Uncle Tom
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- This article is about the racial term. For the P.G. Wodehouse character, see Tom Travers.
Uncle Tom is a pejorative for an African American (and to a lesser extent Hispanic Americans or Asian Americans) 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.[1]
It is commonly used to describe black people whose political views or allegiances are considered by their critics as detrimental to blacks as a group.
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[edit] Other terms with the same meaning
A more offensive term with the same meaning is house nigger (as contrasted with field workers from the days of slavery). In 2002, actor/singer Harry Belafonte used a variation of the term, White House nigger, to characterize former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.[2]
American Indians sometimes will use the term Uncle Tomahawk.
A similar term for black people is Oreo or cocoanut, implying that one is black on the outside but white on the inside.
- Further information: Food metaphors for race
Sometimes, women who tom are called Aunt Jemima after the popular pancake mix that long depicted a kerchief-headed family cook of that name. These terms are all generally considered to be racist and offensive in polite society.
[edit] Notes
- ^ A New Look at 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', The Tavis Smiley Show, November 29, 2002.
- ^ Excerpt from 2002 radio interview
[edit] References
- Osofsky, Gilbert, ed. (1969). Puttin' On Ole Massa: The Slave Narratives of Henry Bibb, William Wells Brown, and Solomon Northup. Harper & Row.
