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Re: Is white racism nec. all bad?
Donald Edwards (warrl@blarg.com)
5 Apr 1995 00:49:57 -0700
Judith Eubank (jeubank@mail2.sas.upenn.edu) wrote:
"In article <mbowen-0404951143150001@mbowen.dialup.access.net>,
"mellow mike <mbowen@panix.com> wrote:
">
">an 'uncle tom' by definition is racist. an 'uncle tom' is a black person
">who internalizes white supremacist beliefs, hates themselves and other
">blacks, finds little redeeming about black life and always defers to white
">authority. if you read 'black boy' by richard wright, the book from which
">this term originates you might understand.
"Gosh, and I always thought it originated with Uncle Tom's Cabin. I know,
"however, that it is a term that blacks use about other blacks. I've very
"rarely, if ever, heard a white person call a black person an uncle tom.
"In other words, it's shorthand for "insufficiently black by my standards"
"or "black in the wrong ways." This tactic is just as ugly and
"destructive as some white racist tactics. It's the equivalent of calling
"someone you disagree with a "capitalist running dog," etc. etc.
And in the usage *I* have observed, it means "succeeds in the business
world by acting like a business person, not like a *black* business
persone -- treating all others equally, not giving preference to
his black ''brothers'' -- failing to restrict charitable giving to
*black* organizations -- failing to support without question the
program of the *black* ''leadership'' even when that program would
make it more difficult for him to stay in business"
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