Creo que lo que se quiere dar a entender es trabajar como esclavo...

Es mi interpretación libre, que conste.


http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?va=...
Main Entry: 1coo·lie Pronunciation Guide
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural coolies
Etymology: Hindi kulimacr, qulimacr, probably of Dravidian origin; akin to Tamil kumacrli wages
1 : an unskilled laborer, carrier, or porter or a semiskilled menial usually in or from the Far East hired for low or subsistence wages
2 Africa : a person of Indian origin or descent


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolies
Coolie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


The term "coolie" refers to unskilled laborers from Asia in the 1800s to early 1900s who were sent to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, North Africa and the West Indies. The term usually referred to Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Korean laborers and was often used in a derogatory way.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 mins (2005-09-22 19:15:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Para no usar "negro", puede ser "trabajar como perro". (Como la canción de Enanitos Verdes: "trabajar como negro, para vivir como un perro...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolies
Origin and general usage

The word may derive from the Chinese word 苦力 kǔ lì which literally means "bitterly hard (use of) strength". However, Webster's New World Dictionary of the English Language traces it back to the Hindi qūlī, which means "hired laborer." Other forms occur in the Bengali, kuli and the Tamil, kuli, "daily hire." The following statement explains why coolie labor was imported for colonial enterprises: "In tropical countries where white labor is impossible, there arose with the abolition of slavery a need for cheap labor capable of doing the heavy tasks of plantations, factories, and shipping."

In India, "coolie" refers to porters who work at railway stations. In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean, *****the word is considered an offensive term on par with "nigger."*****

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs 19 mins (2005-09-22 21:22:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ruth: telling someone that "trabajas como negro" doesn't mean anything offensive, it's just a fact of life, meaning "you work too hard" (like a slave).

It's not the same as calling someone a "nigger" in English. I know that word is very offensive, and I would never use it IN ENGLISH. But in Spanish, and I don't think only in Latin America, but I guess in Spain too, "negro" is not usually offensive.

I remember a story I read the other day, it was an actual news event, but I'm not too sure about the details. President Fox (Mexico) had made a remark about jobs or something, saying that in Mexico "ni los negros harían esa clase de trabajo" or something like that. And this was while Fox was visiting the US, I think. And Jesse Jackson was extremely offended by the remark, and asked Fox to apologize, Fox had to make a public apology and all, and he said something along the lines of I'm sorry, but in Mexico, what I said is not even remotely offensive, I didn't realize what it would mean in English, etc.

Which goes to show the tremendous semantics load of some words... it all depends on the culture behind the language, of course ;)