“Sapphire” is loud, rude, and overbearing. She's also a LIE crafted by racists and rooted in white supremacy! Sapphire – the original “angry Black woman” – is a stereotype used to demean and dehumanize Blackness.
Minstrel shows originally popularized many of these stereotypes during the 1900s – and unfortunately, those racist narratives endure.
The stereotype originated on Amos ‘n Andy, a minstrel-style show.
The stereotype evolved from Sapphire Stevens, a woman who demeaned her spouse, to a Black woman who's always irrationally angry.
Racism reduces Black women to their anger – while ignoring reality and stripping them of their humanity. While Amos' n' Andy was on the air, whites were lynching Black Americans in the streets!
So if any Black woman WAS angry, she had EVERY reason to be. And she still does – but the racist stereotype keeps harming Black women.
It often affects Black women in the workplace. According to Harvard Business Review, "when some people see a Black woman become angry, they're likely to attribute that anger to her personality” rather than because her feelings are justified.
Wealth and power can’t even stop it – Serena Williams and Michelle Obama have both famously been labeled this way!
We have to keep speaking the truth about this dangerous stereotype! Most importantly, we must know its racist roots – and commit to not perpetuating it further in our communities.