pickaninny

A small black child, too young to be a productive picker in the cotton field.

an offensive, derogatory term for black children

A derogatory term that in English usage refers to black children, or a caricature of them which is widely considered racist. The word is likely derived from the Portuguese pequenino (derived from pequeno, "little").

Pickaninny refers to oft-depicted physical stereotypes of young African slave or African American children: bulging eyes, unkempt hair, red lips and wide mouth into which they stuffed large slices of watermelon.

Today, use of the term by persons of any race in English speaking countries is seen as distasteful, though at one time it was used within African American families to refer to their children in an affectionate manner. Versions of the word are still used in some pidgin dialects, including Caribbean English, where it usually means "child" or "young'un"

A common, generally-accepted term used in former times to describe young black boys, who were so pictured and identified in some of the National Geographics magazines from the pre-Depression Era of the 1920's.

A negro youth. Often seen running around WalMart at midnight on school nights.

A derogatory name for young black children couched in an aspect of admiration. Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin was described as being a pickaninny.

duragatory slur for a black person, especially a younger or lazier one. originates back to slave times when slaves worked in fields, and a slave who was supposed to be working wasn't "pickin any"