BE slang and Amos & Andy

[Wilson Gray]

Amos 'n' Andy was so popular among black Americans that the name of one
of its characters, Sapphire Stevens, the battle-axe wife of George
Stevens, the Kingfish, generated a slang term: "sapphire," with the
meanings, "black woman," "black womankind," "black women in general."
As it happens, "sapphire" in this usage is completely neutral, with no
pejorative undertones, despite the fact that Sapphire Stevens was a
woman with a somewhat domineering personality.

In 1959, there was a British film with the title, "Sapphire." This
flick was a police procedural dealing with the murder of a black woman
named "Sapphire." Sapphire is never seen, since her murder has already
occurred before the film begins. FWIW, I've always felt that Sapphire
Stevens was also the inspiration for the title of the movie.

-Wilson Gray