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Gmahogany777 · (#3 (**permalink**))

I have read the book and I think that the term Uncle Tom as generally applied, is accurate. I think sometimes people confuse the term with the term 'sell out". An Uncle Tom is not necessarily a Black person who seeks or goes out of his way to harm other Black folks, but rather a Black person who is overly concerned with the well being of white people,(which can and often DOES turn into harming Black folks, but that's not automatic).

I think it's interesting btw, that there is always an assumption,(even among some Negroes), that Black folks aren't/weren't bright enough to read the book and analyze the characters and come to their OWN conclusions about the character, in spite of what the author intended people to conclude about the character. FIrst thing you must understand is that the book was not written FOR BLack people. It was written for white people, they were the intended audience. ONce you understand that, you're on your way to understanding a lot of the disdain and contempt that Blacks historically had towards the main character in the book.

The character in the book was extremely pious and "Christian", and even when his evil master Simon Legree was about to kill him, he was more concerned about protecting his master's soul than his own well being. THAT, is where a lot of the contempt for the character came from, among Black people. Legree is about to kill him and Tom says something to the effect of, "if taking every drop of my blood from my body would save your soul Master I would be glad to give it to you. I would give you my heart if it would save your soul......"blah blah blah.

It was Tom's loyalty and faithfulness to his master that caused Blacks to view the character with contempt. As well as his admitted pride in being able to pick more cotton than his slave counterparts and other cringeworthty sentiments,lol.

The book was loosely based on a real man named Josiah Henson, but the white woman who wrote the book, Harriet Beecher STowe, was an abolitionist. She PURPOSELy made the Tom character a long suffering, faithful, passive,loyal servant to his white master because she was trying to turn white public opinion against slavery. In other words, she wanted white folks to think:"look at how loyal and faithful and Christian that slave was, even when his master was mistreating him so badly".

In other words, the Uncle Tom character was the ORIGINAL Magical N*gger. That Black person with MYSTICAL powers who has the ability and the greatest DESIRE to SAVE white people from themselves/prick their consciences/save their souls, ad nauseam. We've seen that prototype played out in REAL LIFE among some Black "leaders" historically, as well as in movies like the Green mIle, and anything with Morgan Freeman in it.

So I will continue to use the term, and I know exactly what I mean, when I do use it.