Since Uncle Tom is trending, let me just say something I& #39;ve always wanted to say (former Ph.D in literature speaking now): stopping besmirching the name of Uncle Tom by comparing him to sellout black folks. Just stop. /1

The character Uncle Tom from the abolitionist novel was the hero. He literally sacrificed his life for two black women slaves who& #39;d escaped. He refused to reveal anything about their escape even though he knew doing so would result in him being beaten to death. /2

Tell me, does that sound like the behavior of a sellout? No.

If any of y& #39;all had actually read the damn book, you& #39;d know that the character you really mean when referring to a sellout is Sambo.

Get your facts right. /3

Do you know why Uncle Tom became a slur for sellout black folks?

Because racist ass whites were determined to undermine the importance of that character that some historians have credited with accelerating the sentiment against slavery. /4

So, those racist whites decided they& #39;d make a bunch of shitty children& #39;s books and plays based off the book and, in doing so, warp the character to basically make him a semi-villain (or, at the very least, a super servile slave with no courageous bone in his body). /5

Well, because Americans don& #39;t fucking read, it worked like a charm.

Uncle Tom truly was ground-breaking in the original story. To watch him sacrifice his life to protect two black women. Think about the power of that.

That& #39;s why racists destroyed the character. /6

So, for the love of god and baby buddha, I& #39;m begging y& #39;all to stop using Uncle Tom as a slur.

Read.

That& #39;s all.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93059468

P.S.">https://www.npr.org/templates... Yes, I& #39;ve written about how racists nefariously bastardized Uncle Tom& #39;s Cabin, so this is a sore spot for me. Sorry for the rant.