The Tom Caricature
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The Tom Caricature
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The Tom caricature portrays black men as faithful, happily submissive servants. The Tom caricature, like the Mammy caricature, was born in ante-bellum America in the defense of slavery. How could slavery be wrong, argued its proponents, if black servants, males (Toms) and females (Mammies), were contented and loyal? The Tom is presented as a smiling, wide-eyed, dark skinned server: fieldworker, cook, butler, porter, or waiter. Unlike the Coon, the Tom is portrayed as a dependable worker, eager to serve. Unlike the Brute, the Tom is docile and non-threatening to whites. The Tom is often old, physically weak, psychologically dependent on whites for approval.
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http://hdl.handle.net/2323/4843
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Author (aut): Pilgrim, David Dr.
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Exploration article written by Dr. Pilgrim for the Jim Crow Museum website about the history and legacy of the Tom Caricature. The article explores the roots and impact of the caricature from Ante-bellum slavery to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, to commercial images of "Tom's."
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English
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bitstream_12494.pdf
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application/pdf
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270740
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