Sambo (ethnic slur)
Encyclopedia
Sambo is a racial term for a person with Africa
n heritage and, in some countries, also mixed with Native American
heritage (see zambo
).
from the Latin America
n Spanish
word zambo
, which in turn may have come from one of three African language sources. Webster's (Third International Dictionary) holds that it may have come from the Kongo
word nzambu (monkey). Note, though, that the z of (Latin American) Spanish is pronounced as the English s rather than as the z in the word nzambu. Another source holds that it is a variant of a Foulah
word meaning "uncle," or a Hausa
word for "second son." The Royal Spanish Academy gives the origin from a Latin
word, possibly "valgus" (adj.) or another modern Spanish term. Both of which translate to "bow-legged," but still do not explain how this became a racial term. Zambo
is still the Spanish word in Latin America for a person of mixed African and Native American descent.
Examples of "Sambo" as a common slave name can be found as far back as the 18th century. In Thackeray
's novel Vanity Fair (serial
ised from 1847
), the black skinned Indian servant of the Sedley family from Chapter One, is called Sambo. Similarly, in Harriet Beecher Stowe
's controversial novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin
(1852
), one of Simon Legree's overseers is named Sambo. Instances of it being used as a stereotypical name for African Americans can be found as early as the Civil War
. The name does not seem to have acquired the intentional, open racist connotation until the first half of the 20th century — possibly in defiance of protests made by African American
s.
In modern British English
, the term "Sambo" is used offensively Formerly, it had the technical meaning of a person having a mixture of black and white ancestry, more black than white — contrast with mulatto
, quadroon
, octoroon etc.
Sambo is a very common name (used both as a family name and as a first name) in Madagascar
and is also the Malagasy
word for "boat" , used only for larger boats rather than canoes which are known as lakana. Many slaves were traded out of Madagascar .
or slave
, on unconsecrated ground
in a field near the small village of Sunderland Point
, England
, near Heysham
and Overton
, Lancashire. Sunderland Point
used to be a port, serving cotton
, sugar
and slave ships from the West Indies and North America.
by Helen Bannerman
, in 1899. It was the story of a boy named Sambo who outwitted a group of hungry tigers. Bannerman also wrote Little Black Mingo, Little Black Quasha, and Little Black Quibba. One recent edition has renamed the book The Story of Little Babaji.
In this book, Sambo is the name of a South Indian boy, and the author was not aware of the racial African meaning at the time the book was written.
The once-popular "Sambo's
" restaurant chain used the Helen Bannerman images to promote and decorate their restaurants although it was named after the chain's co-owners, Samuel Battistone and Newell Bohnett.
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n heritage and, in some countries, also mixed with Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
heritage (see zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
).
History
The word "sambo" probably came into EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from the Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
, which in turn may have come from one of three African language sources. Webster's (Third International Dictionary) holds that it may have come from the Kongo
Kongo language
The Kongo language, or Kikongo, is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola. It is a tonal language and formed the base for Kituba, a Bantu creole and lingua franca...
word nzambu (monkey). Note, though, that the z of (Latin American) Spanish is pronounced as the English s rather than as the z in the word nzambu. Another source holds that it is a variant of a Foulah
Fula language
The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...
word meaning "uncle," or a Hausa
Hausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
word for "second son." The Royal Spanish Academy gives the origin from a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word, possibly "valgus" (adj.) or another modern Spanish term. Both of which translate to "bow-legged," but still do not explain how this became a racial term. Zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
is still the Spanish word in Latin America for a person of mixed African and Native American descent.
Examples of "Sambo" as a common slave name can be found as far back as the 18th century. In Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
's novel Vanity Fair (serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
ised from 1847
1847 in literature
The year 1847 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Honoré de Balzac - Le Cousin Pons*Anne Brontë - Agnes Grey*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights*Catherine Gore - Castles in The Air...
), the black skinned Indian servant of the Sedley family from Chapter One, is called Sambo. Similarly, in Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
's controversial novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
(1852
1852 in literature
The year 1852 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Manuel Antônio de Almeida - Memoirs of a Police Sergeant*Wilkie Collins - Basil: A Story of Modern Life...
), one of Simon Legree's overseers is named Sambo. Instances of it being used as a stereotypical name for African Americans can be found as early as the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The name does not seem to have acquired the intentional, open racist connotation until the first half of the 20th century — possibly in defiance of protests made by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s.
In modern British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
, the term "Sambo" is used offensively Formerly, it had the technical meaning of a person having a mixture of black and white ancestry, more black than white — contrast with mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, quadroon
Quadroon
Quadroon, and the associated words octoroon and quintroon are terms that, historically, were applied to define the ancestry of people of mixed-race, generally of African and Caucasian ancestry, but also, within Australia, to those of Aboriginal and Caucasian ancestry...
, octoroon etc.
Sambo is a very common name (used both as a family name and as a first name) in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and is also the Malagasy
Malagasy
Malagasy is the name of the people who live in Madagascar. Malagasy is also the name of the national and official language spoken in Madagascar.It may refer to*anything pertaining to or characteristic of the island of Madagascar*the Malagasy Republic...
word for "boat" , used only for larger boats rather than canoes which are known as lakana. Many slaves were traded out of Madagascar .
Sambo's Grave
Sambo's Grave is the burial site of a young dark skinned cabin boyCabin boy
A Cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain....
or slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, on unconsecrated ground
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
in a field near the small village of Sunderland Point
Sunderland Point
Sunderland, commonly known as Sunderland Point, is a small village among the marshes, on a windswept peninsula between the mouth of the River Lune, and Morecambe Bay, in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, near Heysham
Heysham
Heysham is a large coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire, England. Overlooking Morecambe Bay, it is a ferry port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations which are landmarks visible from hills in the surrounding area...
and Overton
Overton, Lancashire
Overton is a village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. It is located to the south west of Lancaster, between Heysham and the estuary of the River Lune. Neighbouring villages include Middleton and Sunderland Point; Glasson is on the opposite side of the river...
, Lancashire. Sunderland Point
Sunderland Point
Sunderland, commonly known as Sunderland Point, is a small village among the marshes, on a windswept peninsula between the mouth of the River Lune, and Morecambe Bay, in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England...
used to be a port, serving cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
and slave ships from the West Indies and North America.
Little Black Sambo
The word gained prominence through the children's book Little Black SamboLittle Black Sambo
The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children....
by Helen Bannerman
Helen Bannerman
Helen Bannerman was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most notable being Little Black Sambo. She was born in Edinburgh and, because women were not admitted as students into British Universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews and attained...
, in 1899. It was the story of a boy named Sambo who outwitted a group of hungry tigers. Bannerman also wrote Little Black Mingo, Little Black Quasha, and Little Black Quibba. One recent edition has renamed the book The Story of Little Babaji.
In this book, Sambo is the name of a South Indian boy, and the author was not aware of the racial African meaning at the time the book was written.
The once-popular "Sambo's
Sambo's
Sambo's is a restaurant, formerly an American restaurant chain, started in 1957 by Sam Battistone Sr and Newell Bohnett. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo...
" restaurant chain used the Helen Bannerman images to promote and decorate their restaurants although it was named after the chain's co-owners, Samuel Battistone and Newell Bohnett.
External links
- e-textE-textAn e-text is, generally, any text-based information that is available in a digitally encoded human-readable format and read by electronic means, but more specifically it refers to files in the ASCII character encoding.E-text has the broad meaning of something electronic that represents words, a...
s of The Story of Little Black Sambo:- HTML version with the illustrations
- Plain text version with no illustrations (Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
edition)