Is the term “halfcast” racist?

Question

When I was at university in the late 90s, a girl I shared a flat with would use the term "halfcast" to describe people of mixed race, especially in the context of people who had a similar skin colour to Halle Berry or Melanie B (from the Spice Girls).

Is this a racist or offensive term?

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For a bit of context - this was at a university in the British midlands (ie near Birmingham/Leicester/Nottingham), the girl was born in Dundee in Scotland but was brought up in Northampton in England. I don't consider her to be a racist.

Answer 1

The word is half-caste:

half-caste

noun : a person of mixed racial or cultural descent : HALF-BREED

adjective : of the rank of or relating to a half-caste

Many dictionaries flag half-caste as being "offensive," "often offensive," or "derogatory."

Interestingly, while OxfordDictionaries.com lists a related term, mulatto ("a person with one white and one black parent") as being offensive, it doesn't flag mestizo ("a person of mixed race, especially one having Spanish and American Indian parentage") as being so.

Answer 2

The term 'half-caste' is indeed used to describe someone of mixed-race (mixed-parentage, mixed-heritage, or whatever other term is in vogue now). The reason that it is offensive however, is because the word itself has nothing to do with ethnicity.

Caste is a word describing social grouping or status and the term half-caste describes somebody who is not completely worthy of high caste status because one of their parents is from a lower caste, as was the case when blacks were considered by the consensus to be of lower privilege than whites.

To still use this word now is to suggest that difference in social status still exists and thus its offensiveness is in part similar to the way 'the n-word' is offensive. Of course, a person who uses the term today might be wholly unaware of its original connotation but indeed it is clear why some might be offended by it.

Answer 3

In BrE this term is definitely frowned upon. An acceptable analogue is "mixed-race".