Uncle Tom

Definition: Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom

Noun

1. Contemptuous name for a Black man who is abjectly servile and deferential to Whites.

2. A servile black character in a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Uncle Tom A negro slave, noted for his fidelity, piety, and the faithful discharge of all his duties. Being sold, he has to submit to the most revolting cruelties. (Mrs. Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin.) This tale was founded on the story of Josiah Henson (1787), told to Mrs. Stowe by Henson himself. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Uncle Tom is a derogatory term for a black person who cooperates with white people or protests injustice mildly instead of violently, or who is otherwise perceived to act in a servile and insincere way around white people. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

The character of Uncle Tom has dignity in the book, he is strong and capable, but forgiving. It was his servile depiction in the popular stage version that was greatly influential in the development of the epithet. White-haired, shuffling Uncle Tom is supposedly grateful to his master.

Essentially, an accusation of being an Uncle Tom or Tomming questions the accused person's integrity; the implication is that the person is demeaning him- or herself for uncertain benefit, and that African-Americans should not be grateful simply for being treated the way people should expect to be treated, but should instead be confident, independent, and self-sufficient, even if this at times provokes a confrontation.

Some blacks labeled with the term have objected on the grounds that it creates a false dichotomy between being polite or being loyal to their race. These advocates say that maintaining good relations is a value in itself and need not necessarily take a back seat to social advancement. Often, the imputed Uncle Tom attitude is said to be a defense of private autonomy in the face of social prejudice, or even as an over the top, satirical response to prejudice. Tomming is seen as a way of preventing maltreatment from whites.

Sometimes women who Tom are called Aunt Jemima after the popular pancake mix that long depicted a kerchief-headed family cook of that name.

Similar views, pro and con, adhere to the expression acting white. Another term along the same lines is Oreo, from the chocolate sandwich cookie with white filling (implying that one is black on the outside but white on the inside).

Quotation

"When you're black, you're black all day." General Colin Powell, responding to remarks along these lines.

Synonym: Uncle Tom

Synonym: Tom (n). (additional references)

Crosswords: Uncle Tom

Specialty definitions using "Uncle Tom": TOM ♦ WASHINGTON. (references)

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Man, I can't believe this. You Uncle Tom! (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)
Movie/TV Titles	Uncle Tom and Little Eva (1932)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to O. J. Simpson. (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Remember -- Uncle Tom says only you can prevent ghetto fires / R. Cobb. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "Uncle Tom"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Turkish		beyazlara çalışan zenci. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Misspellings
	"Uncle Tom" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: unkel tom. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "c-e-l-m-n-o-t-u"
	-1 letter: noctule.
	-2 letters: centum, column, loment, lucent, melton, molten.
	-3 letters: celom, cento, centu, clone, clout, comet, comte, conte, count, culet, lemon, lento, locum, lumen, lunet, melon, monte, motel, moult, mount, mulct, muton, notum, oleum, ounce, uncle, unlet, unmet.
	-4 letters: celt, cent, clon, clot, clue, cole, colt, come, cone, cote, culm, cult, cunt, cute, enol, leno.
	Words containing the letters "c-e-l-m-n-o-t-u"
	+1 letter: contumely.
	+2 letters: couplement, documental.
	+3 letters: contumelies, couplements, monoculture, uncompleted.
	+4 letters: consummately, contumelious, counterclaim, documentable, emasculation, incommutable, incomputable, monocultures, mononucleate, nomenclature, outplacement, uncomplacent.
	+5 letters: communalities, conceptualism, consumptively, coterminously, counterclaims, countermelody, documentalist, documentarily, emasculations, incombustible, intercommunal, malfunctioned, mononucleated, nomenclatural, nomenclatures, noncumulative, outplacements, pneumatolytic, telecommuting, thermonuclear, uncomfortable, uncomplicated, unproblematic, vermiculation.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

55 6E 63 6C 65 54 6F 6D

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010101 01101110 01100011 01101100 01100101 00100000 01010100 01101111 01101101

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#85 &#110 &#99 &#108 &#101 &#32 &#84 &#111 &#109

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0055 006E 0063 006C 0065 0054 006F 006D

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

55806978712548179

Non-English Dictionaries with "Uncle Tom"

Language	Coverage	Language Translations
Turkish	sözlük, ansiklopedik sözlük, açıklama, belirleme, belirtme, kesinleştirme, tanım, tarif, seçiklik, tanımlama, tercüme	türkçe, türk
English	Dictionary, Definition, Translation	ingiltere, ingiliz, Íngílízce, ingilizce, Íngílíz, ýngilizce

Expression	Frequency per Day
uncle tom	52
uncle tom cabin	10
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Uncle Tom

Definition: Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom

Noun

Specialty Definitions: Uncle Tom

Literature

Specialty Definition: Uncle Tom

Quotation

Related Topics

Synonym: Uncle Tom

Crosswords: Uncle Tom

Modern Usage: Uncle Tom

Screenplays

Movie/TV Titles

Commercial Usage: Uncle Tom

Books

Photo Album: Uncle Tom

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Uncle Tom

uncle tom

uncle tom cabin

Modern Translation: Uncle Tom

Turkish

Misspellings: Uncle Tom

Misspellings

Anagrams: Uncle Tom

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Alternative Orthography: Uncle Tom

55 6E 63 6C 65 54 6F 6D

01010101 01101110 01100011 01101100 01100101 00100000 01010100 01101111 01101101

&#85 &#110 &#99 &#108 &#101 &#32 &#84 &#111 &#109

0055 006E 0063 006C 0065 0054 006F 006D

55806978712548179

Non-English Dictionaries with "Uncle Tom"

Turkish

English

INDEX