Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom is a derogatory term for an African-American who is overeager, abjectly servile or sycophantic to win the approval of white people, usually by claiming to espouse traditional white people's beliefs regarding race. "Uncle Toms" are perceived by some blacks to take the side of whites when there is an injustice against African-Americans. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

The denigrating term is a mischaracterisation of the book's Uncle Tom, who has a honorable grace and dignity, his story of suffering being similar to that of Job, from the Bible. As many blacks were illiterate, it would be the depiction in the popular stage version that was greatly influential in the development of the epithet as a servile, White-haired, shuffling Uncle Tom who is after all grateful to his master. Beecher-Stowe's Uncle Tom is pitying of Simon Legree, for Legree's fearful enslavement to his wickedness; despite his wealth, he is poor in spirit by comparison to faithful old Tom.

Essentially, an accusation of being an Uncle Tom or Tomming questions the accused person's integrity; the implication is that the person is demeaning him- or herself for uncertain benefit and should learn that African-Americans should not be grateful simply for being treated the way people should expect to be treated, but should instead be confident, independent, and self-sufficient, even if this at times provokes a confrontation.

Some blacks labeled with the term have objected on the grounds that it creates a false dichotomy between being polite or being loyal to their race. These advocates say that maintaining good relations is a value in itself and need not necessarily take a back seat to social advancement. Often, the imputed Uncle Tom attitude is said to be a defense of private autonomy in the face of social prejudice, or even as an over the top, satirical response to prejudice. Tomming is seen as a way of preventing maltreatment from whites.

Sometimes women who Tom are called Aunt Jemima after the popular pancake mix that long depicted a kerchief-headed family cook of that name.

Similar views, pro and con, adhere to the expression acting white. Another term along the same lines is Oreo, from the chocolate sandwich cookie with white filling (implying that one is black on the outside but white on the inside); coconut has the same suggestion. One contemporary figure that is frequently called an Uncle Tom by some Americans is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who benefitted from Affirmative Action policies as a student yet on the bench has ruled against it in his legal opinions.

Quotation

• "When you're black, you're black all day." General Colin Powell, responding to remarks along these lines.

See also

• blackface
• "Jump Jim Crow"
• nigger