Multiracial people
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for multiracial people in a variety of contexts, including multiethnic, polyethnic, occasionally bi-ethnic, biracial, mixed-race, Métis, Muwallad, Melezi, Coloured, Dougla, half-caste, ʻafakasi, mulatto, mestizo, mutt, Melungeon, quadroon, octoroon, griffe, sacatra, sambo/zambo, Eurasian, hapa, hāfu, Garifuna, pardo, and Gurans. A number of these once-acceptable terms are now considered offensive, in addition to those that were initially coined for pejorative use.
Individuals of multiracial backgrounds make up a significant portion of the population in many parts of the world. In North America, studies have found that the multiracial population is continuing to grow. In many countries of Central and South America, mestizos make up the majority of the population and in some others also mulattoes. In the Caribbean, multiracial people officially make up the majority of the population in the Dominican Republic and Aruba.
Definitions
In terms of race
, race remains a commonly used term for classification, often related to visible physical characteristics or known community. Insofar as race is defined differently in different cultures, perceptions of mixed race are subjective.According to American sociologist Troy Duster and ethicist Pilar Ossorio:
In the United States:
Related terms
In the English-speaking world, many terms for mixed-race people exist, some of which are pejorative or are no longer used. Mulato, zambo and mestizo are used in Spanish, mulato, caboclo, cafuzo, ainoko and mestiço in Portuguese, and mulâtre and métis in French. These terms are also in certain contexts used in the English-speaking world. In Canada, the Métis are a recognized ethnic group of mixed European and Indigenous American descent, who have status in the law similar to that of First Nations.Terms such as mulatto for people of partially African descent and mestizo for people of partially Native American descent are still used by English-speaking people of the Western Hemisphere but mostly to refer to the past or to the demography of Hispanophone America and its diasporic population. Half-breed is a historic term for people of partial Native American ancestry; it is now considered pejorative and discouraged from use. Mestee, once widely used, is now used mostly for members of historically mixed-race groups, such as Louisiana Creoles, Melungeons, Redbones, Brass Ankles and Mayles.
In South Africa and much of English-speaking southern Africa, the term Coloured was used to describe both mixed-race persons of African and European descent, and those Asians not of African descent.
In Spanish and Portuguese Americas, populations became triracial after the introduction of African slavery. A panoply of terms developed during the Spanish and Portuguese colonial periods, including terms such as zambo for persons of Native American and native African descent. Charts and diagrams intended to explain the classifications were common. The well-known Casta paintings in Mexico and, to some extent, Peru, were illustrations of the different classifications.
At one time, Hispanophone American census categories have used such classifications. In Brazilian censuses since the Imperial times, for example, most persons of mixed heritage, except Asian Brazilians with some European descent and vice versa, tend to be thrown into the single category of "pardo". But racial boundaries in Brazil are related less to ancestry than to phenotype. A westernized Amerindian with copper-colored skin may also be classified as a "pardo", a caboclo in this case, despite not being mixed race. A European-looking person, even with one or more native African or Indigenous ancestors, is not classified as "pardo" but as "branco", a white Brazilian. The same applies to "negros", Afro-Brazilians whose European or Native American ancestors are not visible in their appearance. According to genetic research, most Brazilians of all racial groups are, to some extent, mixed-race.
In the English language, the terms miscegenation and amalgamation were used for unions between whites, blacks, and other ethnic groups. The term 'miscegenation' initially replaced 'amalgamation' due to the latter's association with slavery in the 1800s, while 'miscegenation' is today often considered offensive and controversial. The terms mixed-race, biracial or multiracial are becoming generally accepted. In other languages, terms for miscegenation are not necessarily considered offensive.
In terms of ethnicity
The terms "multi-ethnic people" or "ethnically mixed people" refer to people who are of more than one ethnicity.Regions with significant mixed-race populations
Africa
East Africa
In East Africa, specifically Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, people of mixed race are called half-castes or chotara, wachotara.Madagascar
was settled between the first and ninth centuries AD by two groups: Austronesian peoples who arrived on outrigger canoes from across the Indian Ocean, and Bantu peoples who crossed the Mozambique Channel from mainland Africa. These two groups intermixed, forming the modern Malagasy people; later migrants from Arabia, Somalia, and India added to the genetic mixture.Virtually all Malagasy people are of some degree of mixed descent; however, the amount of mixture varies greatly between regions of Madagascar, despite all Malagasy people sharing a common language and similar cultural elements. The Malagasy of the central highlands of Madagascar have predominantly Austronesian ancestry, the Malagasy of the west coast and the south of the island have predominantly Bantu ancestry, and Malagasy of the island's east coast are of roughly equal degrees Bantu and Austronesian ancestry. The average Malagasy person's genetic makeup includes a roughly equal blend of Southeast Asian and East African genes.
North Africa
North Africa has numerous mixed-race communities, reflecting a history of both extensive Mediterranean trade around the region and later colonization and migration by African groups. Among these are the Haratin, oasis-dwellers of Saharan southern Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania. They are believed to be an ethnicity composed of Sub-Saharan African and Berber ancestry. They constitute a socially and ethnically distinct group within the Maghreb.For centuries, Arab slave traders sold sub-Saharan Africans as slaves in cumulatively large numbers throughout the Persian Gulf, Anatolia, Central Asia and the Arab world. Communities descended from these slaves and local peoples can be found throughout these regions. Barbary pirates were known to attack European and British ships and take Europeans into slavery as well. So many were taken, that the memoirs of survivors are considered a literary genre known as captivity narratives. When English and other European colonists were taken captive by Native Americans, they had models for recounting their trials.
Cape Verde, in west Africa, has one of the most mixed-race populations on the planet.
South Africa
In South Africa, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marriage between white Europeans and non-Whites. But this followed centuries of interaction and unions resulting in mixed-race children. This law was repealed in 1985.Mixed-race South Africans are commonly referred to as Coloureds. According to the 2016 South African Census, they are the second-largest ethnic group, behind Native Africans, or Native African Bantu peoples, who constitute of the current population. European South Africans make up 8.1%.
America
Brazil
According to the 2022 official census, 45.34% of Brazilians identified themselves as Pardo. This option is normally chosen by people who consider themselves mixed race. The Mixed Race Day, on 27 June, is an official event in the states of Amazonas, Roraima, and Paraíba and a holiday in two cities. Other than pardo, people who are mixed race also have other names to refer to themselves such as moreno, caboclo, mestiço and mulatto. Those terms are not considered offensive and focus more on skin color than ethnicity.File:Machado de Assis aos 57 anos.jpg|thumb|Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer whose father was mulatto and whose mother was Portuguese.
Most Brazilians of mixed race are usually tri-racial, with Amerindian, European, and African origins. Other common mixed-race groups are between European and African and Amerindian and European. But there are also African and Amerindian and East Asian and European/other. These groups are found throughout the country to varying degrees.
Since mixed-race relations in Brazilian society have occurred for many generations, some people find it difficult to trace their own ethnic ancestry. Today a majority of mixed-race Brazilians do not really know their ethnic ancestry, but they are aware that their ancestors were probably Portuguese, African and Amerindian. Additionally, a very large number of Italians, Japanese, Lebanese, Germans, Poles, Russians and others contributed to Brazil's racial makeup. A high percentage of Brazilians is also of Jewish descent, perhaps hundreds of thousands, mostly found in the northeast of the country who cannot be sure of their ancestry as they descend from the so-called "Crypto-Jews", also called Marranos or New Christians, often considered Portuguese. According to some sources, one third of families arrived from Portugal during colonization were of Jewish origin.