The expression Brown People .

[cliffords]

Please try and not get political and drag my genuine question down . I am asking for a view not a lecture on how to run my life.

I used to work for a big organisation that would give guidance on how to address and distinguish people when describing them .

I think I was a white man . My boss was a black woman and she had kids that were from a mixed marriage and she actually called them brown boys .

I have noticed the media saying Brown People a lot recently and its a lot more accurate I guess than white people . However what is actually the respectfully and correct way to refer to people right now ? Where it is necessary or expedient to do so .

This is not a thread about labelling people . Last night I was at a busy restaurant where I was meeting a couple I know and I could not see where they were sitting . The waitress asked me to describe the couple . I said a young black couple and got a bit of a disapproving look .
There were several couples sat down already white black brown and beige .

[outnumbered]

cliffords said:

Please try and not get political and drag my genuine question down . I am asking for a view not a lecture on how to run my life.

I used to work for a big organisation that would give guidance on how to address and distinguish people when describing them .

I think I was a white man . My boss was a black woman and she had kids that were from a mixed marriage and she actually called them brown boys .

I have noticed the media saying Brown People a lot recently and its a lot more accurate I guess than white people . However what is actually the respectfully and correct way to refer to people right now ? Where it is necessary or expedient to do so .

This is not a thread about labelling people . Last night I was at a busy restaurant where I was meeting a couple I know and I could not see where they were sitting . The waitress asked me to describe the couple . I said a young black couple and got a bit of a disapproving look .
There were several couples sat down already white black brown and beige .

I can't help with your question really, but my kids (21 & 23) are literally colour-blind when it comes to people. They would never even think of mentioning someone's skin colour or race when describing them. The most you might get is that "X has dark hair" or something. So that might explain the slight huff from the person serving you (I doubt "waitress" is really allowed either these days !)

[Glassman]

An interesting subject. I've heard the term brown used a lot when referring to people with brown skin (mainly of Arabic and Asian origin). I don't have an issue with it and don't see why anyone else would.

[otolith]

It's a phrase that brown people I know use to mean everyone who isn't white.

[Bluevanman]

Outside of tv/the media I can't recall many people using brown,back in the 70's it was coloured,that became the wrong term and it became black and that's still what most white people use day to day in my experience.

[otolith]

Bluevanman said:

Outside of tv/the media I can't recall many people using brown,back in the 70's it was coloured,that became the wrong term and it became black and that's still what most white people use day to day in my experience.

They describe South Asian people as "black"?

[wyson]

She can describe them how she likes because they are her kids.

I wouldn’t mention race or colour at all, because I’ve never come across a situation at work where it was relevant.

Outside work, I’d probably say mixed race.

Edited by wyson on Wednesday 10th December 14:05

[Bluevanman]

Seems 2 of my posts have been deemed racist.... sorry ,for promoting hate speech specifically,and removed, even though no racist words were used.
Be careful what you say folks,the word police are watching

Edited by Bluevanman on Wednesday 10th December 14:24

[Glassman]

wyson said:

She can describe them how she likes because they are her kids.

I wouldn t mention race or colour at all, because I ve never come across a situation at work where it was relevant.

Outside work, I d probably say mixed race.

Edited by wyson on Wednesday 10th December 14:05

The term mixed race raises eyebrows.

[Alex_225]

I believe the politically correct term is either black or mixed race/heritage.

I've had conversations on this topic with a couple of guys on my team over the years, one chap's parents are Ghanian but he was born in the UK, the other guy has a Ghanian dad and white British mum. Both didn't seem overly fussed as long as someone wasn't using a term in a malicious way. There are obviously words and phrases that you don't use, but it seems if someone is not being deliberately disrespectful it wouldn't be taken as bad. Of course this is from personal experience and discussions, I can't speak for everyone.

When it comes to kids though, they just don't really notice skin colour and if they do it's seen as no different to someone have blue or brown eyes or someone having red hair or brown.

