Open Thread: Uncle Toms and House Negroes
by Latoya Peterson
Okay, so first, it was Nader talking about how Obama “might” act like an “Uncle Tom.”
Now, Al-Qaeda’s called him a house negro.
What did Eric D. say in the comments? Stop the world, I want to get off? I concurr. I need a damn nap, so there isn’t much intelligent commentary from me on this one. I think all I can muster is a spew of profanity.
Luckily, Dr. Melissa Harris Lacewell & Dr. Yolanda Pierce over at The Kitchen Table have us covered.
First, there was Melissa’s response to the “house negro” incident:
I didn’t start a revolution at The Kitchen Table while you were in class, but Al-Qaeda was clearly tripping while I was teaching. After my long seminar yesterday I came back to my office to a phone call from a Saudi newspaper. They wanted to talk with me about the fact that Ayman al-Zawahri accused Obama of being a “House Negro.”
When I first heard the message I thought one of my friends was teasing me. A Saudi newspaper is reporting on Al-Qaeda calling Barack a House Negro? Doesn’t that sound like some kind of twisted practical joke that my overly intellectual friends would perpetrate? But the story is true and I find this latest Al-Qaeda video truly fascinating.
It demonstrates a certain sophisticated engagement with American racial politics. As I chatted with the reporter I realized that I have no idea how to lob an equally devastating cultural insult at Ayman al-Zawahri. I am not sure how to suggest that he is inauthentically Muslim. What is the Al-Qaeda equivalent of a house Negro? Infidel? So there is a part of me that appreciates the fact that people around the world have read Malcolm X, that they know something about the history of American slavery, and that they understand the continuing cultural significance of this kind of insult. In a twisted way, this is an indication of cosmopolitan blackness.
Yolanda responds:
After I read about a member of Al-Qaeda calling President-elect Barack Obama a “house Negro,” I had a moment in which I thought the world had truly gone insane. This comment reminded me of when Mexican president Vincente Fox said that Mexicans in the United States do work that black Americans won’t. In that one statement, Fox revealed an accurate knowledge that black Americans labored under sub-standard conditions as they built a nation with their blood, sweat, and tears, but were not allowed to partake of the wealth of that very nation. But he also suggests that the societal position of African Americans is rigidly fixed at the bottom of the hierarchy, where they “belong.” Of course, in doing this, he insults the citizens of his own country with his low opinion of African Americans – that we are essentially still slaves.
So now I’m thinking: how bad must the racism in this country be, how obvious is it, so that Al-Qaeda extremists are mocking us? Al-Qaeda is using our own complicated racial history to suggest failings in our political or social system. They are clearly wrong about Barack Obama being a “house Negro,” but I do marvel in their ability to correctly use that term as a particular kind of insult.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking about joining them at the table for that drink.
Discuss in the comments. An idea I am playing around with is the appropriation of “in house” language by other groups, but that thought isn’t fully formed yet.
Update: Joseph made a comment that I feel should be addressed in the post. He wrote:
I like to think I know you well enough by now to get where you are coming from but I gotta say I think conflating a representative of al-Qaeda with a prominent Arab-American (Nader) is not okay. The contexts for their comments were completely different and I’m not hearing any acknowledgment of that. Al-Zawahri and Nader both have an interest in raising questions about Obama’s creditability in relation to their concerns, but their concerns are completely different.
To clarify: I brought up Nader’s former “Uncle Tom” comment because Nader, like Al-Zawahri, is not African-American, yet felt like he could use language specific to that community to denigrate one of its members. And, to my knowledge, I haven’t heard anyone else use the terms. We have an entire archive of articles by now which has various members of the media weighing in on his blackness, if he is really black, if Obama was elected because “he acts like a Caucasian” but only two incidents where a non-black person felt comfortable enough throwing out that racially loaded term. – LDP
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
cnulan wrote:
First time commenter, I saw this article in the sidebar at UndercoverBlackman.
As I scanned the headlines in the NYTimes this morning, and then read the backgrounder article on Valerie Jarrett – this snippet jumped off the pages in the context of the house negro aspersion;
Isn’t that a classical description of being given access to the house? Doesn’t Ms. Jarrett exemplify the bulwark of aging second and third line inheritors of the civil rights movement, typically lawyers and preachers, who occupy gatekeeping access to the house in just about every major (and minor) American city?
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 8:03 am ¶
Cactus Lion wrote:
Relevant op-ed piece from the LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-obama21-2008nov21,0,6421492.story
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 8:37 am ¶
atlasien wrote:
Here’s a reaction from Juan Cole:
“Al-Zawahiri has seen a lot of Muslim politics, and if he is this afraid of Obama, it is a sign that the new president has enormous potential to deploy soft power against al-Qaeda, and al-Zawahiri is running scared, trying to pretend it is still the 1960s, when it just isn’t.”
