Pickaninny (also picaninny) is a pidgin word form which may be derived from the Portuguese pequeninho ("little") via lingua franca. Piccaninny is a meteor crater in Western Australia, Australia. ... A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups who do not share a common language, in situations such as trade. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...

In the Southern United States, it was long used to refer to African American children. This use of the term is believed to have originated with the character of Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The term was still in some popular use in the US as late as the 1930s; while it has largely fallen out of use and is now considered offensive, the term is still part of the American lexicon. The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ... Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Reproduction of an old tin sign advertising Picaninny Freeze, a frozen treat.

It is in widespread use in Melanesian pidgin and creole languages such as Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea, as the word for "child" (or just young, as in the phrase pikinini pik, meaning piglet). In certain dialects of Caribbean English, the words pickney and pickney-negger (pronounced "pick-knee" and "pick-knee nay-ga" respectively) are used to refer to children. Also in Sierra Leone Krio the term pikín refers to child or children. In Nigerian and Cameroonian Pidgin English, the term used is "picken". In Chilapalapa, a pidgin language used in Southern Africa, the term used is "pikanin". In Surinamese Sranan Tongo the term pikin may refer to children as well as to small or little. Image File history File links Picaninny_Freeze. ... Image File history File links Picaninny_Freeze. ... Map showing Melanesia. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many features that are not inherited from any parent. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ... Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana. ... See also the Keriu language and Krio Dayak language of Indonesia. ... Cameroonian Pidgin English, or Cameroonian Creole, is a linguistic entity of Cameroon. ... Chilapalapa is a language spoken primarily in Zambia and Zimbabwe. ... Sranan (also Sranan Tongo Surinamean tongue, Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole English) is a creole language spoken as a native language by approximately 120,000 people in Suriname. ...

During the middle section of Margaret Mitchell's best-selling epic Gone with the Wind, one of the novel's supposedly sympathetic characters, Melanie Wilkes, objects to her husband's intended move to New York because it will mean that their children will be educated alongside Yankee children and pickaninnies. The term was also controversially quoted ("wide-eyed grinning picaninnies") by the British Conservative politician Enoch Powell from a letter in his "Rivers of Blood" speech on 20 April 1968. In 1987, Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona defended the use of the word, claiming "As I was a boy growing up, blacks themselves referred to their children as pickaninnies. That was never intended to be an ethnic slur to anybody."^[1] For the Canadian politician see Margaret Mitchell (politician) Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was the American author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her immensely successful novel, Gone with the Wind, which was published in 1936. ... For the film, see Gone with the Wind (film). ... Melanie Hamilton Wilkes is a fictional character first appearing in the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. ... “NY” redirects here. ... Simon Heffers biography of Enoch Powell, published in 1999 John Enoch Powell, MBE (June 16, 1912 – February 8, 1998) was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Evan Mecham (IPA: ; born May 12, 1924) was the 19th Governor of Arizona. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ...

The most famous Picaninny in the past is “Topsy”. “Picaninnies had bulging eyes, unkempt hair, red lips and wide mouths into which they stuffed huge slices of watermelon.”^[2] “Topsy” made her appearance in a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. With the portrayal of “Topsy” within her novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe wanted to make known to the world the evils of slavery and how it was affecting the African people taken as slaves to America. The Picaninny was distinguished by its young age, male or female. It also had a head of wild hair that was disheveled and dirty. “They were also half dressed and animalistic. The picaninny was seen as one of a multitude of black children – disregarded and disposable.”^[3] That the Picaninny was often half-naked has been interpreted by some to have implied that black slave parents neglected the well-being of their children. Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1 , 1896) was an American abolitionist and novelist, whose Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ...

Another literary use of the word comes from Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find: "Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!" she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. "Wouldn't that make a picture, now?" she asked and they all turned and looked at the little Negro out of the back window. He waved."

See also

• Blackface
• Golliwog
• pygmy
• Uncle Tom's Cabin

This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... The Golliwog or Golliwogg is a blackfaced African American caricature created in the late 19th century. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ...

References

1. ^ Watkins, Ronald J. (1990). High Crimes and Misdemeanors : The Term and Trials of Former Governor Evan Mecham. William Morrow & Co., p. 72. ISBN 978-0-688-09051-7. 
2. ^ Jim Crow, The Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University “The Picaninny Caricature.” (http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/picaninny/)
3. ^ Facts, Figures and History: The Evolution of Lynching by Meredith Malburne (http://www.georgetown.edu/users/mmm43/ffh.htm)

External links

• An article on the Pickaninny caricature