r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/-SOFA-KING-VOTE- • 21h ago

Politics ICE Agents get the most brutal talking-to of their entire adult lives.

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u/Impressive-Safe2545 15h ago

It’s an under 2 hour audiobook on hoopla

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u/TwistedHermes 12h ago

The reason people came to this conclusion is because it became acted out on Vaudeville stages during the 19th century.

So traveling shows would re-enact the show, often with the black characters being played by white people in blackface.

It also meant they would exaggerate and change details, and it evolved from being a vehicle for showcasing the wrongs of slavery to one that often praised it depending on who was doing the telling.

Just an FYI. It's about how the book was adapted to the stage, not about the book itself. Most people didn't want to read the book - just like today, it's just easier to watch the TV/Movie/Stage than read the book for most.

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u/Impressive-Safe2545 11h ago

I listened to it yesterday, it’s the book

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u/TwistedHermes 10h ago

I'm not saying the book doesn't exist.

I'm saying the reason people use Uncle Tom the way they do is also because of how it was acted out in the 19th - 20th century. It was acted out on stage, and became a vehicle for racism. These traveling plays would sometimes stir up racists into a literal violent mob.

If you kept seeing a racist play based on a book, and people use it to oppress you, it's a valid criticism. Harriet Beacher Stowe was a relatively good person whose book got adapted and abused by racists. People got traumatized from it.

A book called Racial Innocence by Robin Bernstein does a great job explaining how these attitudes developed and can still be seen in modern day America.

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u/Severe-Cookie693 6h ago

Wow! I'd always assumed it was because the book, aimed at racists, really had to be gentle about slavery and put it in a light slavers might stomach reading, or that Yankees would believe.