# "Uncle Tom" in other minority groups **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559 "2012-07-07T22:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/1 "2012-07-07T22:47:59Z")
On Facebook one of my disabled “friends” considers himself a Republican. IMO it’s a “class betrayal” of his fellow disabled. (Yeah, I agree it’s a dramatic overreaction) What would the disabled “Uncle Tom” be called? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/2 "2012-07-08T01:01:25Z")
In my opinion, this is an excellent illustration of the second half of the aphorism, “Conservatives think liberals have bad ideas; liberals think conservatives are bad people.” He’s disabled, and his being a Republican is, in your opinion, a class betrayal of his fellow disabled people. Wow. Nice. I am glad you see it’s a dramatic overreaction… but it’s one you’re still having. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/3 "2012-07-08T01:06:12Z")
While Republicans are not generally on the forefront of disability issues (or on the front, or even the trailing edge - hence the “class traitor” comment), I think it helps to remember that GHWB signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among other examples. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/4 "2012-07-08T01:13:07Z")
I am somewhere in between “Liberal” and “Conservative” and every time I voice a viewpoint that comes off more Conservative, because I am gay my other LGBT friends act as if I am betraying their interests and my own people. I don’t think people should be limited to one ideology solely because of a factor they cannot control. It’s wrong to tell someone because they are X, they must think Y. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/5 "2012-07-08T01:16:53Z")
Somebody with half a brain that can see past “class” and personal implications ? ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/6 "2012-07-08T05:08:00Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > On Facebook one of my disabled “friends” considers himself a Republican. IMO it’s a “class betrayal” of his fellow disabled. (Yeah, I agree it’s a dramatic overreaction) What would the disabled “Uncle Tom” be called? A Tiny Tim ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/7 "2012-07-08T05:20:10Z")
**Typo** -You’re absolutely right about Bush 41! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/8 "2012-07-08T07:51:29Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > . . . I think it helps to remember that GHWB signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among other examples. . . I think it also helps to remember that GHWB was considered insufficiently conservative by many Republicans. Getting back to the question at hand (sort of), I’ve heard the term “Tio Taco” used as the Mexican equivalent of an Uncle Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/9 "2012-07-08T12:58:23Z")
To the OP, “A shanda for the goyim” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-defines-shanda-for-the-goyim/2011/05/17/AFaOBn5G\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-defines-shanda-for-the-goyim/2011/05/17/AFaOBn5G_story.html) And if _I_ am defending either President Bush, expect a rip in the space-time continuum in 3 … 2 … ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/10 "2012-07-08T14:24:42Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Getting back to the question at hand (sort of), I’ve heard the term “Tio Taco” used as the Mexican equivalent of an Uncle Tom. I know the term “plastic paddy” is used to point out a person who was born in America who is under the delusion that they are Irish. Its usually followed by a phrase something like, “…sure you’re Irish. I mean, what would I know? I was just feckin’ Born here…” I’ve also been told that it is considered extremely insulting to refer to Dubya as a Texan. Just ask Texans… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/11 "2012-07-08T14:30:14Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I am glad you see it’s a dramatic overreaction… but it’s one you’re still having. Yeah, I don’t see any _inherent_ contradiction with your friend’s political party affiliation. (I don’t think the GOP wants to “repeal” the ADA, or anything like that.) Libertarians, on the other hand, probably oppose any kind of law that mandates accommodations for people with disabilities in their businesses, and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/12 "2012-07-08T15:52:40Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > On Facebook one of my disabled “friends” considers himself a Republican. IMO it’s a “class betrayal” of his fellow disabled. (Yeah, I agree it’s a dramatic overreaction) What would the disabled “Uncle Tom” be called? I think the answer should be obvious - **Umkay**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/13 "2012-07-08T16:51:29Z")
My class is human being, which leaves me free to support whomever the fuck I want, whether that person is trying to give me goodies or not. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/14 "2012-07-08T19:17:27Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > To the OP, “A shanda for the goyim” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-defines-shanda-for-the-goyim/2011/05/17/AFaOBn5G\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-defines-shanda-for-the-goyim/2011/05/17/AFaOBn5G_story.html) > > And if _I_ am defending either President Bush, expect a rip in the space-time continuum in 3 … 2 … I think that’s kind interesting, having never heard of such a thing before. But it’s not the same thing as Uncle Tom. An Uncle Tom is despised not because he fulfills negative stereotypes, but because he carries out the oppressor’s bidding to the detriment of his people. “Self-hating Jew” is much more like “Uncle Tom” than “a shanda for the goyim.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/15 "2012-07-08T19:45:09Z")
More like the kappos in the ghettos and concentration camps, who enforced the nazi policies against their own people. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/16 "2012-07-08T20:00:01Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In my opinion, this is an excellent illustration of the second half of the aphorism, “Conservatives think liberals have bad ideas; liberals think conservatives are bad people.” Doesn’t this saying contradict itself? It’s apparently a conservative saying, in that it’s claiming conservatives are better than liberals because conservatives don’t judge people just actions. If it was true, then conservatives wouldn’t say something like “liberals think conservatives are bad people” because that’s the type of judgement against a group that conservatives supposedly don’t make. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/17 "2012-07-09T02:27:17Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > I think it helps to remember that GHWB signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among other examples. > [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > I think it also helps to remember that GHWB was considered insufficiently conservative by many Republicans. I think it also helps to remember that one of the prime movers in getting the Americans with Disabilities Act through Congress in the first place was Bob Dole – who generally isn’t considered “insufficiently conservative” by anyone. And the Asian-American equivalent of an Uncle Tom is a “banana” – yellow on the outside, white inside. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/18 "2012-07-09T03:30:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Doesn’t this saying contradict itself? It’s apparently a conservative saying, in that it’s claiming conservatives are better than liberals because conservatives don’t judge people just actions. If it was true, then conservatives wouldn’t say something like “liberals think conservatives are bad people” because that’s the type of judgement against a group that conservatives supposedly don’t make. My experience is that both liberals and conservatives tend to judge one another, or at least some of each group do. I have heard many times conservatives say “stupid liberals” or “libtards”, which sounds like a judgment of the person rather than just their ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/19 "2012-07-09T05:23:19Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think that’s kind interesting, having never heard of such a thing before. But it’s not the same thing as Uncle Tom. An Uncle Tom is despised not because he fulfills negative stereotypes, but because he carries out the oppressor’s bidding to the detriment of his people. “Self-hating Jew” is much more like “Uncle Tom” than “a shanda for the goyim.” More precisely, the Jewish “Uncle Tom” is the one who \*worries \*that another Jew might be a “shanda”. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559/20 "2012-07-09T06:49:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > “Conservatives think liberals have bad ideas; liberals think conservatives are bad people.” Yes; [you firebomb those you think have bad ideas.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/planned-parenthood-clinic-in-wisconsin-fire-bombed/2012/04/02/gIQASCXWrS_blog.html) Sanctimonious sayings are never worth repeating. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-tom-in-other-minority-groups/627559.md?page=2)