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Who Is The Racial Slur Exposed In Uncle Tom's Cabin

Decent Essays

The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe has impacted the lives of people past and present. Before, it was a book used to rally global support for the fight against slavery during the Civil War. In present time, it can be rooted back to the origin of a racial slur, Uncle Tom. In the novel, Uncle Tom was an obedient, loving slave who most of the time listened to his master. Due to this behavior, the term Uncle Tom was coined. By the racist definition, Uncle Tom is a black man who is eager and willing to bend over backwards and please his white master. “Uncle Tom” is someone who is willing to accept their position of inferiority. This term is a very poor term to use because the same Tom in Stowe’s novel is anything but a pushover, white pleasing slave. In the novel, Tom always read the Bible; therefore, he could be considered a good Christian. Furthermore, Tom always put others needs before his own, black or white, which one could say he is caring and kind. Also, Tom dies to save the secrecy of …show more content…

As Mrs. Marriot said in an article, “That’s not racial. If they call him the N word that’s racial. Just because he’s black, everything bad you say about him isn’t racial.” The Why African Americans Loathe Uncle Tom article discussed how it wasn’t the novel that portrayed a poor Uncle Tom, however it was the productions. These productions twisted the image of Tom to make him appear more of a pushover, like how the term is used. Stowe, originally, meant to depict Tom as symbol and inspiration for all blacks and oppressed people according to Rescuing the Real Uncle Tom. The article also states that Eva and Tom are supposed to show an interracial bond with both of them sharing the same beliefs and values. Therefore, it can inferred that if Uncle Tom could be used as a term for blacks, Eva could be used as a racial slur for whites, both of which are utterly

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