When I first visited the United States, I heard the word "Mulatto". At that time I did not know what it meant. It was also a word not used in public as it was denigrating to use the word as Negro is now.Mulatto is an offspring of white and a black, but generally it refers to offspring of a white man and a black woman. There are hundreds or shall I say thousands of such cases where the white has mated with a black and produced children, but very few cases in reverse ie Black men and white women offspring. This was the scenario till the fifties of the last century, but now its changing with a penchant as more and more black men covet white women.
The Mulatto word has its origin in slavery. From the 18th century onwards the white owned plantations particularly in the Southern United States needed a large labor force. This was supplied by slave traders who shipped captured slaves from Africa to work in the farms and plantations. The Africans who were shipped to America were classified as slave and this trade continued for 200 years.. The slaves were owned by the plantation owners and thus the women slaves were totally in the captivity of the white owners. Exploitation was intense and most women on a plantation were exploited and the result was a mixed breed called the Mulatto emerged. The Mulatto's were not given any special privileges and they still remained slaves and were classified as blacks.
The Mulatto was not confined to the Southern United States, but was also part of teh life in Latin America and the Caribbean. The slave trade and the plight of the women during almost 300 years of this trade is highlighted by Mulatto writers like Lewis Clarke, Moses Riper, Harriet Jacob and Fredrick Douglas. A reading of their works brings out a chilling picture which was both sordid and bizarre. The books highlight the effect of slavery and the complete domination of the African women by the White men. I only wonder how the Church tolerated and existed with this concept of slavery, but there is no satisfactory explanation available..
The American Civil war (1861-65) was a watershed event as it led to the abolition of slavery and the exploitation of women ceased, though to get their rights back the black man had to struggle for another 100 years. The word Mulatto is no longer used in America like the Negro or Nigger, but at one time it was part of the slang language in America.