Uncle Tom 

This article is about the racial term. For the P.G. Wodehouse character, see Tom Travers.

Uncle Tom is a pejorative for a black person who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, although there is debate over whether the character himself is deserving of the pejorative attributed to him. Stowe never meant Uncle Tom to be a derided character, but the term as a pejorative has developed based on how later versions of the character, stripped of his strength, were depicted on stage.1

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Notable controversial users

During a 1995 game between the New Jersey Nets and the Utah Jazz, Nets' forward Derrick Coleman called the Jazz's Karl Malone, a conservative Republican off the court, an "Uncle Tom."2 34

In 2008 the journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown referred to some Asians and Blacks who supported the British Conservative Party as "Uncle Toms".5

In 2008, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones allegedly called Delmarie Cobb of Chicago an "Uncle Tom" due to Cobb speaking out in support of Hillary Clinton. 6

On November 4, 2008, in an interview with Houston radio station KTRH, Ralph Nader challenged Barack Obama by saying, "He is our first African American president; or he will be. And we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he’s going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations who are running America into the ground."7

See also

References

  1. ^ Keyes, Allison (2002-11-29). "NPR : A New Look at 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'", The Tavis Smiley Show, NPR. Retrieved on 9 January 2008. 
  2. ^ "New Jersey Nets forward Derrick Coleman calls Utah Jazz's forwards Karl Malone an Uncle Tom", Jet (1995-04-03). Retrieved on 21 April 2007. 
  3. ^ Mike Wise (1995-03-17). "PRO BASKETBALL; Coleman Speaks, And Beard Cringes", New York Times, p. Section B, Page 15. Retrieved on 21 April 2007. 
  4. ^ "Campaign Contribution Search: Karl Malone". 
  5. ^ Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin (2008-06-02). "Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: A lament for the death of the left as a political force", The Independent. 
  6. ^ Abdon Pallasch and David McKinney (August 25, 2008). "Delegate says Jones called her 'Uncle Tom'", Chicago Sun Times. 
  7. ^ http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/11/07/rn-statement-on-tru/

External links