"Uncle Tom Lives"
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that whenever I managed to pin down one of the fire breathing Pan Africanist, Black racists on the "Uncle Tom" issue it turns out they'd never read it.
Never read it. Didn't know the historical context it was written in or indeed who wrote it. One swell comrade didn't even know that it was a book,..not kidding he didn't.
Speaking of context I bring this up because for some years the radio station I work for was dominated by black racialists. They were finally removed because they'd driven away most of our listeners. We were on the brink of bankruptcy so the home office finally made their move.
I'm a mere engineer with the Pacifica radio network. A happy gang of Lefty stations, and affiliates across this swell country. The suits wouldn't drop kick these wackos out earlier because they didn't want to look like racists.
Liberal are their own worse enemy.
Anyway back to our dear Uncle.
Harriet her own self!
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" sub-titled "Life among the Lowly" was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The book was a finely crafted piece of abolitionist adgit-prop. It was intended to portray the inhumanity of American institutionalized slavery to the world.
It was even printed in Hebrew.
Queen Victoria is said to have wept upon reading it. When Mrs. Stowe met with President Lincoln the President said "...so you're the lady that started this Civil War." Within his cultural/historic landscape Uncle Tom, that is the character as presented by Mrs. Stowe is actually a rather brave, and noble soul.
How his position in history or at least Black history became so damned is another rather complex story. I raise all this only to say that if you're going to invoke the name of our dear Uncle you should at least read his book. Read it as if it was 1860, and the nation was about to be torn asunder.
Blessings, Uncle Sydney
Stay Tuned.
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