Pickaninny (alsopicaninny,piccaninny orpickininnie) is aracial slur forAfrican-American children and apejorative term for Aboriginal children of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. The origins of the term are disputed. Along with several words for children inpidgin andcreole languages, such aspiccanin andpikinini, it may derive from thePortuguesepequenino ('boy, child, very small, tiny').[1]
In the United States, the pickaninny is also a derogatorycaricature of adark-skinned African American child, often depicted with unkempt hair, bulging eyes, and large red lips.[2] Such characters were a popular feature ofminstrel shows into the twentieth century.[3]
The origins of the wordpickaninny (and its alternative spellingspicaninny andpiccaninny) are disputed; it may derive from the Portuguese term for a small child,pequenino.[4][5] According to theOxford English Dictionary, the term evidently spread through trade networks using Portuguese-basedpidgins during the 17th century, especially theAtlantic slave trade.[1] It was apparently used byslaves in the West Indies to affectionately refer to a child of any race.[3]Pickaninny acquired apejorative connotation by the nineteenth century as a term for black children in the United States, as well as aboriginal children of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.[6] The term is now generally considered offensive.[1][7][3]
The termpiccanin, derived from the Portuguesepequenino, has along with several variants become widely used inpidgin languages, meaning 'small'.[7] This term is common in thecreole languages of the Caribbean, especially those which are English-based.[8] InJamaican Patois, the word is found aspickney, which is used to describe a child regardless of racial origin.[9] The same word is used inAntiguan and Barbudan Creole to mean "children",[citation needed] while in the English-based national creole language ofSuriname,Sranang Tongo,pequeno has been borrowed aspikin for 'small' and 'child'.[10]
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The termpikinini is found inMelanesian pidgin andcreole languages such asTok Pisin ofPapua New Guinea orBislama ofVanuatu, as the usual word for 'child' (of a person or animal);[11] it may refer to children of any race.[citation needed] For example,Charles III used the term in a speech he gave in Tok Pisin during a formal event: he described himself asnambawan pikinini bilong Misis Kwin (i.e. the first child of the Queen).[12]
InNigerian as well asCameroonian Pidgin English, the wordpikin is used to mean a child.[13] It can be heard in songs by African popular musicians such asFela Kuti'sAfrobeat song "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense" andPrince Nico Mbarga'shighlife song "Sweet Mother";[14][non-primary source needed] both are from Nigeria. InSierra Leone Krio[15] the termpikin refers to 'child' or 'children', while inLiberian English the termpekin does likewise. InChilapalapa, a pidgin language used in Southern Africa, the term used ispikanin. InSranan Tongo andNdyuka ofSuriname the termpikin may refer to 'children' as well as to 'small' or 'little'. Some of these words may be more directly related to the Portuguesepequeno than topequenino.[citation needed]
The pickaninny became the dominant racial caricature of black children in the United States, and typically depicted untamed, genderless children with unkempt hair, bulging eyes, large mouths, and red lips, often stuffing their mouths with watermelon or fried chicken.[2][16] The child was often depicted as being threatened or attacked by animals, and resistant or immune to pain.[6] The first famous depiction of a pickaninny was the character of Topsy inHarriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 anti-slavery novelUncle Tom's Cabin, presented as a poorly dressed and behaved, neglected girl, untamable and corrupted by slavery.[16] These characters were a popular feature ofminstrel shows into the twentieth century.[3]
JournalistH. L. Mencken (born 1880) wrote that "in theBaltimore of my youth,pickaninny was not used invidiously, but rather affectionately."[17][non-primary source needed]
Piccaninny is considered an offensive term for anAboriginal Australian child.[18] It was used in colonial Australia and is still in use in someIndigenous Kriol languages.[19][20]Piccaninny (sometimes spelledpicanninnie) is found in numerous Australian place names, such asPiccaninnie Ponds and Piccaninny Lake[21] in South Australia,Piccaninny crater and Picaninny Creek in Western Australia and Picaninny Point in Tasmania.[22][original research?]
The term was used in 1831 in an anti-slavery tract "The History ofMary Prince, a West Indian Slave, related by herself" published inEdinburgh,Scotland.[23] In 1826 an Englishman named Thomas Young was tried at theOld Bailey in London on a charge of enslaving and selling fourGabonese women known as "Nura, Piccaninni, Jumbo Jack and Prince Quarben".[24][non-primary source needed]The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English says that in the United Kingdom today,piccaninny is considered highly offensive and derogatory, or negative and judgemental when used by other black people.[18] It was controversially used ("wide-grinning picaninnies") by the British Conservative politicianEnoch Powell in his 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech.[citation needed] In a 2002 column forThe Daily Telegraph,Boris Johnson wrote, "It is said thatthe Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."[25][26][27]
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A black child. (Now considered offensive when used by a white person of a black child.)(Subscription orparticipating institution membership required.)
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The dictionary definition ofpickaninny at Wiktionary
Media related toPickaninny at Wikimedia Commons