I think a lot of problems would be solved if the census would include a box that said "None of your fucking business".

For what it's worth, I'm half-Sicilian, and half a bunch of mixed other European types (Welsh/Scots/French/etc). My stepdad's black, and so my little brother's mixed. He seems to be identifying primarily as black at the moment, but when the family's being specific, they use "mixed". Mulatto's a word I've only encountered in literary references.

I dated a girl from Saint Lucia for a few years a while back. She and her family seemed much more race conscious than the black half of my family, which was one of the things that ended up breaking us up. Her relatives never really got comfortable with her dating a white guy, (which I thought was interesting, considering the prestige the lighter cousins seemed to have). Also, she was really uncomfortable with the idea of us having kids, and was kind of weird about my brother.

Uh, nothing really to add, except that humans are wacky.

Also, I would totally buy a wopsicle.

Yeah, I know (and have heard in actual real life) redbone too.

Interesting. The only "redbone" usage I've heard is for a type of coonhound.

Wait! I posted that and seem to remember a performer (possibly a bluesman) called "Redbone" something or the other. Obviously - a very vague memory.

Leon Redbone.

And then there is Redbones, a BBQ joint in Somerville. Very tasty food.

I'm starting to go into a Carlin-esque headspace, since it's so amazingly difficult to discuss race and skin color. Not here - I think this is a good conversation - but as a general rule.

Where I grew up was mostly white and Alaska Native, so the most common term I heard for bi-racial was 'half-breed'. Which, notsomuch with the humanizing. Then again, there is a lot of racism directed towards the villages up there.

Hey, Kat, do you consider haoli/haole to be a derogatory term?

It was meant to be derogatory, I think. I mean haole equates, in the usage I've been exposed to most often, as touristy, ignorant, not understanding.

I had a suitemate in college who was from Hawaii, white girl with blond hair, who sometimes referred to things/people as haole (i.e. haole rice). It seemed to be more of a culture-based word than a racial one.

I have heard people referred to as Redbone. In fact, my dad's best friend was called "Reds" in high school.

DX -- that's exactly who I was thinking of - - thank you. Is that a stage name?

Hard to say, Sumi. From allmusic:

While his gravelly baritone and omnipresent fedora, dark glasses and Groucho Marx moustache made him one of the more distinct and recognizable characters in popular music, little is known about the neo-vaudeville crooner Leon Redbone. Throughout his career, he steadfastly refused to divulge any information about his background or personal life; according to legend, Redbone's desire to protect his privacy was so intense that when he was approached by the famed producer John Hammond, the contact number he gave was not his own phone, but that of a Dial-A-Joke service.

All Music Guide:

While his gravelly baritone and omnipresent fedora, dark glasses and Groucho Marx moustache made him one of the more distinct and recognizable characters in popular music, little is known about the neo-vaudeville crooner

Leon Redbone. Throughout his career, he steadfastly refused to divulge any information about his background or personal life; according to legend, Redbone's desire to protect his privacy was so intense that when he was approached by the famed producer John Hammond, the contact number he gave was not his own phone, but that of a Dial-A-Joke service.

Because Redbone first emerged as a performer in Toronto during the 1970s, he was believed to be Canadian; his work, a revival of pre-World War II ragtime, jazz and blues sounds, recalled the work of performers ranging from Jelly Roll Morton and Bing Crosby to blackface star Emmett Miller. He made his recording debut in 1976 with On the Track, which featured legendary jazz violinist Joe Venuti as well as singer/songwriter Don McLean; his 1977 follow-up Double Time even reached the U.S. Top 40 charts, largely on the strength of his frequent appearances on television's "Saturday Night Live."

Which I recall vividly. He was such a unique performer.

ETA: X-Posty, but true.