Who is "uncle tom"?

Question

I've heard 'bout him alot 4rom the black society in america and all i know about uncle tom iz that he was a dark history for the black race in america....can i know more about him....please

Answer 1

Grendle's answer is a excellent and thorough. But to give a shorter, clearer answer: An "Uncle Tom" is a black man who kisses white a$$. It's a very insulting term.

Answer 2

1) He's a fictional character (as noted above).
2) It's a nasty nickname for a black man who kowtows to white people.
3) It's an example of literary ignorance.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel that dealt with some of the crueler aspects of slavery. However, the character of Tom was no "Uncle Tom." He was courageous and loyal and good. The fact that Uncle Tom has entered the language as an epithet (a "dark history for the black race in america") is proof that you can lead a child to knowledge, but you cannot make him think (or read the effing book).
Hope that clears it up for you, and you should try actually reading the book sometime ... it's available in the library (that big brick building in town). If that's too hard, try Cliff's Notes - they have a synopsis.

Answer 3

He's from Harriet Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," He's the main character in her fiction novel. In today's society, as I'm sure you already know, if someone is an "uncle Tom", that stereotype has it's origins from this character. He's seen as a "yes man" a cultural or racial "sell out" and someone in general who goes along with the white man for some reason. In Stowe's sentimental novel, Tom is a Christ like character, who makes Legree (his horrible master) look even more monstrous in comparison, and slavery to be the horrific institution it was. If there is a defense and argument for this novel, and for Stowe's character of Tom, I'd find it here, in the Introduction to the book. It reads: So the "real" Uncle Tom, who like Christ, rises out of an oppressed people, has his name given to servility and toadying; so the book's actual moral passion, whcih alone answered to the problem of slavery in 1852, is overlooked and the book scorned without being read."

The book is sometimes incomprehensible to today's readers, because we want justice so badly and immediately, and know what needs to be done. Tom's suffering is incomprehensible and his going along with it and his peaceful acceptance, can be a lot to take. The best way to understand it, is exactly how the introduction words, and that is to remember the time in which it was written- during slavery in 1852 and as a work written for abolitionists and sympathizers who would help end slavery. If you can remember that, then you can see the book as the tool it was and better understand the characterization of Tom.

Answer 4

'Uncle Tom' is a term used by radical blacks to describe a black person who they think is too moderate in their views, or is too accomodating of white society. The expression arose from tghe novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriet Beecher Stowe published before the civil war. In the novel Uncle Tom was a kindly old black slave who had a loving relation with his white owners, especially their children. For the term to be used the way it is today is a little unfair. In the novel Uncle Tom risked his life to help fleeing slaves. The book itself was ahuge bestseller and is often credited with motivating the northern states to take military action to abolish slavery.

Answer 5

There is no such person. That term comes from Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is a book about slavery written back around the time of the Civil War.

Answer 6

A fictional character from the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

Answer 7

I think Mr. Grendle here has a case of the "I think I am so much more intelligent than anyone here that it hurts" syndrome. The question was asked to gain knowledge of the subject, not to hear your unwarranted insults. Save that for your next D&D gathering. Hail Beowulf!!

Answer 8

Uncle Sam's curse...

Answer 9

fictitious character.