Half-caste
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Half-caste is a term used to describe people of mixed ethnicity. It can also be written, "Half cast".
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[edit] The term half-caste
Sometimes regarded as racist, the term is used in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking parts of the world. An example is a child of black African and white European parentage. The term mulatto has also been used for this particular mixture. Both terms are considered impolite and potentially offensive by some, as the words have been used pejoratively in the past to ostracize and isolate the offspring of such unions. For example, "children of the plantation" (the children of African-American slaves and their European-American masters in the U.S. Southern states) were not accepted as heirs, and in most cases, the relationship was never acknowledged, and "half-caste" conveyed the deliberate exclusion.
The coloureds of South Africa and the half-breeds of North America are further examples. The term was commonly used in Australia to describe children of mixed Australian Aboriginal and European descent, as were the terms quarter-caste and quadroon in the 19th century. Today, they are generally deemed offensive, particularly by Australian Aborigines.
The currently acceptable way to describe a person of multiple ethnicities is "mixed race" or Multiracial (particularly in the United States).
Half Caste is also a horror film released in 2004. There is also a 2002 drama starring Kenneth Branagh titled Rabbit-Proof Fence that is based on the real life events of three half-caste Aboriginal girls who escaped from a home for half-caste children in Australia and began a 1200-mile journey back to their family on foot.
Half Caste is also a song released in 1975 by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, written by their mixed-race vocalist/bassist Phil Lynott. The lyrics of the song relate the difficulties experienced by a mixed-race individual in being accepted by both and black and white communities.
[edit] Half Caste, a poem by John Agard
Half Caste is also the name of a poem by John Agard, a Caribbean writer. It has political connotations. John Agard is multiracial having a White British Father and a Black Mother.
John Agard wrote "This imposition of half, half, half on a person's total human complexity implies that some sort of 'purity' has been subverted. A child of mixed race is a tangible, loving expression of human beings from different cultural backgrounds getting together - that should be seen not as something threatening, but as something enriching..."
The poem personifies the naivety and ignorance of modern day society when it comes to the perception of exogamous relationships. An instinctive minority still find such a manifestation most disagreeable. However Agard humorously explores the relationship between the black and white key, sitting adjacent to each other, when composed together in a piece, would result in a half-complete symphony by Tchaikovsky . Such is the irrationality attained from the modern world, that integration seems to be occurring at different selective rates around the world, when it comes to finding mutuality with such ,a previously taboo, topic.
The Text of the Poem:
Excuse me
standing on one leg
I'm half-caste
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
England weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem don't want de sun pass
ah rass/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony/
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
ah listening to yu wid de keen
half of mih ear
ah looking at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
and when I'm introduced to yu
I'm sure you'll understand
why I offer yu a half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow
wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu ear
an de whole of yu mind
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story
Half-caste (for another definition)
Why Half-caste?
The choice of this word is a kind of contestation over the use of the word "mixed-race" widely used nowadays. The thing is that personally, I prefer to use the term "race" when I have to express the difference between the human race and another alive species such as cows, fishes and birds for example.
At the moment, the term " Half-caste " is not "politically correct". It is considered as being offensive and I am completely aware that certain persons do not appreciate this term.
Half-caste, the bet of the réappropriation of the definition of my identity.
Who others than myself could define what I am in fact. Following the example of numerous brand, "Half-caste" is a word already having a more or less long and "painful" past. The bet thus is to re-appropriate this word by giving it a new meaning which would have nothing offensive.
Of course, I do not deny that the first meaning of this term indicated the individuals born from the union of a black parent and the other white. But the customs are changing day after day, each one getting interested in the culture of the other one.
To conclude, it does not seem unappropriate to me to include in this term the persons born from the union of two persons,(from different culture, different color etc.) having succeeded to surpass the cultural barriers and the fears of the other one because of its differences.
(from the website http://www.half-caste.eu
