Gray's Guide to Racial Rhetoric... i.e. words I use to talk about race

Before I start delving in to race, I just wanted to give you a little heads up about how I talk about race. We all have our preferences on word choices and understandings of words. Just in case you were wondering about mine, now or in the future, I started a mini dictionary below. I'll try to update this as issues come up in posts. Please let me know in a comment if you see any changes that should be made or explanations that need to be added.
Forgive me if the following lacks alphabetical order.

the basics:

black --> Other people choose to use African- American and in the past it was Negro. I personally prefer the term black. Not all people identified as black in the US are directly from Africa or feel a direct connection to Africa. Here's a few people's perspectives on black.
white--> some people prefer Caucasian, but I like the contrast of black and white when writing. You'll notice that I often refer to "people of color" versus "white people". If speaking about a specific ethnicity or country of origin, I will use that identity. For example, I will often refer to my mother as Italian instead of white.

**Note: I never capitalize either of these words or any racial identity, unless it's for emphasis.**

Words that mean the same thing, and some that shouldn't be used:
Multiracial-->A person who identifies with more than one race. Not to be confused with multiethnic, someone who identifies with more than one ethnicity.
Mixed --> Someone who identifies as having a multiracial background.
Mulatto--> A person who identifies as being half black and half white. Many people consider this a racial slur. I used to, but as I learn more about it my opinion may change. Click here to learn more about the history of the word Mulatto.
Mut--> In my mind, a pretty blatant racial slur meaning a person who is a combination of many races. To prevent fights, I wouldn't use this term to describe someone who is multiracial unless they say it's ok.
Zebra, Oreo, Half Breed --> Racial Slurs for multiracial people. aka... fighting words
Swirl --> Used to identify people of multiracial AND multiethnic decent. Created by the mixed community. Also the name of "a national multi-ethnic organization that challenges society’s notions of race through community building, education, and action." Check out Swirl.

Words I've created (I think):

Mixedness --> Short for: Multiracial Identity. That phrase was too long and mixedness just rolls off the tongue a little easier.
Brite--> A combination of the words brown and white. When I was a wee little girl (a little older than I am in the picture to the right), I wanted a word that represented my skin colors. So, with the help of mom, I put the colors of mommy and daddy together. (daddy is called black, but his skin color is much closer to the brown Crayola crayon. mommy isn't really white, she's more peach, but I only had the set of 10 crayons)

*** How to Create a Made Up Word ***