What does the phrase “Uncle Tom” mean?
Uncle Tom is a pejorative for an African American who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, although there is debate over whether the character himself is deserving of the pejorative attributed to him. It is commonly used to describe black people whose political views or allegiances are considered by their critics as detrimental to blacks as a group.
