Uncle Barack's cabin (i.e. the White House)

From Spiegel.de: German Newspaper Slammed for Racist Cover




Oh dear oh dear, I thought someone said he was popular here? (TT topic: Germans seem to love Barack Obama)

I think that picture is funny! Am I now a racist?

I'm sorry but that pretty damn funny. The fact of the matter is that we make fun of politicians all the time, and it is bs to blame it on racism or bias. Same was true for hillary same for her husband. Sometimes a joke is a joke and nothing more. I knwo people who would flip a sh't about that, but personally It makes me smile.

Well, I thought the TAZ is known to report in a slightly ironic way...

Matter of fact, the more I look at it and think about its meaning the more impressed I am. It means that a mere 145 years after slavery was abolished it is not utopian for a black (they call me white!) to become President.

but doesn't the title alone, when taken out of context, suggest that Obama will perpetuate the oppression of black people as an 'Uncle Tom". I'd call that pretty offensive and not what I would expect from TAZ, cultural misunderstandings aside.

Well... if the oven chips man steals it, it could be known as "Grandpa McCain's Nursing Home".

That is actually in pretty bad taste. Racist, I don't know, but pure insensitive stupidity it surely is.

I guess its mostly ignorance on the part of TAZ that they did not understand the connotation of "Uncle Tom" in the first place.

That's the TAZ.
They are WELL aware of their choice of words.
Provocative?
Yes.
Welcome to European freedom of expression.

Racism and xenophobia in the media; you'll certainly find discussions about it on TT.

It doesn't necessarily seem racist. Just a rather clunky attempt at trying to be funny that comes across as dumb and a bit tasteless. Comparing the White House to a hut is slightly amusing, but it could also imply that Barack Obama is an Uncle Tom.

Does anyone remember the furore a few years ago when a German journalist (I think it was in the FAZ) referred to Malcolm Rifkind, the then British foreign secretary, as "der Jude Rifkind"? Some people argued that it was just a form of journalistic shorthand, others that it was a phrase that had antisemitic connotations not only because his Jewishness was irrelevant to the subject of the article but also because "der Jude/die Jüdin + surname" had been used on the official papers of Jews during the Nazi era.

I'm proud that a german publication attempted humor and actually got a chuckle out of me.

Any idea what the content of the article is? If they talk about this being an opportunity to demolish stereotypes and preconceived notions of power differential based on race, fair enough. If they didn't, however, it's naive freshman-level copywriting.

So Obama's seen as anti-white in the states because of his association with Rev Wright and the supposed comments of his wife, but he's seen as subservient internationally? All this while people criticize him for getting a free pass with the media and that (mockingly) "he can do no wrong?" Here he is, stuck in the middle again.

As the Spiegel article mentions, the TAZ takes proud in its "cheeky" front-page headlines (they are often quoted in press reviews), and "cheeky" doesn't go well with non-provocative, politically correct.

The White House picture is the introduction to yesterday's story about Obama's definitive lead in votes, I assume. Newspapers have to be inventive to get their readers' attention. On the TAZ homepage, readers are invited to comment on the front-page. The editors write that it was/is controversely debated among the staff – some see it as alluding to the long way African-American have come, frome "Uncle Tom's cabin" (the novel) to the White House, some merely see it as a relapse into racist stereotypes:


The joke is obviously based on the inadecuacy of the implicit comparison: The White House is by no means a cabin, as the photo illustrates. Then the reader could ask himself: What about the parallel Uncle Tom – Obama? The obvious link between the two is the non-white skin color, are there others?

The critical point is the ambiguity of the "Uncle Tom" reference:

– Does "Uncle Barack" imply "Uncle Tom" as the now common derogatory epithet? That would of course be offensive.

– Does it allude to the novel and its revolutionary content in its time? As much as may today denounce the stereotypes and the "white discourse", this doesn't do the book justice. A historical-sociological approach is IMO more appropriate: A woman author, herself working in precarious conditions, writes about a question that divides the country. The sentimental style eliminates any distance between the (predominantly white) readership and the characters, through empathy, the reader experiences "life among the lowly".

– Does it denote the character of Uncle Tom in the novel? This almost superhumanely good person acts as a saviour, his passive suffering and sacrifice need to be seen in the context of the author's Christian outlook. His death prompts the liberation of fellow slaves and is the final symbol of slavery's injustice, it resonates beyond fiction and supports the programmatic intention, the direct appeal to the reader. – One could see the narrative of the presidential candidate Obama as the "uniter", a role model, the one who can bring about "change" as a (maybe farfetched) point of comparison.

You may be right, but in my experience most black guys in the US don't tend to appreciate the subtle positive literary allusions of referring to them as Uncle Toms.