Cole has some interesting stuff in that post about reception of Obama in the Muslim world.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 9:44 am ¶
Matt wrote:
My favorite wasn’t Zawahri, but leftist, British journalist, John Pilger. He made clear whose house Obama will be serving. (If I had more time, I’d explain a little better why I think that’s particularly relevant.) Norm Geras really got to the point:
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 10:09 am ¶
gatamala wrote:
Zawahiri sounds like he just took Nationalism 101 during Freshman year. He was that dude with the Timbs, dashiki, backpack and chewing on a stick.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 10:50 am ¶
elledub wrote:
i don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist but shit like this makes me feel like these tapes are fake. i just don’t see anybody from al qaeda using the term “house negro.”
i could be completely wrong though
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 11:07 am ¶
Matt wrote:
elledub, Juan Cole will tell you he really said”house slave .”
I think Cole should go talk to some professional translators about the meaning of such quibbles -and I stopped reading him some time ago- but the rest of his post is pretty solid. This is a problem with all Manichean ideologies: progress must always be discounted.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 11:46 am ¶
The Cruel Secretary wrote:
@gatamala–
Zawahiri sounds like he just took Nationalism 101 during Freshman year. He was that dude with the Timbs, dashiki, backpack and chewing on a stick.
LMAO!
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 11:48 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
I found it slightly hilarious, to be honest. “House Negro” or “Uncle Tom” or “Sell Out” – doesn’t matter. It’s the One Size Fits All insult pulled out as some kind of trump card meant to shame and infuriate the black subject in question into rising up with Real! Negro! Authenticity! To prove you wrong! Maybe that’s what Ralph Nader was hoping for?
It seems like if there’s one thing the world thinks it knows about American blacks (other than jazz and the hip hop I guess), it’s that we are paralyzed with concern about our own individual authenticity. Or something? Is that it? Get a black man to fall in line by calling him a House Negro if he doesn’t do what you think he should be doing?
It’s rhetorical cotton candy. Absolutely substance free.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 12:12 pm ¶
em wrote:
an al-qaeda leader referring to obama as a “house negro” or as another comment suggests “house slave” gives me a “huh?” moment, but not necessarily because this person knows enough about american history to use the term.
traveling outside of the country and hangin’ with foreigners here quickly taught me that the rest of the world is usually VERY informed about us and our history, which hardly ever holds up in the vice versa model.
this may be a total assumption on my part, but i also understand that many people with access in the middle east partake in higher educational experiences in the u.s. and western europe. so it doesn’t seem surprising that an al-qaeda leader would know and use the term.
i don’t know enough about “in-house” language, but my current feeling is that when it’s directed at our first president of color, there’s something very wrong about it.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 2:14 pm ¶
Paz wrote:
Re: the Vicente Fox comment.
I don’t see how his comment implies that the lowest social status is where blacks ought to be. I’m not defending his comment, but I just don’t see that assumption. I see it as more matter-of-fact that blacks generally have a lower social status, than implying that blacks deserve to be there.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 2:26 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Al-Qaeda use the term “House Slave” as opposed to calling him an Uncle Tom?
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 3:56 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Kaonashi –
Yep – the Uncle Tom comment was from Nader.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 4:12 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
Um, you Americans need to know that the rest of the world knows more about the United States than the United States knows about the rest of the world. A lot of popular culture flows outward from the U.S., but not as much pop culture flows into the U.S.
It’s an asymmetrical knowledge relation, since the U.S. is a lot more powerful than other countries. Think about how much white people know about racial minorities versus how much racial minorities know about white people (in white-majority countries). Think about how much men know about women versus how much women know about men.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 8:35 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
Also, why wouldn’t Al-Qaeda read Malcolm X? Malcolm X was a pretty high-profile American Muslim.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 8:55 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@Restructure!: Um, plenty of us Americans are well aware of the fact that a lot of popular culture flows out of the U.S. – more than flows in. Plenty of us have heard this 100 million times. Many of us have even experienced this having lived outside of the States.
Nonetheless, a lot of “the rest of the world” still gets the US wrong and or has odd suppositions about how things work here.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 9:07 pm ¶
Joseph wrote:
Hm.
I can’t help but find the pearl-clutch over this a bit disingenuous.
This is al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda.
Not the 4-H Club. Al-Qaeda.
You were expecting maybe Al-Qaeda would be like “Woo-hoo, Barack got in! We did it. Now let’s find another outlet for our energies! Who is up for Yahtzee?
