Let me set the scene for today's question.....
picture it: You're in the break room at work. There's you (let's assume you're black) and 3 of your coworkers. One of them being your black friend, the other two being coworkers of the "other color"...one of them is your boss. A news story about Barack Obama comes on and your boss remembers this hilariously funny joke he's heard about President Obama.
aaaaaannnnnndddddd.........ACTION!!!
Your boss: What is Barack Obama?...
You: <~BLANKSTARE~>
Your boss: living proof that no matter how successful a black man is, he's still living in government housing.
Meanwhile, you're getting heated. Your chocolate colored skin has turned an unusual shade of beet red. Normally unachievable by a person your complexion, but understandable in this instance because you're mad as hell.
Your boss oblivious to the extremely racist joke he just made can't understand why you don't see the hilarity of his joke and looks to your "same color" coworker to explain it to you.
picture it: You're in the break room at work. There's you (let's assume you're black) and 3 of your coworkers. One of them being your black friend, the other two being coworkers of the "other color"...one of them is your boss. A news story about Barack Obama comes on and your boss remembers this hilariously funny joke he's heard about President Obama.
aaaaaannnnnndddddd.........ACTION!!!
Your boss: What is Barack Obama?...
You: <~BLANKSTARE~>
Your boss: living proof that no matter how successful a black man is, he's still living in government housing.
Meanwhile, you're getting heated. Your chocolate colored skin has turned an unusual shade of beet red. Normally unachievable by a person your complexion, but understandable in this instance because you're mad as hell.
Your boss oblivious to the extremely racist joke he just made can't understand why you don't see the hilarity of his joke and looks to your "same color" coworker to explain it to you.
You, expect your co-worker to feel the same as you...but he slaps you on the back and tells you to "lighten up".
Oh hell naaaaawwww!!! This negro is NOT making light of this very racist situation?! Oh yes he is...he has assumed the role of "Uncle Tom" and he's playing his part to a "T" (pun intended). He's laughing hysterically and puttin' on a show for the boss man like never before. Which pisses you off even more.
Later that day, you confront your "friend" about what happened and he says he was just doing what he had to do in order to stay in good standings with the boss.
Which leads to my question: Is it ever ok to be the "Uncle Tom" at work? Have you ever been put in this situation before? Were you the Uncle Tom? Do you consider being an Uncle Tom a form of selling out?
Oh hell naaaaawwww!!! This negro is NOT making light of this very racist situation?! Oh yes he is...he has assumed the role of "Uncle Tom" and he's playing his part to a "T" (pun intended). He's laughing hysterically and puttin' on a show for the boss man like never before. Which pisses you off even more.
Later that day, you confront your "friend" about what happened and he says he was just doing what he had to do in order to stay in good standings with the boss.
Which leads to my question: Is it ever ok to be the "Uncle Tom" at work? Have you ever been put in this situation before? Were you the Uncle Tom? Do you consider being an Uncle Tom a form of selling out?
*Uncle Tom- A black man who will do anything to stay in good standing with "the white man" including betray his own people urbandictionary.com
Uncle Tom- a term for a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people. The term comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. *wikipedia
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