Is Uncle Tom A Racial Slur?

It’ll take some air out of the room, to be sure.

It is used in a derogatory fashion to demean someone in a racial manner.

Go ask a black person and report back to us.

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Is Uncle Tom A Racial Slur?

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It depends on the context.

If a liberal uses it to describe an African American that does not support the democratic party, then not it is not.

If a nonliberal uses it (even if that person is referring to his uncle whose name is Tom), then yes it is a racial slur.

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Perhaps, if you are culturally illiterate. If you read the novel and were objective the comparison should be a compliment. Uncle Tom is essentially an allegorical Christ in the book.

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If I just crawled out from under a rock and had never heard black folks use this term in the endearing way they use I might have the inclination to believe that these same folks are in line with what you think.

I think at its heart it's more just an insult similar to "sell-out."

There's really nothing inherently racial about its underlying meaning, but of course it originated from slavery in the US, so it is racially loaded.

You could call Jews who didn't actively oppose Hitler something similar, and it has nothing to do with semites qua semites.

And of course this, but my expectations of humanity are significantly lower:

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Perhaps, if you are culturally illiterate. If you read the novel and were objective the comparison should be a compliment. Uncle Tom is essentially an allegorical Christ in the book.

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Holy shite, this board.

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with what you think.

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I never really said much of anything about what I believe. I merely stated the fact that if you read the book, "Uncle Tom" is portrayed as honorable, loyal, trustworthy and beyond admirable.

But I think perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that different cultures place different values on various human qualities and some cultures read more and are better informed than others.

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It's an insult that relies on the race of the insulted to be effective so I think it could be considered a racial slur.

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I know right? If they would just be an obedient Uncle Tom, no one would be insulted, amirite.

It’s a way to end a debate. Simple as that.