pickaninny
Offensive term, child
Pickaninny is an offensive term for a Black child, rooted in the slavery era and used to demean and dehumanize.
The word appears in racist caricatures and minstrel imagery depicting Black children with exaggerated features.
Like other racial slurs from this period, it survives mainly in historical texts and discussions of racist stereotypes: The "pickaninny" stereotype appeared on postcards and advertisements well into the twentieth century.
Art of traveling performers
- blackfaceRacist performance makeup tradition
- Uncle TomPejorative for racial subservience
- vaudevilleTheatrical variety entertainment
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
exaggeration · caricature · lawn jockey · collectibles · sheet music covers · postcards · children's books · ceramic figurines
Before a war's start
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- slaveryOwnership of people
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
reconstruction · emancipation · Old South · slave narratives · diaspora · enslavement · oppression · segregation
Expressing criticism or disrespect
- pejorativeTerm expressing disapproval
- racial slurDerogatory ethnic term
- dehumanizingDenying inherent worth
- denigratingCriticizing to damage reputation
disparaging · belittling · contemptuous · offensive · discriminatory · prejudicial · stigmatizing · abusive
- childPerson before puberty
- toddlerChild learning to walk
- youngsterPerson of tender years
- infantVery young child
pidgin · Caribbean · South African · Australian · archaic
minstrelsy
Art of traveling performers
- blackfaceRacist performance makeup tradition
- Uncle TomPejorative for racial subservience
- vaudevilleTheatrical variety entertainment
stereotype · exaggeration · caricature · lawn jockey · collectibles · sheet music covers · postcards · children's books · ceramic figurines · ephemera
antebellum
Before a war's start
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- slaveryOwnership of people
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
colonialism · reconstruction · emancipation · Old South · slave narratives · diaspora · enslavement · oppression · segregation · servitude
derogatory
Expressing criticism or disrespect
- pejorativeTerm expressing disapproval
- racial slurDerogatory ethnic term
- dehumanizingDenying inherent worth
denigrating · disparaging · belittling · contemptuous · offensive · discriminatory · prejudicial · stigmatizing · abusive · disrespectful
piccaninny
infant · pidgin · Caribbean · South African · Australian · archaic
pickaninnychild
Person before puberty
young person · kid · little one · youngster · boy