More importantly how is it seen by the German pucblic. The novel was revolutionary and Uncle Tom was meant to be seen as a hero by the author.

The fact that recently the negative stereotypes and connotations have overshadowed this doesn't change the original intent.

What is relevant is how the Germans view the book? To them, is Uncle Tom a hero, a stereotype or a sell-out?

How many Germans have actually read Uncle Tom's Cabin? (I know as an American I am in the minority that have actually read it) Its a newspaper, not a literary deconstruction course - as a journalist you have to appreciate how the majority of readers are going to interpret what you write - its Journalism not symbolic literature.

Intentions of an original author are all well and good but you have to appreciate how they will be perceived by audiences, I mean Dryden meant the characterisation of the 'nobel savage' as a positive one, but I don't think American Indians would appreciate being called one.

That being said, I don't really care what people write (i'm a politically incorrect prick), but if you arer a journalist its probably best to take into account how your work is going to be interpreted - and never expect too much from your audience: people are stupid.

That's the point, what does the novel mean to Germans? Whether they've read it or not isn't even the issue, if it's presented in German media and popular culture in a positive light for it's revolutionary, anti-slavery message then it could be that the Germans see Uncle Tom as a hero and therefore Obama as one too.

Take Winnetou for example, to us these novels are extremely racist and stereotypical but to Germans, Winnetou is a hero.

I'd like to hear from a German what the novel means to them? Or rather how the novel is portrayed here?

Well the article did mention dissatisfaction within the german black community. I dont know if it is widespread or just a few vocal individuals with thin skin.

I read the book as a teenager (in German). I don't remember uncle Tom as being a negative character at all, but then I don't remember an awful lot of the plot either. I did just have a quick look at German wikipedia, which says:


Maybe that answers your question a bit better.

In order to know about the derogatory meaning of "Uncle Tom", people have to be familiar with American usage and the PC debate, of which only a minority of Germans is aware.

My guess is that most know the story of "Uncle Tom's cabin" via children and youth book adaptions, movies, audio plays. The dramatic content and the anti-slavery message is what impressed them, and it is seen as a story from a past epoch.

As the previous reference to Condi Rice ("Uncle Tom's Rice") shows, there can be a critical touch to the figurative use of the term, denouncing that a member of the African-American minority is instrumentalized (but in this example it mainly stems from the TAZ's strong dislike of the Bush administration).

That's not just an Uncle Ben's thing?

What about aunt jemima?

Oh dear, these brands have a problem ...

At least we don't have Negerkussen...

Could also be of course that Obama will (or already has done) sell out ot the establishment.

It may be a wishy washy greeny liberal rag for soya yoghurt knitters in Birkenstocks but the Taz isn't likely to play a racist line.

They even had a column in there the other week that praised British food!

surely it is more plausible that they just didn't know or understand the racist connotation than that they were making some bitter leftwing swipe at Obama that probably would have gone over the heads of most of the treaders. The text under the headline is actually positive and supportive of Obama which rather suggests this anyway.

The taz seems pretty Pro Obama and they weren't having a snipe at him I don't think.

There are times when Germany has racist aspects to the culture that need to be challenged, calling a type of bier drink a "Neger" is one of them for example.
But I don't think this is one of those cases.

You are cute and German so I will forgive you, but there is no way in hell that calling a black guy running for President of the US a "Uncle Tom" is in any way a good thing and as your own knowledge demonstrates Germans aren't exactly ignorant of that aspect. Especially in light of the fact that at the beginning of this race the black community was asking the question "Is Obama black enough?" (at least the media were pushing this) and inferences of Uncle Tom were a whisper away. As mentioned earlier it was in bad taste and the only way to have redeemed the "provocative" cover would be to have explored this aspect either in reality or satire. Think of what the reaction would be if Germany was poised to elect a Jewish Kanzler and some stupid tasteless cover made similar references to Sondercommandos!

For my sins I read the wishy washy liberal rubbish a fair bit these days so I shall keep an eye out to see if they either apologise or readers send in letters of complaint.
They've certainly raise their profile amongst TTers. No such thng as bad publicity.

Exactly.

I'm German, and I couldn't believe the title when I saw it. But after 10 years in the States, I'm well aware of the implications of the term "Uncle Tom", so I'm probably not typical.

More to the point: if you reverse the scenario like Eurovol did, can you imagine the uproar in the German press about those stupid Americans making rude comments about something they were completely ignorant about?

I really, really like the TAZ. But I think during the vigorous discussions they had before the title was published, maybe they should have asked someone familiar with African American culture. They can do better.

Is it just me or does that sound a little patronizing? – But I'll forgive you.

