this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
615 points (87.2% liked)
Progressive Politics
3360 readers
858 users here now
Welcome to Progressive Politics! A place for news updates and political discussion from a left perspective. Conservatives and centrists are welcome just try and keep it civil :)
(Sidebar still a work in progress post recommendations if you have them such as reading lists)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It is more of a pejorative nowadays. This is also not the first tme it has been done
https://usso.uk/research/deconstructing-uncle-tom-abroad-the-case-of-an-american-president/
The context here is Obama has already been criticized in the exact same way by a Palestinian activist. They are probably paying homage to this.
I'm not clear what your point is here. That it's ok because other people did it? That is a poor excuse for casual racism.
If you're just pointing to the term's historical context, that's besides the point. I'm not saying that the term is universally racist, I'm saying that it's racist to use the term in this context.
~~Are you trying to say that Uncle Tom is a racist term no matter what? Because Obama definitely sided with the oppressors and that definitely had negative consequences for black people (as well as a bunch of others). So like, he fits the base definition of the term.~~
Edit: After reading your other comments I think I get it. Obama didn’t do enough that specifically hurt black people, it was always pretty general. Thanks for explaining.
Trying to understand what is really going on here.
This is a repeat of a past well publicised remark of a Palestinian activist. They were basically giving him a nod.
Obama really fucked over the Middle East dropping more than 20,000 bombs and conducted almost a thousand drone strikes that killed mostly innocent people.
I am not sure why it is racist to use it. Is it merely because they are white? Or because it is undeserved?
I think it would be offensive to misuse this term. So my question now would be did they misuse this word.
I have heard Uncle Tom summarized as a person who sides with oppressors against the oppressed thus becoming a traitor.
I personally can see why someone would consider him to be an uncle tom (even if I don't agree with it). Now on the other hand, if they did it because they were critiquing him for his Middle Eastern policy then saying that is actually pretty poetic.
A bit of insider knowledge meant jab at what a lot of people consider to be one of the better US Presidents. Something someone like Obama would immediately recognize.
I am going to have to disagree with you on this one, but I could be reading too much into this.
It's because the term is unrelated to the criticism and is only used here because he's a black man. If the criticism was about how he handled race relations in the US, then it'd be contextually appropriate, though still overly incendiary, imo.
Have you ever heard it used against someone who's not black? No, because it's not a general term for "oppressors" at large or of any race - it has a very specific and narrow use case. It's not an "insider jab", it's calling him out as a race traitor. Do you really think that's ok here?
Also, you keep saying "she". I don't know OPs gender, but Rachel didn't use the term, probably because she knows it's so inappropriate.
I didn't mean to sex Geneva, I went back to correct it to they. It was probably transfer from just reading Ms Rachel.
I don't think it was unrelated honestly. I have seen Uncle Tom used outside black culture many times, particularly in the workplace.
I'm giving you context and specific reasons why it's wrong. "My coworkers use it" is not suitable proof that it's not. Maybe they're racist. Maybe they're just naive. It's at best anecdotal evidence.
TBH, I'm not really sure why you're still defending this after responding to OPs own disproportionate reply about what they meant. If it's a term you weren't familiar with, that's ok, but going out of your way to defend this is a good way to erode any plausible deniability you had.
Uncle Tom can be used unironically to describe a traitor of any group. I know this because this is how people use it.
I was just trying to understand why someone would say that and it not necessarily be racist. I think I understand it now. Obama can definitely be considered an Uncle Tom for many of his actions of betrayal (there were a lot).
I would not call him that though because I to feel it is disrespectful. Considering the death and destruction he caused is it really disrespectful though. This is where I can see someone throwing a rude comment back in his face because of how badly he failed the Middle East.
I don't think you are capable of recognizing this. That is okay.
It's Racist because his race is irrelevant for the kind of person he is.
Further, somebody of a specific race treating people of their own race better than people not of their race is pure and unadulterated Racism, so expecting somebody to have "loyalty to their Race" is literally expecting them to be Racist.
That specific saying is anchored on the expectation of race loyalty and using it for Obama is anchored on the expectation that it's his Race that does or should dictate his behavior, both which - as I explained above - are Racist expectations.
I don't think Obama's race was irrelevant to the kind of person he was, but I think your point may be his race (ugh, I hate saying it like that) did not define him.
I have never heard of racism being derived from something positive like loyalty. If we followed this line of reasoning then anytime someone refers to someone as their "brother" out of a sense of loyalty would be racist?
I think you last point makes some good sense. It is a racist to think his race negatively affects his behavior. This is assuming though the only critique of Uncle Tom is racism, but betrayal exists beyond just racism.
So I think I am back to my original thought. I would not say that Obama is an Uncle Tom, but I think other people could say it without necessarily being racist. In this respect Uncle Tom isn't about applying a label of inferior or superior to a particular race, but about a story about betrayal and class struggle.
People who go around expecting Race Loyalty and hence believe in the idea of Race Treason are being Racist because they have expectations on people which are entirely based on their Race rather than their character as individuals, including that such people should treat others differently depending on their Race.
It's just that some people who think like that see such a posture as "positive" because it's not in favor of their own Race but a different one - treating people differently depending on their race to help other Races is the Liberal variant of Racism, whilst the Fascists want the race that benefits to be their own.
Most people who believe in the first form of discrimination don't see it as Racism, even though as with everything, if some are getting better treatment then others are getting comparatively less better treatment, which would be fine if people in need were getting better treatment and those not in need were not, but when the selection process is based on race rather than actual individual need then many who need don't get better treatment and many who don't need do get better treatment.
Notice how the whole Israel Genocide really brought to light how that "positive" racism wasn't at all positive: there was a lot of positive views and positive treatment for some people merely for being Jewish, quite independently of need or actually deserving it as individuals (which is what makes it Racism). Naturaly the Zionists and Israel weaponized all the positive predisposition towards that ethnic group by passing themselves as the representatives of that group, giving them the room to commit the most Racist Genocide of the XXI Century, comparable only in its cruelty to the actions of the NAZIs, which is still ongoing.
All that "positive" predisposition along ethnic lines towards anybody of a specific ethnicity turned out to have the extremely nasty effect of giving the most murderous assholes amongst that ethnicity the room to commit the most atrocious of acts, exactly because when people are judged by Race not by character, the assholes can hide behind the Race.