Sambo (racial Term) - Etymology and Usage

Etymology and Usage

The word "sambo" came into the English language from the Latin American 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 name can be found as far back as the 18th century. In Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair (serialised 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 Americans.

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.