Editing Half-caste (section)

{{Short description|Type of biracial person}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use American English|date = April 2019}}
[[File:Last of the Tasmanians Woodcut 12 - Walter George Arthur and Mary Anne.jpg|thumb|An 1870 illustration by David Bonwick titled ''Last of the Tasmanians Woodcut 12'' - with the description -- Walter George Arthur with his ''half-caste'' wife Mary Anne]]

'''Half-caste''' is a term used for individuals of [[Multiracial|multiracial descent]].<ref>[https://www.memidex.com/half-caste Memidex/WordNet]</ref> The word ''[[wikt:caste|caste]]'' is borrowed from the Portuguese or Spanish word ''casta'', meaning race. Terms such as ''half-caste'', ''caste'', ''quarter-caste'' and ''mix-breed'' were used by colonial officials in the [[British Empire]] during their classification of [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous populations]], and in Australia used during the [[Australian government]]'s pursuit of a policy of [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]].<ref name=dodson>{{cite journal|title=The Wentworth Lecture: The end in the beginning|author= Michael Dodson|journal=Australian Aboriginal Studies|year=1994|number=3|url=https://www.columbiauniversity.org/itc/polisci/juviler/pdfs/dodson.pdf}}</ref> In [[Latin America]], the equivalent term for half-castes was ''[[Cholo]]'' and ''Zambo''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Race, Color, and Class in Central America and the Andes|author=Julian Pitt-Rivers|journal=Daedalus|volume= 96|number=2|date=Spring 1967|pages=542–559|publisher=The MIT Press|jstor=20027052}}</ref> Some people now consider the term offensive.