[DodgyGeezer]

otolith said:

Bluevanman said:

Outside of tv/the media I can't recall many people using brown,back in the 70's it was coloured,that became the wrong term and it became black and that's still what most white people use day to day in my experience.

They describe South Asian people as "black"?

Henry Cho has a rather funny sketch about that very subject...

https://youtube.com/shorts/JL0EvIZqBzE?si=KkwTB3jy...


as an aside I've been called many things over the years 'brown' being both among the less offensive and more inaccurate. Truth be told, people these days can call me what they like, I really don't care much

[MDMA .]

cliffords said:

The waitress asked me to describe the couple

[Glassman]

DodgyGeezer said:

Truth be told, people these days can call me what they like, I really don't care much

Easiest way to handle it. My mum is of Scottish descent (late grampy Glaswegian, and gran was English) dad from north India. Growing up in the seventies the term was half caste. I never had an issue with it. I thought the new trend was mixed race and that too never bothered me. The other side to this is that my skin tone isn't brown (dad was fair skinned) so I look more Mediterranean (people usually guess Greek or Italian).

I've never had an issue with any term; even when a teacher who called me half baked after he lost it over my attitude towards him. I really couldn't give a fk.

[98elise]

otolith said:

Bluevanman said:

Outside of tv/the media I can't recall many people using brown,back in the 70's it was coloured,that became the wrong term and it became black and that's still what most white people use day to day in my experience.

They describe South Asian people as "black"?

Agreed. My understanding of "Brown" is South Asian and possibly Middle Eastern. "Black" is African (sub Sahara) ancestry rather than a global non white term.

[DickyC]

Glassman said:

The term mixed race raises eyebrows.

My eldest step daughter describes herself as a casserole.

[bristolbaron]

Some Asian people may refer to themselves as brown, but I’d stick with Asian. Black people probably won’t generally take kindly to being called brown.. mixed race is generally better accepted than ‘dual heritage’ which didn’t seem to take off. I don’t know a single black/mixed race/asian person who’d be offended by those titles if a title is necessary. Start going outside of that or to ‘BAME’ which no one’s a fan of and you might get called out.
I could give examples of what individuals I know may refer to themselves/friends as, but none would be helpful for generalisations!

[Warhavernet]

outnumbered said:

I can't help with your question really, but my kids (21 & 23) are literally colour-blind when it comes to people. They would never even think of mentioning someone's skin colour or race when describing them. The most you might get is that "X has dark hair" or something. So that might explain the slight huff from the person serving you (I doubt "waitress" is really allowed either these days !)

Must be weird to be so unobservant, If someone ran off with their phone how would they describe the thief's skin colour to the police ?

[StuntmanMike]

outnumbered said:

I can't help with your question really, but my kids (21 & 23) are literally colour-blind when it comes to people. They would never even think of mentioning someone's skin colour or race when describing them. The most you might get is that "X has dark hair" or something. So that might explain the slight huff from the person serving you (I doubt "waitress" is really allowed either these days !)

Same as my kids, similar age. I think they are an enlightened generation and the world will be a better place for them.

[AB]

Surely you describe someone using their most distinguishing feature.

"Well, one of them only has one arm" would be clear
"A black couple" - perfectly acceptable unless it's a room full of black couples
"Ginger hair in a wheelchair" - I mean if you were looking out for this person, why would you describe them as 5ft 6 and medium build
"You wouldn't have missed him, he's about 30 stone and wears an oxygen tank" - it'll be clear who you're talking about
"He's American, you probably heard him before you saw him"

Too much beating around the bush going on.

[motco]

bristolbaron said:

Some Asian people may refer to themselves as brown, but I d stick with Asian. Black people probably won t generally take kindly to being called brown.. mixed race is generally better accepted than dual heritage which didn t seem to take off. I don t know a single black/mixed race/asian person who d be offended by those titles if a title is necessary. Start going outside of that or to BAME which no one s a fan of and you might get called out.
I could give examples of what individuals I know may refer to themselves/friends as, but none would be helpful for generalisations!

'Asian' is taken to mean Oriental in some places; Australia, USA, for example.