Without doing a thing (yet) Obama is already incredibly popular in the Middle East. Ayman al-Zawahri is attempting to diffuse that by calling him out on his credibility. Have I heard African Americans make the exact same argument, with the same language? Um, yes.
Is it racist language? Sure. Do I think al-Zawahri is intending to make a racist attack with this statement? Nope. I don’t think he even has the context to do that if he wanted to. And why exactly would he want to? What would be gained by that? It is a particular kind of Western/US narcissism to assume that “Al-Qaeda is using our own complicated racial history to suggest failings in our political or social system.” No they aren’t. Good lord. They are not thinking about us that hard. Al-Qaeda is trying to drive the US-led west out of the Middle East. Period. That is the whole brief. Signaling to other leaders in the ME that this guy might look more like us than the last one, but he is probably going to have a similar agenda is what this was about. Not a complex critique of US American racial politics. Jesus, we can’t even manage to do that ourselves and you think some dude who lives in cave can just fire off the witty bon-mots and sum up the whole thing just so? No.
@ Latoya
I like to think I know you well enough by now to get where you are coming from but I gotta say I think conflating a representative of al-Qaeda with a prominent Arab-American (Nader) is not okay. The contexts for their comments were completely different and I’m not hearing any acknowledgment of that. Al-Zawahri and Nader both have an interest in raising questions about Obama’s creditability in relation to their concerns, but their concerns are completely different.
Nader’s job is to oppose whoever is in power in order to agitate for the people. Gadfly is his job. Nader does not need you to like him or approve of him. His effectiveness as a public advocate/activist depends on not needing those things. Progressives are not going to give Obama a pass just because he is Obama. If anything agitating for unpopular progressive causes is even more difficult under a Democrat. This was certainly the case under Clinton. So yeah, he’ll have something to say and it won’t be “good job.”
But that doesn’t make him a member of an international terrorist organization. This isn’t an episode of “24.” And the implication is tango-ing with offensive.
Look, I would never defend the use of this language (in either case) and I wouldn’t try to talk anyone out of being offended by it. But I think the complete lack of context for discussing them in this post is really misleading.
Posted 24 Nov 2008 at 10:03 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Joe –
I see your concerns. When I put up the post, I didn’t think about it in those terms, but specifically in terms of non blacks using language typically used as an in house insult. As I wrote here:
An idea I am playing around with is the appropriation of “in house” language by other groups, but that thought isn’t fully formed yet.
Because to me, that is the common link.
People who suddenly feel like it’s appropriate to denigrate African Americans using terms we made up to trash each other with. Why not use the race neutral term “Sell out?” I focused on both Princeton Prof’s responses because they both felt that same strangeness in the way this language was applied and used.
But, I understand your concerns. I’ll amend the post.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 8:53 am ¶
Restructure! wrote:
I’m not comparing what non-Americans know about Americans with what Americans know about Americans; Americans would know more about themselves, I presume. I’m comparing what non-Americans know about Americans with what Americans know about non-Americans.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 10:00 am ¶
Joseph wrote:
@Latoya
Thanks for hearing me on this.
I understand where you are coming from too. But I’d argue in the case of al-Zawahri that he has access to this language via Malcom X, who used it originally, and to whom he was comparing Barack Obama. I want to be clear that I am not defending the comparison, but in the context of Middle Eastern politics I understand it and don’t think its personal. I think it is political.
(Nader is a separate conversation, which we’ll have another time…but you know I think he is more “in-house” than you do)
In a larger sense I think an Obama presidency is going to put pressure on a lot of previously “in-house” terms and expressions. (This has already started to happen re: “Mutts.”) And it seems to me that we need to become even more sophisticated in the ways in which we talk about it. Or else we run the risk of reinforcing ethnic stereotypes instead of challenging them.
I just don’t think we can afford to spend the Obama presidency parsing each racial remark in isolation from its context or we will a) miss the larger impact of his Presidency on the world and b) burn out our stomach linings by Spring.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 1:00 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@Restructure!: And . . . I still don’t understand why that’s supposed to be revelatory or something the audience here does not understand.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 2:48 pm ¶
Marie wrote:
@Joseph
Totally agree on your analysis of al-Qaeda’s motivations. Narcissism is ever present in that conversation. Having said that, I would add though that al-Qaeda’s positioning itself as Muslim does not exempt it from racism. Most of the world was and still is impacted by the colonialism that made black slavery possible and that effects perceptions of blacks most places. I have also met many Arab muslims in Europe anyway that bemoan racist attitudes against black (American) muslims.
@Restructure!
