use of "sunshine" as a racial slur against blacks

[Jocelyn Limpert]

I should have added, I guess, that I found the following three results in my
search:

FIRST:

Their favourite was to call blacks "sunshine" and follow up with a string of
other abuses: nig-nog, gollywog, currant bun, coon, bongo, nigger and plain
black bastard.

The above is from http://www.newstatesman.com/200205270004


SECOND:

 The *Ten Picaninnies* was a forerunner to Hal Roach's *Our Gang* series --
sometimes referred to as *The Little Rascals*. First produced in 1922, *Our
Gang* continued into the "talkie era." Roach described the show as "comedies
of child life." It included an interracial cast of children, including, at
various times, these Black characters: Sunshine Sammy, Pineapple, and Farina
in the 1920s, and later, Stymie, and Buckwheat. One or two Black children
appeared in each short episode.

See above reference to "Sunshine Sammy," black character -- from
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/picaninny/


THIRD:

A site which briefly gets into the etymology, as well as a lot more:
http://soompi.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t119158.html


FOURTH:

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as
HTML<http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:n26tbUr4c9sJ:www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/prba/perspectives/winter1994/springsummer2002/beatty.pdf+sunshine+definition+vulgar+black&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=136&gl=us>
When Lil’ Kim says, “Call me *sunshine*, pussy spread like the rainbow… *
....* that both intraracial and interracial stereotypes define
*Black*femaleness as “bitchiness.
*....* A classical dictionary of the *vulgar* tongue. London: Routledge & *
...*
www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/prba/perspectives/winter1994/springsummer2002/beatty.pdf-


ALSO, I came across numerous strings where posters were discussing the term
and whether it was really a racial slur and arguing for and against that
connotation. However, there were a lot of words, mostly meaningless in any
serious context -- not very sophisticated discourse.

All in all, I didn't find much of substance.

I'm adding all this in light of JL's response below and felt I should do
everyone the favor of sharing what I knew, minimal as it may be. I had seen
a lot of "positive" references, as referred to by JL, but not the current
negative one that seem to have yet written about.


On 3/2/09, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: use of "sunshine" as a racial slur against blacks
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've never heard it so used, but I *have* heard it once or twice as a
> playful form of address (as by older waitresses to male diners in downscale
> Southern eateries), i.e., "How are you today, sunshine?"
>
> The earliest ex. I know of is in James Forbes's play "The Show Shop"
> (1914) in _The Famous Mrs. Fair and Other Plays_ (N.Y.: George H. Doran,
> 1919), p. 99:
>
> "ROSENBAUM: Hello, Sadie. [To TOMPKINS] Hello, Sunshine. We've got to slam
> this show through."
>
> Tompkins's first name is given as "Wilbur."
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 7:02 PM, Jocelyn Limpert
> <jocelyn.limpert at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jocelyn Limpert <jocelyn.limpert at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      use of "sunshine" as a racial slur against blacks
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Does anyone have any information as to the origins of or current usage of
> > "sunshine" being used in speech today in a derrogatory way as a racial
> slur
> > against blacks/African-Americans?
> >
> > A friend asked me for information concerning this and I could find little
> > in
> > the online searches that I did. Usually I'm much more successful, so I
> > would
> > appreciate any help that you can give me.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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