I have just asked this question myself and cannot find a definite answer.
In a study by Theresa Gibert (on Kate Chopin's story "Désirée's Baby"), the author applies this phrase to light-skinned women of mixed race - black and white - with whom plantation owners in the American South of the 1850s often entered relationships.
There is a film called "The yellow slave" from 1913 (!) referring to Japanese women, and the phrase also crops up in other sources relating to Chinese or Asian women around the year 1900, when China was a colony, and its population mistreated by western occupants.
I hope, this is of some help to you.
Bye,
KT
Chat with our AI personalities
The term "yellow slave" could be a reference to a historical period of human trafficking where individuals with lighter skin tones, possibly of Asian descent, were exploited and enslaved. It can also be seen as a derogatory and offensive term used to degrade or dehumanize individuals based on their race or ethnicity.
A slave who escaped was referred to as a fugitive or runaway slave.
Slave : Ghulaam Galley slave : baandhwa
A person who owns a slave is typically referred to as a "slave owner" or "master."
A person who owns a slave is commonly referred to as a slaveholder or slave owner.
There were black slave traders involved in the transatlantic slave trade, including African tribal leaders who captured people from rival groups and sold them to European slave traders. However, the bulk of the slave trade was conducted by European and American traders.