McGrath of Harlow,

As far as I know, the word was not typically used with the deliberate intention of being denigrating. On the contrary, when I have seen it used, it seems to be intended as a term of endearment.   

What was denigrating was that, although we use special words for young animals (kitten, puppy, chick), we don't typically use special words for the young of human sub-groups. We don't have a special word for baby Spaniards or young Danes or infant Norwegians. The exceptions are "papoose" and "pickaninny".

Similarly, in English, we have special words to indicate the gender of animals (bull, hen, boar, gander, etc.) but typically not for human sub-groups. There is no special word for Dutch women or Swedish men. We do however have "Negress", "Squaw" and "Jewess", "Buck" and "Brave".

It isn't necessarily the intention that's offensive; it's the (perhaps unconscious) implication that blacks are so different from whites that we need a special word for black children.

Kent