Why Didn't They Tell You?

… that the word mulatto is a very racist word?

The word racist is thrown around a lot nowadays, so much so that sometimes it is a stretch to accept some things that are called racist as actually racist. However, in the case of this word mulatto, there is no doubt that the label arose from a full-blown racist mind.

We have to thank the Spaniards for this word! The origin and etymology of the word mulatto, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the Spanish word mulato which comes from the Spanish word mulo which in turn came from the Latin mulus. Both mulo and mulus mean mule. English speakers anglicized the Spanish word by adding an extra t.

Now what is a mule? A mule¹ is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse (the offspring of a female donkey and a male horse is not a mule, but a hinny¹). The mule inherits the size and strength of his mother (the horse) but other traits from of his father (the donkey), such as intelligence, perceptiveness and sensitivity². He is a work animal, a beast of burden. The featured image above is a photo of two mules. However, this offspring is not fertile; you cannot get another mule from a female mule and a male mule. This infertility is due to the fact that a horse and a donkey are not the same species but close enough to produce an infertile offspring; a horse has 64 chromosomes but a donkey only has 62. The implication of the word is quite clear: the offspring of a black and white union is like a mule, not quite human because, one party is human but the other party is not quite human. This brings to mind the comments of the ignorant slave owner Hammond in the Falconhurst novels (Mandingo is the first one) in which he refers to the mixed slaves who looked white as “mostly human”.  Clearly in the mind of the white racist, the black party is the not quite human one. Besides being racist, it is a lie. The offspring of a black and white union is completely fertile, even if one is a black Pygmy from the African rain forest and the other a tall, blonde, blue-eyed Nordic from Scandinavia because as the Bible attests, and science confirms, that all people are of one blood (Acts 17:26).  . 

The above discussion brings to mind a discussion that is going on right now, the discussion about Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals. During pre-historic times, Homo Sapiens out of Africa, in the view of some scholars, bred with Neanderthals from Europe and Asia and produced an offspring which was fertile, as evidenced by the fact that humans today who have their origin in Asia or Europe may have up to 4% Neanderthal DNA. Unmixed Sub-Sharan Africans have no Neanderthal DNA. I have a hint of Neanderthal DNA because I am 13% European. The passing on of Neanderthal DNA in the face of the extinction of the Neanderthal suggests that the mixed offspring was fertile. If so, were Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals of the same species? Needless to say, this is not a settled issue; not all scholars believe that Homo Sapiens bred with Neanderthals, which begs the question as to how Neanderthal DNA got into the human gene pool. But isn’t it ironic that in the early pre-historic encounter between the African and the European and Asian, the African is the true human?  

My final observation is this: given the undisputable fact that mulatto is a very racist word, I suggest that you not categorize or describe anybody as a mulatto. If a person is half white (half black), then say that. The person is biracial but not a mule!

References and Notes

1. Mule and Hinny compared. A mule is bigger than a hinny. From the picture, you can see that they inherit a different set of traits from their parents.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mule&FORM=IARRTH&ufn=mules&stid=7709178f-966a-3e48-66f5-1373195b5214&cbn=EntityAnswer&cbi=0&FORM=IARRTH

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mule+and+hinny&FORM=HDRSC2

2. See Maura Wolff, “How to tell the difference between a mule and hinny”.  Accessed at   https://animals.mom.me/tell-difference-between-mule-hinny-9758.html

                         

                                      

3. Featured image is taken from https://www.google.com/search?q=mule&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS894US894&sxsrf=APq-WBvikGGJjML7tYYY-QXtPwxBg5F97Q:1647052631459&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwi635iYxb_2AhVFRBoKHfyvD_EQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=969&dpr=1#imgrc=TSxAdJaenjAE9M