# Use of word 'Sapphire' referring to a strong, independent Black women?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 4, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528 "2016-06-04T22:51:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528/1 "2016-06-04T22:51:01Z")

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Was this ever common, other than Kingfish’s wife Sapphire?

More background:

There was once a commonly repeated factoid that musician Billy Preston was the son of actress Ernestine Wade, who played Sapphire Stevens on “Amos ‘n’ Andy.” Ms. Wade herself wrote [a letter to Ebony magazine in 1973](https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=billy+preston+sapphire&source=bl&ots=OCaL51keG6&sig=7wGKZ2ndcouF38HWN_H-05jxjuQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH1bTLuI_NAhVGziYKHQRiA0IQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=billy%20preston%20sapphire&f=false) to let them know that, oh, no, he wasn’t! Despite this rebuttal from a pretty reliable source the story had already taken root.

The editors supplied a note implying (to me, anyway), that Preston might have been using the term “Sapphire’s son” metaphorically.

So, the questions:

Are there any references to Preston referring to himself as “Sapphire’s son,” however it might have been worded.

Was the word ‘Sapphire’ ever in common usage in Black vernacular to refer to strong, independent women? I’m guessing that if it did, it probably arose from A&A back in the radio days.

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**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528/2 "2016-06-05T00:28:13Z")

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[The Sapphire caricature](http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/sapphire/)

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**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528/3 "2016-06-05T00:54:32Z")

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“Angry Black Women with Guns” would be a great name for a band.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528/4 "2016-06-05T21:07:12Z")

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Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-word-sapphire-referring-to-a-strong-independent-black-women/756528/5 "2016-06-06T14:08:30Z")

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There was one character with the name Sapphire. I’m not sure how it got attached as a label, it’s certainly not commonly used in Black vernacular.