Let’s not do this, okay?
**Gfactor **
General Questions Moderator
What was so wrong with my response? I am sick of people essentially quoting out of wikipedia as if it is some useful piece of info. Everyone posting has internet access and I am sure many people check wikipedia.
?Wikipedia, despite all it’s faults, is pretty useful. It gives a good, usually well-informed amount of information. Assuming it hasn’t been vandalized just before you got there. 
The serious people who submit info there are good sources. Not all perfect, but it’s a great starting point.
If I misunderstood your point, please amplify.
Twenty years ago a friend/fellow student expressed outrage at the term and so yeah, I would never use it either. Everyone may not be offended, but I would pick an alternate that is much less likely to offend, if there was a reason to mention such a thing at all.
If you already knew the answer, why did you bother creating this thread?
I asked a friend of our this question once. She’s the daughter of a white women and a black man, and she self identifies as black and looks it. She has a daughter, who looks very white (I’d describe her looks as “peaches and cream”) by a black man, and a son who looks very black.
She answered that “mulatto” is borderline offensive – it doesn’t really offend her, she just thinks its an odd term, but she thinks it would probably offend others of mixed ancestry.
My point is about - when people ask a question on this forum I would expect that are not just wanting an answer cut and pasted from Wikipedia. I can look up wikipedia. I agree that it gives usually well-informed amount of information. That is why when I post a question here I want opinions from people here not the wikipedia answer.
As for Freudian Slit
Quote:
Originally Posted by blinkingblinking
No it is not.
If you already knew the answer, why did you bother creating this thread?
I never said that I knew the answer. I said that giving the etymology of a word does not show whether in 2008 that word is now a slur or offensive.
Threads seeking opinions go in In My Humble Opinion. I’ll move this thread from General Questions to IMHO. I also edited your thread title to make it more descriptive.
Gfactor
General Questions Moderator
Is there some reason why this thread is over-moderated?
Possibly, because you wanted opinions and started the thread in General Questions.
For what it’s worth, the term mulato/mulata isn’t considered offensive in Latin America. My ex-gf who is biracial (Black/White) actually liked the Spanish term, since it gave her a specific group to identify with. Biracial or mixed could mean virtually anything. The English term ‘mulatto’ she doesn’t dislike but kind of ambivalent towards, since she never encountered anyone using the term. When asked, she says she’s mixed.
I think if it lacked the semi-offensive/archaic connotation it would be a useful term, since mixed or biracial is still pretty ambiguous. But that’s not for me to decide, so meh.