I live in Europe and most people here who believe they get the US and believe they are critical of it get most of their facts from Michael Moore films. I also used to think people outside our borders were better informed than us but once I started coming in contact with people outside a university context, I see no difference.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 3:51 pm ¶
Marie wrote:
When I mentioned bemoaning racist attitudes, I meant within the Muslim community. And I am no expert on this, just passing on what I’ve been told!
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 3:55 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
@A.D. Nix:
Then why did Melissa think it was some kind of twisted practical joke from her overly intellectual friends? Why is it a revelation that she can’t launch an equally devastating cultural insult at al-Zawahri?
@Marie:
I wasn’t saying “get the US”, but “get the US” more than say, Americans would “get” “Europe”. Do you think Europeans’ ignorance of the United States is equal to Americans’ ignorance of Europe? I’m asking honestly.
As a Canadian, I get the impression that Canadians are more likely to know who the U.S. president is than Americans would know who the Canadian PM is. I also would think that Britons would know who the U.S. president is more than Americans would know who the PM of the UK is; that the French would know who who the U.S. president is more than Americans would know who the French president is, etc. However, you live in Europe, so correct me if I’m being too presumptuous.
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 8:01 pm ¶
timarasa wrote:
@ restructure!: i think it also depends on which world leaders are getting the most global media coverage. i’m an american and yes, i don’t know who the canadian prime minister is, sorry–i will look it up now! but as a few examples, i do know who the current UK & israeli PM’s, french, zimbabwean & south african presidents, and UN secretary-general all are, just because of the coverage they have been getting in the news i listen to and read. even americans who solely get their news from Fox or any other outlet that highlights (though superficially) world news or leaders that directly affect US interests and operations, would know or at least heard of Tony Blair & Pervez Musharraf (even if they’re not the current leaders of their respective countries anymore
). of course, i can’t speak for people who do not bother to keep them selves informed of the world around them at all. they make the rest of us look bad 
)
Posted 25 Nov 2008 at 11:53 pm ¶
timarasa wrote:
…but i heard a while back about michaelle jean being the goverenor-general of canada, mainly b/c she’s repping caribbean WOC, woo-hoo!! news like that always spreads quickly through the haitian grapevine
)
Posted 26 Nov 2008 at 12:06 am ¶
Lxy wrote:
re: the USA’s relationship to the world
Here’s a funny map entitled “The World According to the U.S.”:
http://hoefliger.net/itsfun/graphics/the_world_according_to_america.gif
Posted 26 Nov 2008 at 7:50 am ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@Restructure! : The quip about thinking it was a practical joke is called a rhetorical device. Dr. Lacewell’s recognition of her inability to lob an insult in kind was not about, what’s that? America exports some aspects of its culture? International figures often know things about America???? but that 1)There are certain aspects of American culture that are not typical exports and 2) She does not know of a codified parallel insult for mulsims, if it even exists (either way, the term would lack ‘House Negro’s sudden relevance.)
Hearing a toddler talk is not surprising. Hearing a toddler use ‘onomatopoeia’ in a sentence is surprising. So someone coming along and saying “Um, you Americans need to learn that toddlers can talk” ignores the source of that surprise and underestimates the audience. But, on the upside, the speaker gets to bask in smug satisfaction so, somebody wins.
(Interestingly, she goes on to talk about how the use of ‘House Negro’ relies on a false understanding of slavery in the U.S.)
Posted 26 Nov 2008 at 1:17 pm ¶
Abu Sinan wrote:
Matt,
Juan Cole actually speaks Arabic, and as a speaker of Arabic, I understand where he was coming from with his comments. I guess the history and use in Arabic might have escaped you, but since you dont speak Arabic that would be expected. If you have ever translated from one language to another you’ll understand.
As to the Malcom X thing, I dont think that came from al-Zawahri. I think the references and the direction he was going was strongly influenced by the white convert to Islam that plays a major role in AQ.
As a convert to Islam he’d be aware of Malcom X, read his biography, and as an American he’d be able to point aZ in the proper direction.
Recent speeches from him have shown a degree of knowledge and nuance that would have only come from someone who has lived or been raised in the USA. I think this speech is another example of that.
As to the Middle Eastern reaction to Obama, I think they are going to be very disappointed.
Not that from an American perspective I think he is going to do anything unexpected, but from conversations with friends and family from the Middle East, they are expecting way too much from him.
At times one could think he is the Mahdi or something in the way they talk about him.
He isnt going to bring peace in Palestine anytime soon, he isnt going to “kick the yahoodis out of the White House” and he isnt going to shift policy towards the Palestinians.
I think some people in the Middle East got a reality dose when the father of his chief of staff made anti-arab comments to an Israel paper recently.
