of Different Races

Hi,

What would you call someone who has a black parent and a caucasian parent? Métis? Biracial?

Something else?

Thank you for your time.

You are a Canadian whose language is English and you don't know?

If it is necessary to talk about such things, "biracial" is an OK term.

In the UK, we do still say "mixed race" although no doubt that will become a no-no at some point. Twenty years ago, you would have heard "half-caste" - DO NOT USE THIS. I have only included it because you might still hear it from people of an older generation.

SoothingDave said:

You are a Canadian whose language is English and you don't know?

If it is necessary to talk about such things, "biracial" is an OK term.

Click to expand...

I asked because different terms are used in different English-speaking countries. That's why I wrote, "What would you call someonewho has a black parent and a caucasian parent?," as opposed to "What is someone who has a black parent and a caucasian parent called?"

Ah! But you didn't emphasise you in post #1.

On further consideration, I don't think either "biracial" or "mixed-race" is adequate since neither term specifies the races.

It's not always necessary to specify the races.

Click here to read a similar discussion on another forum.

A word with precisely that meaning used to exist but has fallen out of use, and nowadays virtually everyone would consider it highly offensive. The word is mulatto.

Well, if you are asking what I personally would call someone with one black parent and one Caucasian parent, I would call them by their given name. I do not tend to identify people by their parentage or colour of their skin. I might, if pressed, say "Well, her mum's black and her dad's white" but I would not use a word or phrase to describe her colour.

I think mixed is the most neutral term here. People ask me all the time if my daughter is a 'mix' and I just say 'yep.'

konungursvia said:

I think mixed is the most neutral term here. People ask me all the time if my daughter is a 'mix' and I just say 'yep.'

Click to expand...

You are rather more broad-minded than I. I think that if somebody asked me such a question I would be likely to respond with something like "What the **** do you mean?"

It may not be our minds, but the environment. Toronto is very multi-racial and multicultural, and my African classmates during my last degree were in agreement they've never seen all of the world's races truly integrated the way they are here. I take the question as something like "do you think she looks more like you or her mother?" Yes, I find it a bit close to the bone, but no, I don't think it's off limits, as you can see what a person is in most cases.