Click Here for Issues & Views: Don't Blame Uncle Tom

"Nowhere is this more obvious than in the American Directory of Certified Uncle Toms, released in 2002. The book comes with the subtitle: 'Being a review of the history, antics and attitudes of handkerchief heads, Aunt Jemimas, head negroes in charge and house negroes against the freedom of the black race.' It was published by the self-appointed 'Council on Black Internal Affairs' which was set up after the Million Man March and cast itself as the supreme arbiter of black authenticity. The council set the lofty target of '[monitoring] the progress of the black race toward its inevitable freedom.' The book, wittily written as it is, remains a landmark document in the history of internal race regulation. "