Mr Charlie, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Mr Charlie n.

also Massa Charlie, Mister Charley, Mister Charlie, Mr. Charley, Mister Cholly

[SE Mr + generic ‘white’ name Charlie]

1. (US black) any white man.

1928		R. Fisher Walls Of Jericho 303: mr. charlie Non-specific designation of ‘swell’ whites [...] ‘That boogy’s got a straight-eight just like Mr. Charlie’s.’.
1932		G. Kahn Manhattan Oases n.p.: These bojangs hanging around the entrance have seen Mister Charlie and Miss Mary before.
c.1935		C. Himes ‘In the Rain’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 304: ‘Keep the convicts out of the corn.’ That’s what Mister Charley says.
1942		Z.N. Hurston ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1009: Mister Charlie: a white man.
1953		W. Fisher Waiters 53: To earn a living they had to Uncle Tom ‘Mr. Charley’ by day.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 7: Good-bye to the cotton fields, good-bye to ‘Massa Charlie’, good-bye to the chain gang.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 159: Dig us, Mister Charlie, white man! We is down, and baby let the good times roll!
1972		Milner & Milner Black Players 139: Whenever some nigga brings in some money from Mister Charlie, all the other niggas want a piece.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 104: Pretty soon it’s gonna be all over for Mr. Charlie.
2002		‘Touré’ Portable Promised Land (ms.) 89: Black leaders [...] smart enough to never fall into the trap of screaming Cracker! at Mister Charlie.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

1998

(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 80: Ain’t no way he was gonna let Tutt, or that other Mr. Charley cop, Murphy, show him up.

3. (US black) a husband.

1936

D. Burley in Chicago Defender 6 June 23: Ducking out before Mister Cholly comes home.

4. the man in power.

1964		R.D. Abrahams Deep Down in the Jungle 209: One day Sam's boss, Mr. Charlie, walked up him [sic] and said [etc].
1969		T. Kochman ‘“Rapping” in the Black Ghetto’Trans-action Feb. 28/2: In the northern cities the black encountered authority figures equivalent to Southern ‘crackers’: policemen, judges, probation officers, truant officers, teachers and ‘Mr. Charlies’ (bosses), and soon learned that the way to get by and avoid difficulty was to shuck.
1971		H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: Mister Charley n. [...] the boss.

fast-talking charlie (n.)

(US black) a Jew, esp. a Jewish storekeeper.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 61: One teenager defined ‘fast-talkin’ Charlie’ as ‘a slicker, one o’ dem ol’ fast-talkers. Someone who’s slick. Like Jews, you call ’em dat, ’cause dey are fast talkin’. When you come in d’ store, dey get to talkin’, be tryin’ to make dat bidness’.
1997		C. Hiaasen Lucky You 330: They didn’t appreciate getting jerked around by some fast-talking Charlie.