Yes it does have a negative connotation especially when used with slave. Many people will roll their eyes and make it appear that the case of someone using the negative connotation of master/slave in ...

The University of Southern California's School of Social Work will no longer use the word "field" because it "may have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign ...

I'm working on a project for which we need to keep a running list of items. Someone suggested that we call it the "Master Tracking List", and I instantly found that a little off-putting. For me, it ...