I just read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" for the first time. It blew me away.

[funflower]

OK. There's no doubt Harriet Beecher Stowe was a bit maternalistic toward black folk, and her relentless religious messages are a bit loud. What left me thunderstruck, though, was her exposure of the realities of slavery, especially for women, and of the economic and legal system that supported it. I was also flabbergasted by the degree to which some attitudes have not changed in a century and a half (particularly the idea that's OK to exploit a certain class of people because "they" don't think and feel as deeply as "we" do).

Stowe was limited by her time and place in history and by her life experience. Still, I can see why this book really shook people up in 1852. I think the book contains lessons about social justice and social responsibility that are still timely.

I also don't understand why it's considered an insult to call someone an "Uncle Tom." In the book, Tom is not a collaborator. He's a practitioner of peaceful resistance, a kind of enslaved, black Henry David Thoreau. He's an heroic figure, despite his refusal to resort to justifiable violence.

Just my two cents.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Pre-Civil War, don't forget

It was a brave, brave thing to publish, and that's part of why it's a classic.

Yes, calling someone an Uncle Tom has a completely different meaning from what he was, and it's one of those things that seem to evolve backwards as they go. I personally think it's a matter of seeing not fighting back against racism with fists and violence as a capitulation, a kind of giving in to The Man, a surrender.

I'm really glad you read it, and it sounds like it had a serious and good impact on you. Way to go.............. :thumbsup:

[funflower]

8. Mandela, King, Gandhi....

What a bunch of Uncle Toms!

[postulater]

10. And Daniel O'Connell the Great Irish Liberator!

[funflower]

11. Ah, yes. Some good pubs on O'Connell Street!

I really, really love the Irish!

[noiretextatique]

15. stowe created uncle tom...he was not a real person

like ghandi & mlk.
ever heard of the "magical negro?"...an image of black folks as seen by some others? see "the green mile" for an example.
i can only imagine the anger many enslaved people felt...with damn good reason, too...righteous anger. i can understand why the tom character might have rubbed some folks the wrong way too.

[mattclearing]

2. Thanks for using the word "Thunderstruck."

Now I have the AC/DC song stuck in my head. Does anyone else think it's odd to say "thunderstruck?" I would think you could be "lightningstruck," but thunderstruck is impossible.

Anyway, I've not read UTC, but based on your recommendation, I will definitely pick it up next time I see it.

[msongs]

3. when thunder reverbs knock pictures off the wall because the

lightning was so close, you will be thunderstruck.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[niallmac]

4. You'll find it on the "banned books' table at Barnes and Noble.

I needed this recommendation to go pick it up next visit.

[funflower]

5. It's very readable. Quite a page-turner, really.

OK. Not exactly "The Da Vinci Code," but very engrossing.

[funflower]

6. Was it banned recently or long ago? It uses the "N" word a LOT - but not

from the mouths of the nicer characters.

[niallmac]

13. I don't know a lot about the history of its' censorship

but I do know it was banned more than once since being published and mostly
because it was "brutally honest" about the treatment of slaves in the South.

[MountainLaurel]

14. That happens a lot

"To Kill a Mockingbird" was banned for the same reason: It's depiction of southern whites.

[texpatriot2004]

7. That's written by the little lady who started the civil war...Lincoln

said that to Harriet Beecher Stowe. That is an incredible book. Horrible and yet I couldn't put it down, kept pressing on. It so needed to be written.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. I've always said that is was inaccurate to call someone like Clarence

Thomas an "Uncle Tom." But, I suspect that many who do may not have read the book.

[funflower]

12. Amen! Clarence Thomas doesn't touch "Uncle Tom" in terms of character.

[really annoyed]

16. The book shook me to my core

I read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in high school.

Some books are so powerful, they never leave you. This book would be on the top of my power list!