Mister Charlie is a pejorative expression used within the African-American community to refer to an imperious white man. The expression suggests that whites are generic or interchangeable. Occasionally, it refers to a black man who is arrogant and perceived as "acting white". The expression is sometimes written as "Mr. Charlie," "Mister Charley," or other variations. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2005) argues that in the 1920s, "Mister Charlie" meant "any white man," but in the 1970s evolved to mean "the man in power." The expression has fallen out of use by young African-Americans today.