'Uncle Tom' and the 'N-Word'

Which term is more destructive today?

September 25, 2017 Larry Elder 7

The pejorative "Uncle Tom" causes more damage than does the word "n——-.

"The "N-word," when used by a white person as an epithet against a black person, is an insult, designed to convey to the recipient that he or she is a second-class citizen. It is designed to make one feel inferior. But it hasn't worked. My parents, as did the parents of my friends, said no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. Lesson learned. For decades, tests measuring self-esteem show that teenage black boys and girls test higher than do white boys and white girls.

"Uncle Tom," on the other hand, when used by a black person as an epithet against another black person, is designed to do one thing and one thing only — to label that person as a traitor, a sellout, as a black person who colludes with white racists to undermine the success of black people...........How bad is this lack of critical thinking? During the O.J. Simpson murder trial, a New Jersey high school teacher wrote about the reaction to the case by his mostly black and brown students. Out of 110 students, only four thought Simpson actually did it. Whenever anyone dared suggest an alternative theory, that possibly Simpson himself might have murdered two people, he or she was denounced as a sympathizer for the wrong side............ Because of the intolerance of different points of view in the black community, we are not having a fact-based debate about the allegation of "systemic" racism in the criminal justice system.

The real "traitors" are those who continue to push a false narrative about the alleged "proliferation" of anti-black police brutality............The executive editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, a black man, recently acknowledged left-wing intolerance. "The left," he said, "as a rule, does not want to hear thoughtful disagreement." The black left, as a rule, does not believe that there is such a thing as thoughtful disagreement......... To Read More.....