I’m a bit wary of wading into the racially-charged waters surrounding use of the “n-word” and the term “Uncle Tom.” Part of me feels like it’s a topic I should just stay away from. I’ve watched comedians like Chris Rock try to argue that there are real actual niggers and then there are black people. I’ve watched white suburban kids answer their phones with “What’s up, my nigger?” and explain to me that their generation doesn’t think the term is racist. I’ve listened to stupid white people complain about the fact that black people use the term all the time, so why can’t they use it? I remember when former Klansman Sen. Robert Byrd talked about white niggers.
I don’t use the n-word. I don’t use it as an insult. I don’t use it ironically. It’s a word that won’t pass my lips. But, I don’t feel the same way about the term Uncle Tom. I am a bit surprised to read just how viscerally Jonathan Capehart reacts to hearing “Uncle Tom.” I respect his opinion and it’s made me think.
But I think it’s a term that actually means something. I don’t know what the n-word is supposed to mean aside from a general putdown. When Chris Rock uses it, he’s talking about blacks that fit the worst stereotypes about blacks. When Donald Sterling uses it, he’s talking about any and all black people. But I know exactly what Uncle Tom means. It means a black person who betrays other blacks in service of his white masters. And, if you ask black people if they think Justice Clarence Thomas fits that description, you’ll discover that most of them think that he does.
There’s an argument that it is undignified to throw such a charged insult at a member of the Supreme Court, particularly if you are a congressman. That’s basically an argument for civility. I think there’s less of an argument for the idea that Justice Thomas should be allowed to have political differences from the vast majority of blacks without his loyalty to his race coming into question. Yes, there has to be room for divergent political positions within the black community, but there are certain lines that cannot be crossed. Voting to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is most definitely across that line. And that’s not a stand alone vote. Some have said that it seems like Clarence Thomas exists to nullify everything that Justice Thurgood Marshall accomplished in his life.
So, really, it comes down to whether or not you think Uncle Tom is just too vicious of a term to use in polite society. Capehart thinks it is. I wonder how many people agree with him. I’m willing to listen.
