[Amber31558]

I have often heard black Americans refer to a white woman as 'Miss Anne' or sometimes 'Miss Amy.' Where do these terms come from?

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Name : Amber31558, Gender : F, Age : 42, City : Cambridge, State : MA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[C.]

A lot of Southerners use 'Miss' or 'Mr.' in front of a first name to refer to an older friend of the family. My white, Jewish mother grew up in Memphis, Tenn., and all of my grandmother's friends were 'Miss So-and-So.' I couldn't call them by their first names, but we were too friendly to call them 'Mrs. Smith.' I don't know about the 'Anne' or 'Amy', but the 'Miss' is very common in my part of the country.

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Name : C., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40ish, City : Galveston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : attorney, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[ED25496]

These names originated during slavery times, when black people had to address any white female they encountered as Miss (even if she was only 2 years old). These days the term 'Miss Ann' denotes a white woman who, in the opinion of the black speaker, behaves as if she were still in the days of black servitude, i.e. ordering people around, having an 'I'm superior' attitude, etc. It's not a term of endearment.

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Name : ED25496, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 47, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, 

[Paul-S30457]

'Miss Anne' does NOT solely denote a high-handed presumptuous White woman. It can refer to any White woman, and coveys contempt. This is similar to Mr. Charlie.

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Name : Paul-S30457, City : Southfield, State : MI Country : United States, 

[Kathy]

Miss Anne or Miss Amy is the same as Aunt jemima. It is a racial insult.

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Name : Kathy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Fresno, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

[A. Jacobi]

Growing up, all of the kids in the neighborhood referred to each other's parents as Mr or Miss Firstname (Miss Judy, Mr Tom, Miss Judy, Miss Karen, Dr. Joe). It is a southern tradition. Eventhough we were in Southern Indiana, my neighbors were from Louisiana. The titles with the first name method was a good in between solution between fornal and informal titles.

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Name : A. Jacobi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Alexandria, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : Analyst, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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