''Mister Charlie'' is a pejorative expression formerly used within the African-American community to refer to an imperious white man. Occasionally, it refers to a black man who is arrogant and perceived as "
acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term, usually applied to Black people by other Black people, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white people, white society. The ...
". The term is sometimes written as ''Mr. Charlie'', ''Mister Charley'', or other variations. The expression is rarely used by young African-Americans in the 21st century.
The expression was in use during the 19th century, much like the female equivalent,
Miss Ann. Miss Ann was an expression used among slaves to refer to the woman of the house, usually the wife of the slave owner, and any other white woman that the slaves had to serve. Mister Charlie was the slave owner, or any other white man exploiting, or being condescending towards, slaves.
''Cassell's Dictionary of Slang'' (2005) argues that in the 1920s, "Mister Charlie" meant "any white man," but by the 1970s it had evolved to mean "the man in power."
In the 1960s the phrase was associated with the
Civil Rights Movement in the United States and became nationally familiar.
It appeared in the title of
James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...
's play ''
Blues for Mister Charlie'' (1964) and in the third verse of
Malvina Reynolds
Malvina Reynolds (née Milder; August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978) was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs " Little Boxes", " What Have They Done to the Rain" a ...
's protest song "It Isn't Nice" (1967):
Also – and obliquely related to the African-American sense of usage as a pejorative – the rock band
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
performed an original song during their early (c. 1970–1973) band years entitled "Mr. Charlie". It appears only once on an official label LP release as a live track from their "
Europe '72
''Europe '72'' is a live album, live triple album by the Grateful Dead, released in November 1972. It is the band's third live album and their eighth album overall. It covers the band's tour of Western Europe in April and May that year, and showc ...
" triple album. The song was dropped from their live repertoire following the death of the song's co-creator and lead vocalist,
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
Ronald Charles McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973), known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco Sound, San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972.
...
. The song was re-added to the setlist of the current lineup of the Grateful Dead,
Dead & Company
Dead & Company is an American rock band that formed in 2015 with a lineup of former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir (guitar and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar and vocals), Oteil Burbridge ...
, now being sung by
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...
.
See also
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House Negro
A house slave was a slave who worked, and often lived, in the house of the slave-owner, performing domestic labor. House slaves performed essentially the same duties as all domestic workers throughout history, such as cooking, cleaning, serving m ...
*
Miss Ann
*
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen in the Victorian era as a ground-breaking literary attack against the dehumanization of slaves. Tom is a deeply religious Chri ...
*
The Man
"The Man" is a slang phrase, mainly used in the United States, to refer to figures of authority, including members of the government. Though typically used as a derogatory connotation, the phrase may also be used as a term of respect or praise. ...
References
{{African American caricatures and stereotypes
African-American slang
African-American cultural history
Pejorative terms for white people
19th-century neologisms