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Monday, September 10, 2012

Uncle Tom


Let's first start by establishing Uncle Tom is a fictional character. Based on what I hope this post will accomplish. Those who believe in Willie Lynch most likely won't agree. But the character of Uncle Tom is just as real as Willie Lynch and his legend. Only we know where Uncle Tom came from. His roots can be traced. Uncle Tom's character was created by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. There is no record of the "Willie Lynch Papers" or it's author before the nineteen eighties. It's like an updated version of a overseer's account on how to handle slaves. Complete with everything needed to agitate modern day rebels. Ready to fight for no good reason. Slavery is over.

The best way to describe Uncle Tom was to call him a Christian. He was also a preacher.I'm surprised no black minister has ever addressed this topic before. At the time the book was published. It had more versions  than any other book besides the bible. It was published in 37 different  languages. How did such an important  message get lost in the translation? Instead of  blacks using it as a means of demeaning each other. His example should be emulated and respected. Unlike the sell-out he has been portrayed as being. To the contrary Uncle Tom was a man of principle. He lived and died for his belief.

Like it or not, slavery was real. Not talking about what really happened doesn't change anything. Staying trapped in  the past doesn't  change anything either. I often think about the scene in "Amistad" where the mother fell over the side of the ship with her baby.  Was that a sign of strength or one of weakness?  She didn' t give the new world a chance. She may have killed the cure for cancer or the next Frederick Douglass. Honor can be found in the midst of oppression. It worked over 100 years later with Martin Luther Ling Jr.  He was much like  the true and original fictional character He was a real life Uncle Tom.

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/interpret/exhibits/morgan/morgan.html

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