Arizona sun., 1953-03-20
In Defense Of
"UncIe Tor"
BY OLIVE A. ADAMS

acter. He has become the symbol
! of appeaSement His name has be-
come an epithet tossed at almost
anyone who refuses to clash head
on with any situation involving
Negro-White relationships. "Uncle
Tom" is looked down upon by the
so-called modern Negro who con-
| siderS himself more enlightened,
and feels he has grown in self
esteem as the years have gone by.
| He wishes to diSaSsociate himself
from the "old Negro" of a genera
| ton or so ago.
But "Uncle Tom" or the "old Ne
gro" wasn't as stupid as he may
have appeared. AS matter of fact,
he was pretty shrewd operator
and we will do we'll if we are as
clever as he; for he seemed to
have reviewed his situation and
acted accordingly. What was his
status quo?"
In the first place, he was with
ont economic background. He did
we'll to make living, and many
times he had to depend on white
people to help him make it. He
had no political weight to throw
around, for even though he may
have had the vote, he was po-
litically inexperienced and was lit
tie more than a tool of white peo-
pie with ulterior motive.
He had little education, except
perhaps a trade he had had to use
while in bondage, or one he had
picked up after he became free.
So he was most often a menial
whose status was actually little
better than 1t was when he was
a slave. Of course there were
preachers and teachers who be-
came the educators" of the day,
but most of their activity was on
an elementary level, and the high
er education was in the hands of
white people, who proceeded to
teach Greek mythology and the
dead languages.
Now, this wasn't very much to
start with, and nobody with any
sense tries to win an all-out war
with beebee gun. So Tom"
played it cool. He "yes-ed" white
people and taught his children to
do the same-but only because he
had to survive. When "Mr. Char
lie" wasn't looking, he sent his
kids off to school to get better
education than he had, and mother
took in washing to help pay the
tuition. His was a delaying action.
He placated white folks while he
stored up ammunition for the big
fight. While many were militant
during that period, he had to pre-
tend not to espouse their causes
lest reaction set in and repercus-
siOns deprive the masses of their
strength. He knew that he needed
numbers and he did all he could
to keep the "army" intact while
the militant ones drew all the fire.
AS matter of fact, it just could
be that he was in on the strategy
meeting that designated some Ne
gro to kick up a fuss. But when
the row was on, he denounced the
perpetrators of the braWl in or
der to prevent unlimited terror on
the part of the majority. It seems
his was a strategic action rather
than a philosophical one.
"Uncle Tom" has bequeathed TO
the modern" Negro both strength
Of numbers and skill, and it is un-
fair to besmirch the reputation of
this fine character by giving his
name to the present day Negro
who, for his own petty and selfish
gains, sells out the very people
tom" worked so hard to preserve.
Their approach is selfish and
short-sighted and they merely
negate the work of sincere con-
servatives who attempt sane ac-
ton.
| II we must hae a name for these
~