Mammy (Noun)
Meaning 1
An offensive term for a Black nursemaid in the southern U.S..
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Usages
Examples
- The wealthy family employed a mammy to care for their young children, a common practice in the antebellum South.
- In the old plantation house, a mammy was often the primary caregiver for the children of the slave-owning family.
- The stereotype of the loyal and loving mammy has been perpetuated in literature and film, but it is a deeply problematic and racist trope.
- During the Civil War era, many enslaved Black women were forced to work as mammies, caring for the children of their enslavers.
- The term mammy is now widely recognized as a derogatory and racist term that perpetuates negative stereotypes about Black women.