I'm Danish so i only know the Danish version but I think it's the same word as in Swedish. The Danish word is "neger" and the best translation to English would be "negro" (Pippi's dad is the "negro king" or "negerkonge").
Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black".
Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).
Today it's a controversial word because by many it's considered racist almost like the n-word. However, especially older people don't consider it racist and they use it to describe people that otherwise might be described as "black".
Newer revisions of the Pippi books have been edited to no longer use the word "neger" and I think this applies to both the Danish and Swedish editions (it was approved by Astrid Lindgren's daughter).