Posted 26 Nov 2008 at 11:49 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
@A.D. Nix: I assumed that terms like “House Negro” and “Uncle Tom” are not atypical exports, since these terms are somewhat mainstream. Would “Al-Qaeda calls Obama a house negro” be a headline if mainstream America doesn’t know what “House Negro” means?
Why is this surprising, if mainstream America has a false understanding of slavery in the U.S.?
Posted 26 Nov 2008 at 11:57 pm ¶
A.D. Nix wrote:
@ Restructure! : I’m really not getting your point here at all. Mainstream in America does not translate to typical export. Nor do I think ‘House Negro’ is terribly mainstream (my U.S.-born boyfriend had never heard of it, my German ex-boyfriend had a good guess at what it meant but wasn’t sure – and he’s been living here for over a decade). Uncle Tom is very mainstream but not really in question as it was used by Ralph Nader – a headline from another time. But Harriet Beecher Stowe is taught in high schools. ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ isn’t frequently found on a syllabus outside of a University.
I not sure I understand the direction of your last question. My point is about her mention of this in her discussion of the terms use. I did not, and would not, express surprise at anyone having a false understanding of slavery (it was a complex institution)- certainly not mainstream America. And she is not necessarily referring to mainstream America here – I think this is most relevant to the communities where the term ‘House Negro’ typically lives and for whom it is often mobilized to police behavioral borders. And that is not mainstream America.
Posted 27 Nov 2008 at 11:13 am ¶
Marie wrote:
@Restructure!
I’m not judging them but just pointing out there’s no big difference between the average Joe in the US and the average European – except that they have health care! Maybe a waiting list too but they have it 
I think timarasa answered the question you had for me but I’ll just add that after I came out of the university bubble in Europe, I meet plenty of people – daycare workers, accountants, real estate agents etc that have no idea where DC is, think the US has no public schools, thinks the financial crisis is only happening in, and effecting, the US and the list goes on. What is even funnier for me to realize is there are quite a few people here that “Do the US” like Americans are famed for doing in Europe. Well Europeans do the same – take a whirlwind tour of the country and don’t remember which states they were in. Of course they remember they saw the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Death Valley but they have no idea where they were
Posted 29 Nov 2008 at 9:24 am ¶
Matt wrote:
Yes, and this has something to do with why I cited him. Perhaps you misread me? In any case, I’m not sure what it is about my comment that bothers you.
Damn! In order to keep from being an Uncle Tom, he has to discriminate against Jews?
Posted 30 Nov 2008 at 1:56 am ¶
April wrote:
I believe that Ayman al-Zawahri use of the term “House Negro” was fully indented to be racially insulting. I find it fascinating that some could see it as something else. How is the term used in any other way…examples would be appreciated.
However, I will concede that the man is out of touch, especially where it comes to Malcolm X. Al-Zawarhi must have a limited view of Malcolm X to believe that he (pre or post pilgrimage) would appreciate the motives or practices of Al-Qaeda.
Posted 01 Dec 2008 at 12:05 am ¶
bdsista wrote:
I think its very racist and to think otherwise is to be completely myopic about racism and Arabs. It is my understanding that the slavery in the Sudan is perpeturated by Arabs. In the bellydance community there is a pattern and practice of Arab restaurant owners refusing to hire African American dancers. Even ones that are light. One owner in the DC area trying to book a dancer for a private party specifically said, “I do not want a dancer who is from the slaves of this country.” WTF? Unforturnately he didn’t realize that he was talking to a Black woman who had spent 21 years in the Airforce and had been stationed in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, etc. because she didn’t “sound” Black, hmm no Aunt Jemima dialect?
This kind of racism happens in Canada and all over the US and even though it may seem fringe, it affects Black woman as artists having access to work doing a dance that comes from AFRICA!!!
I agree with LaToya about Nader whom has lost my respect, gadfly or not, there is no excuse to use racial/racist references. There is a difference between intra and intergroup insults and unless you are in the group, its not cool to use them.
Having been in Egypt, Europe and Singapore and Japan, I can tell you that there are plenty of people who have no damn clue about the US. Most people do not know where Maryland is and I would talk to people in Asia who had never heard of the island of Jamaica or most caribbean islands. I had someone in England ask me where to go in the US if he wanted to start a career in music. I had to break down for him how daggone big the US is and there are certain places you go for certain types of music. Like Nashville/Brandon for country western, NY/LA for Jazz, etc. But Marie got it right and I am right pissed off about the comment.
Oh thought the flag was funny, was it drawn by Sarah Palin?
Posted 01 Dec 2008 at 2:31 pm ¶