The Uncle Tom Stigma

http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI1489277/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom

In America,there is a strong stigma called playing Uncle Tom.It comes from the main character of the novel Uncle Toms Cabin which is about the life of a slave who overcomes rough circumstances while not fighting back.

The stigma of it is a Black person who panders to white people.In the politcal world the stigma can be seen if a black votes or becomes Republican or consevative.Its not always like that but the Uncle Tom stigma seems to really be encaved in the minds of African Americans today.

http://www.politicalarticles.net/blog/2011/10/12/first-annual-republican-uncle-tom-awards/

To be fair, thats cuz the vast majority of blacks live in poverty striken areas usually hurt by republican ideology.

Very rarely do I have a "I bet I know who made this thread" moment.

Hmmm... Uncle Tom. Eh. I'm not really big into race discussions. It's not my field of expertise.

I might have to refute you on that one because look at California which is a big Democratic state and take a big look at Oakland,San Francisco,and Los Angles.

Sociology, racism is actually classism, and materialism.

/thread

California's statistics are not necessarily indicative of the nation as a whole, joy. You can't argue with statistics.

That being said, if you want to try, it's time for someone to present them.

While I have no expertise on race relations / racism, I do sometimes feel like it is one of the last accepted bastions of racism in the U.S.

A white male conservative? A white male liberal? No one cares. A black conservative? Fox News: "This proves conservatives aren't racist! Now we don't have to worry about race anymore!" Everyone else: "Oh my god, how could (s)he?!?"

I agree the source of the issue probably has as much to do with poverty as with racism itself. However, not everyone thinks conservative policies hurt minorities / the poor and social programs help.

I'm more familiar with the phrase "acting white" than with accusations of pandering to whites.

Well, that's because "acting white" is relatively harmless, so more common. A black person "acting white" may annoy his or her peers...It's another thing entirely to be complicit in the oppression of your people.

edited 17th Oct '11 7:19:45 AM by sketch162000

Is there any functional difference between class traitor and Uncle Tom?

This one still does not understand just what "acting white" means

...

Depending on how you define "class traitor" (which is a term I've never encountered, though I can guess at the meaning easily enough), probably not.

Once again, racism is classism dressed up with a cosmetic justification.

I have never read the Uncle Tom book, mostly because it sounds pretty boring, but you say that it went well for Uncle Tom in the end, right? So why is this considered a negative thing? Maybe if more black people tried to integrate instead of forming a satellite culture, they'd get better paying jobs and easier access to higher education.

I'm not saying you can't have your own traditions, just try to meld them in the pot. This whole attitude of "we have to be separate from white people and their society" is what is holding black people back in the first place. For one, it seems threatening and hostile to Caucasians - yes, we are actually a bit scared of folks who think we are the bad guys and are apparently still stewing over something that happened over a hundred years ago now.

Case in point, you have an actual thing that you named after a book written in 1852. Can't you let it go already?

I find your lack of understanding of historical sociology disturbing.

edited 17th Oct '11 9:41:32 AM by USAF713

@Beholderess "Acting white" is behavior that a certain group of people, who are not white, generally associate with middle-class white people. The specific habits that people associate with whites varies wildly from group to group and individual to individual. To some people, it's a problem if you deviate too far in behavior from racist stereotypes of your own race, apparently.

Or, maybe if having access to education and jobs was completely unrelated to how well you identified with the majority... [/racewar]
I think that everyone should have the right to preserving their own culture, even if that sometimes means defining what you are not. Hell, people do it automatically, anyway. To write off social inequality as the result of not bending over and integrating is short-sighted. Especially with African-Americans, as we do not have any other "motherland" worth considering. We are quintessentially American. At least whites are able to trace their roots and culture back to somewhere else.

What I don't appreciate about the "acting white" thing is that it encourages negative stereotypes, which is stupid. Also the definitions of "acting white" are completely arbitrary and shallow and result in Black people being shamed out of otherwise good things in life, like interracial relationships, for example. Or skiing. Or opera. Or Magic:The Gathering.

edited 17th Oct '11 10:03:25 AM by sketch162000

My God Its Fullof Stars, in the name of white people everywhere, I beg of you to please stop helping.

Treating a hundred years ago like it's completely irrelevant to the present day is so painfully, stereotypically American.

So... we should still hate Japan for Pearl Harbor?

Should they hate us for bombing the daylights out of them?

Nope.

[Meh, self-thumped, this is getting off topic anyway.]

edited 17th Oct '11 10:08:39 AM by Karkadinn

Ditto for us. I forget what we were talking about.

edited 17th Oct '11 10:09:01 AM by sketch162000

Japan and America are now friends;which means Defeat Means Friendship can happen in real life.

On topic:The Uncle Tom thing is very ingrained into the Black culture and believe me being called an Uncle Tom can mean you are dead to your culture.

edited 17th Oct '11 10:11:05 AM by joyflower

Joy, you illustrate the biggest dillema about Black political views. As I understand it, some of your views are motivated by Christianity, which is very important to Black culture. At the same time, Black people, on average, tend to be hurt by conservative polices and helped by liberal movements. Unfortunately, the religious in America lean to the right. I can understand why the Uncle Tom thing can be hurtful to you.

edited 17th Oct '11 10:17:04 AM by sketch162000

skeptic@Sorry,but I might have to disagree with you about the liberal movement thing.Believe me when I say this living in California which has always been in a Democratic deadlock has shown me it isn't all because of conservative movements.

edited 17th Oct '11 10:22:00 AM by joyflower

Economically conservative things, in the way the American Right practices them, do generally hurt blacks, as blacks are a sociological (and numerical) minority in the United States.

Theoretically, a good Christian would be economically liberal and socially conservatives, by normal standards. However, there is no such party in American politics, and it seems most visible Christians just go with the social conservatism over the economic progressivism, while the rest follow without objection.

~shrug~

Wealth disparity is the problem behind racism.