UNCLE TOM

Uncle Tom n. (1922) Origin US; applied to a servile black man; from the name of the hero in Harriet B. Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, (1851-52). 1967, Punch, "An obligation… applies constantly to all underdog groups, constantly tempted by rewards to uncle-tom, to pull the forelock." 1977, New Yorker, "Pryor goes through his part pop-eyed, playing the Uncle Tom for Uncle Toms."" This definition and usage can be found in The Oxford Dictionary of Slang(41). In the New Dictionary of American Slang, a short definition is given. "Uncle Tom n. a black man who emulates or adopts the behavior of the white majority"(451). The Random House Dictionary, the 1987 edition, gives a more detailed definition; "Uncle Tom, disparaging and offensive. a black man considered by other blacks to be subservient to or to curry favor with whites. 1. Uncle Tomism, a policy of relationship between whites and blacks involving a benevolent but patronizing attitude on the part of the whites and a willingly submissive attitude on the part of the blacks"(2056-57). Random House’s earlier edition (1966) has a slightly different definition, "Uncle Tom n. Contemptuous. A Negro who is abjectly servile or differential to whites. Also called Tom." The definition for Uncle Tomism remains the same except for the term black (1987 edition) which replaced Negro (1966 edition).

Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang defines it as a noun and a verb. "Uncle Tom n. [1920] (origin US Black) 1. Subservient Black person, fitting willingly into the stereotyped and inferior image refined by generations of White supremacy. 2. [1990’s] a tattle-tale, a

person who befriends another, usually in the workplace, only to deceive them."

"v. [1920] (Us Black) to act in a subservient obsequious manner to whites"(1244).

The Dictionary of Americanism on Historical Principles gives a short definition and some examples of usage beginning in 1853 through 1943. " Uncle Tom n. 1. Used as the root of several words coined by adding suffixes (see quotes)." A year after Stowe’s novel was published, T.S. Perry wrote, "Our papers have coined the term-Uncle Tomitude- to sneer at the sympathy with the African." That same year in Putnam Monthly, " India, Mexico and South America have yet to be Uncle Tomitized. One of our newspaper critics compares the Uncle Tomific, which the reading world is now suffering from, to the yellow fever." In 1927 Benet wrote, "The South, that languorous land where Uncle Toms Groaned Biblically underneath the lash, and grinning Topsies mopped and mowed behind each honeysuckle vine." And in 1943, Ottley in New World wrote, "The followers of the Tuskegee educators today are mainly Southerners…These Southern leaders sometimes called ‘Uncle Toms’ by more radical Negroes apparently have not made up their minds which way to turn in the present crisis."(1793-94). A second definition is given, "2. A Negro thought of as having the humble, pious, long suffering attitude of Uncle Tom, in Harriet Stowe’s novel."

Geneva Smitherman defines "Uncle Tom as a negative label for a Black person, suggesting that he/she is a SELL-OUT, NOT DOWN WITH the Black cause.

Tom comes from the character Uncle Tom in Harriet Stowe’s 19^th century novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who put his master’s wishes and life before his own. Dr. Thomas signifies an educated Tom"(284). Four pages further Smitherman defines Uncle Thomas as the associate justice of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas and refers the reader back to TOM.

Returning to The Dictionary of Americanism on Historical Principles a definition and usage is given to the word uncle. "Uncle, n. 1. Applied to Negroes, esp. an elderly slave or servant. Also unkey. Colloq. 1830 S.P. Holbrook, Sketches "in many families, however, the children are taught to address the older servant as uncle or auntie and this is sometimes more than a form of speech." 1835 J.H. Ingraham, South-West "Nor are planters indifferent to the comfort of their gray-headed slaves…They always address them in a mild and pleasant manner as ‘Uncle’ or ‘Aunty’." 1861 W.H. Russell, My Diary "We passed through the market where the stalls are kept by fat negresses and old unkeys." 1947 Lumkin, Southerner "If I knew their names I at once forgot them, contenting myself with ‘Sally’ or ‘Jim’ or if they were old, perhaps ‘Uncle’ or ‘Auntie’- generic terms we were wont to use for Negroes whose names we did not know"(1793).

Smitherman explains the use of uncle as a "Southern custom of whites addressing all Blacks as "aunty" and "uncle", a practice resented by Blacks"(284).

Ralph Ellison who uses the term, Uncle Tom, twice in his novel, Invisible Man (369, 557).

C.Morris, July 2001

WORKS CITED

"Uncle Tom." Def. :

Ayto, John. Ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Slang. Oxford UP, 1998.

Chapman, Robert L. Ed. New Dictionary of American Slang. Harper & Row, New York, 1986.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Vintage Books, New York, 1995.

Flexner, Stuart Berg. Ed. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, 2^nd ed. Random House, 1987.

Green, Jonathan. Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang. Cassell & Company, 1998.

Mathews, Mitford M. Ed. The Dictionary of Americanism on Historical Principles. University of Chicago Press, 1966.

Smitherman, Geneva. Black Talk, Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 1994.

Stern, Jess. Ed. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language. Random

House, New York, 1966.