As someone who studied linguistics and literature, I'm more aware than the average German that in different cultures, words can express different concepts (besides the semantic uncertainties in each language), the reception of a literary work can be different etc. BTW, the majority of the e-mail comments on the TAZ websites dismiss the head-line. But hey, it is not a newspaper's duty to avoid discussions, quite the contrary.

Perhaps the TAZ editors should have taken into account that their readership is not exclusively German. They could have made a little footnote, for instance, to explain what they are refering to.

As I understand it, the tertium comparationis between the literary character Uncle Tom and the presidential candidate Obama could be seen in the idealization of both, the redeeming quality that is assigned to them by the author resp. the supporters. Barack Obama's mission as a "uniter" is understood, at least subconsciously, to help overcome divides and also a historic burden. It is IMO legitimite to make people think about such motivations – all this doesn't mean that Obama can't be a successful president, the issue is that his candidacy is fraught with what voters project into him.

You are still cute, but Uncle Tom is not a literary character alone. Hell, simply googling this would give the idiots at the TAZ a quick lesson in the stupidity they were embarking upon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom

Patronizing hell, I would be hitting on you in a heartbeat if I weren't already married to an even cuter and smarter German girl.

Yes, she is attractive and she is German, as well as being consistently one of the most insightful contributors to TT, if not the most. Keep up the great posting, RD.

A bit of mutual respect, no real initials eh.

Your reasoning behind that statement being?

I've scanned her posts and yes she is helpful for the most part but that's a big call you make.

I told my Ma about it and she went "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh" while shaking her head, implying that it comes across pretty bad in the US. But she did admit that it's funny. Just one of the socio-cultural differences that makes living abroad educational.

Page 14 of today's TAZ has an article defending their little whoopsie.

Maybe it's "Penis thinking"?

Indeed. I love knowing six months ahead of time that if Obama loses the newspaper headlines here will be about the US being a profoundly racist country (which is probably what those TAZ twerps were trying to imply in some way with their stupid headline) and that if he wins, the US will once again become a democratic nation, following on the good example set by European nations where minorities in positions of power abound...

The taz website has a point-counterpoint style piece in both German and English:
http://www.taz.de/1/leben/medien/artikel/1...tz-rassistisch/
http://www.taz.de/1/leben/medien/artikel/1...s-cabin-racist/

From the article:


The 15th amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited not allowing someone to vote based on race. Various "Jim Crow" laws, like required literacy tests for blacks, however continued to make it difficult for some African Americans to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To say that most blacks could not vote in 1961 is simply not true.

Thanks, highered.

Mme Sin is the TAZ subscriber in this house (I only have one subscription, and that's for an industrial publication), and shit, but have we argued about this since Thursday. My line is that TAZ's editor is guilty of the crime of crass stupidity in uncovering a foreign soil without knowing what would be underneath it, and now continues to dig the hole. One wonders if by the end of next week he might have buried himself.

All this aside, and not being an American, I was impressed by Obama's statesmanlike speech (I think it was Tuesday). I only hope that in the unlikely event that the oven chips man don't steal it, and that Obama lasts a four year term without metal being accelerated into his head. We all know what the buggers can be like.

Okay. By now, even the provincial TAZ should have understood that using the moniker "Uncle Tom" in the US (and probably other English-speaking countries) will cause serious trouble. What is however not such an undisputable premise is that any reference to Uncle Tom's Cabin should be taboo in Germany where US specific PC rules are not even widely known. So not following these (universal?) PC rules makes you either an ignorant or a racist?

I tried to explain that the novel in question is seen differently in Germany and that the editors, while risking to be misunderstood, probably just wanted to contrast two points in history in a surprising, not dead-serious (well, nice try) way and make their readers think. So I argued from the point of view of the sender/encoder of the message/information. Those who say it is racist argue from the point of view of the receiver/decoder in a different culture. No wonder there is no congruity between the way the message was intended and the way it is eventually understood.

Off topic: Contrary to Eurovol, I don't think my posts' quality needs to be excused, especially when we are discussing a German newspaper's alleged racism. Conquistador understood my point, and even though I know that I'm just an average contributor, I want to thank him for his kind intervention.

Here is another, albeit much less likely possibility: given that Obama's "black" bonafides were questioned by some earlier in the campaign, the fact he did not campaign as a "black candidate", Obama's strong support from Caucasian liberals, and the reality that he needs a lot of Caucasian support to win the presidential election and will thus target Caucasian voters, it is also possible the taz headline was a reference to these things.

That said, I think RD's explanation is the most likely one, and her viewpoint as a German is one we would do well to give greater weight in light of her previous solid postings and the fact that the taz is a German paper.

RD I think this is a bit like the whole blackface issue that is discussed on TT every year around carnival time.

It reminds me of that topic, too. Another great opportunity to play the devil's advocate.

Solid post, Sin.