[Hedgie]

Nice thread, and it hasn't descended into chaos either which says a lot of good things about this place

'Fro, i have heard a few people upset about the term half caste, and i want to add my pennies worth.
I'm 30 years old, went to a school with a massive cross section of all ethnicities and religions, and the term half cast was used by mixed race folks for themselves. Nobody considered it offensive in the least. It was just another descriptive word, the same as black is. About 5 years ago i spoke to a mixed race girl and she mentioned her mom was white, her dad black, and i said, completely innocently " ohhh you're half caste". She was shocked. I had no idea why and i was upset that i had upset her. We had a talk about it and we were both ok at the end of it, but i guess my point is that things are always subject to change, and if anyone uses that term, then it is not necessarily from a bad place. It's an old word that has just become out of fashion. Consider the age of the person who uses the term, before you get too upset.
There was a time when Gay men were called Queens. Another example of how a word becomes outdated. It's all a matter of intent i think.