Uncle Tom syndrome
Uncle Tom syndrome is a theory in multicultural psychology[1] referring to a coping skill in which individuals use passivity and submissiveness when confronted with a threat, leading to subservient behaviour and appeasement, while concealing their true thoughts and feelings.
Overview
The term "Uncle Tom" comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, where an African American slave, Tom, is beaten to death for refusing to betray the whereabouts of two other slaves. In Stowe's novel Uncle Tom is a heroic character, loyal to the slaves in hiding, but the original producers of the stage version of the story "grossly distorted" the character into a man who would sell out his own race to curry favor with white people.[2] This version of Uncle Tom was designed to be more favourable to audiences of the late 1850s, and it is he, not the original, to whom the slur refers.
In the American racial context, "Uncle Tom" is a pejorative term for African Americans who give up or hide their ethnic outlook, traits, and practices, in order to be accepted into the mainstream.
In race studies literature, Uncle Tom syndrome refers to African Americans who, as a necessary survival technique, opt to appear docile, non-assertive, and happy-go-lucky. Especially during slavery, African Americans used passivity and servility for the avoidance of retaliation and for self-preservation.[3]
In a broader context, the term may refer to a minority's strategy of coping with oppression from socially, culturally, or economically dominant groups involving suppression of aggressive feelings and even identification with the oppressor, leading to forced assimilation/acculturation of the cultural minority.[4]
See also
- Ad hominem
- Anti-Semite and Jew
- Association of German National Jews
- Black Legend of the Spanish Inquisition
- Boba liberal
- Candace Owens
- Colonial mentality
- Culchie
- Cultural cringe
- Dic Siôn Dafydd
- Gender-critical feminism
- Hanjian
- Jackeen
- Neturei Karta
- No true Scotsman
- Patrol 36
- Race traitor
- Satmar
- Shoneen
- Self-hating Catholic
- Sycophancy
- Takfir
- The Believer
- White guilt
- West Brit
References
- ^ Jackson, Yo; Yolanda Kaye Jackson (2006). Encyclopedia of multicultural psychology. SAGE Publications. p. 509. ISBN 1-4129-0948-1., overviews of terms available here
- ^ "Why African-Americans Loathe 'Uncle Tom'". www.npr.org. NPR. July 30, 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ^ Sue, Derald Wing; Monica McGoldrick (2005). Multicultural social work practice. John Wiley and Sons. p. 54. ISBN 0-471-66252-6.
- ^ Mio, Jeffrey Scott (1999). Key words in multicultural interventions. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 204. ISBN 0-313-29547-6.
- v
- t
- e
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (Thanhouser, 1910)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (Vitagraph, 1910)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1918)
- Topsy and Eva (1927)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)
- Onkel Toms Hütte (1965)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin (1987)
- Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931)
- Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933)
- Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937)
- Uncle Tom's Cabaña (1947)
- Southern Fried Rabbit (1953)
- Aunt Phillis's Cabin
- The Planter's Northern Bride
- Little Eva: The Flower of the South
- Uncle Tom's Cabin As It Is
- Uncle Robin's Cabin
- "Uncle Tom's Cabin" Contrasted with Buckingham Hall, the Planter's Home
- Ellen; or, The Fanatic's Daughter
- The Ebony Idol
- Frank Freeman's Barber Shop
- The North and the South; or, Slavery and Its Contrasts
- Mr. Frank, the Underground Mail-Agent
- The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters
- The Black Gauntlet
- White Acre vs. Black Acre
- Antifanaticism
- The Lofty and the Lowly
- The Leopard's Spots
- Josiah Henson
- Dimples
- Goodbye Uncle Tom
- Tit for Tat
- Uncle Tom syndrome
- Underground Railroad
- The National Era
- Onkel Toms Hütte (Berlin U-Bahn)
- Harriet Beecher Stowe House (Brunswick, Maine)