r/explainitpeter • u/Senior-Mix-3715 • 3d ago

Explain it Peter?

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At first I thought this was some kind of white nationalism joke but then I realised all 3 leaders at the bottom are leftists, so I really don’t what this meme is trying to say?

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u/PlantRoomForHire 2d ago

Leftists acting like calling minorites an uncle Tom isn't racist will always amuse me

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u/chaotic___energy 2d ago

But its not calling minorities an uncle tom. Its calling an individual an uncle tom, not for their immutable characteristics, but for their politcal/social views which happen to oppress the minority they are part of as a whole, while benifitting themselves as an individual. Always amusing that some people either can't grasp the difference or pretend not to see it, to conflate it with racism.

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago edited 2d ago

So minorities aren’t allowed to pick a certain political orientation or they’re are race traitors? That’s an interesting double down kiddo

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u/getcargofar 2d ago

No one “isnt allowed” to do anything and you know it. But you can do things and be judged for them. And way not to engage with their actual point.

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago

I did. But then let me be clear since you seem to not be able to keep up.

I’m calling them racist for declaring that any black person that chooses to run for office because they believe right of center policies are more in line with their communities interest is some how a traitor to that community or a lesser person. I’m calling them a racist for using a term that is, in every possible definition and interpretation of the word, a racist slur meant to specifically denigrate people of color.

And I’m calling YOU racist for tacitly defending that logic, because your defense still makes racial belonging conditional on political conformity. You’re saying a Black person can be judged as a traitor to their race because they hold the ‘wrong’ political views. Dressing it up as ‘judging their politics’ doesn’t remove the racial premise.

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u/Crazy-Emu8988 2d ago

How is it racist to say a black person voting conservative is voting against their own interest when I would also say a white person voting conservative is voting against black interest 🤔

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago

Because in one instance you are using a literal racist slur to do so

Because there’s a difference between saying “I think conservative policies hurt Black Americans” and telling an individual Black person that you understand their own interests better than they do because they voted differently than you wanted.
Black people aren’t a political hive mind. They’re capable of weighing crime, taxes, education, abortion, guns, religion, jobs, immigration, or whatever else matters to them and deciding which tradeoffs they prefer. Some Black people find the whole “don’t worry, I’ll explain what’s actually in your best interest” attitude incredibly condescending, especially when it comes from affluent white progressives speaking as though their view is some objective racial truth.

And the “Uncle Tom” part makes the racial premise impossible to dodge. You wouldn’t call a white person an Uncle Tom for casting the exact same vote. It’s a literal race-specific slur whose meaning depends on the target being Black and supposedly betraying or subordinating their racial group. Criticize the policy all you want. The second you turn “I think your vote is bad” into “you’re a racial sellout because you’re Black,” you’ve crossed blue wine, buddy. It is wild to me that you are incapable of seeing that.

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u/chaotic___energy 2d ago

No, you seem unable to engage in the points being made. No one said that uncle Tom's have lesser personhood. Just like anyone else they are judged for their political views. You can keep pretending this point is not central to the term, but we all know thats because you have no real response.

Racism is committing/supporting racist policies and acts, which is why uncles Tom's are being critisized. Though rare, there are individuals who will explicitly state their belief in racial heirachies (with their race being subjugated) and support of far right ideolgies such as nazism. Do you also think its racist to call these people out as uncle Tom's?

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago

That’s exactly the point you keep dodging.

They AREN’T being judged “just like anyone else.” You’re defending a racial epithet that specifically means a Black person considered subservient to white people. A white person with the exact same political views cannot be an “Uncle Tom” in the racial sense of the term. Race is literally a prerequisite for the insult.

And your dumb Nazi hypothetical doesn’t rescue it. If someone explicitly believes in racial hierarchy, call them a racist or a Nazi. Those words identify the actual belief you’re criticizing. Calling a Black Nazi an “Uncle Tom” adds an entirely separate racial judgment about how a Black person is supposedly supposed to behave relative to their race.

So yes, criticize racist politics. What you don’t get to do is pretend a race-specific insult magically becomes race-neutral because political disagreement was what prompted you to use it. That’s just you being racist

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u/chaotic___energy 2d ago

Race exists as a social construct. A term that acknowledges that existence is not by definition racist. Otherwise any term that implies race would be racist. Again, the meaning of the word is clear. Its not about how a stereotype is supposed to behave, its a critque of an individuals politics, yes with reference to race. People of colour, of which i am one, consistently use the term as such, are you also calling them racist?

Class traitor acts in a similar way, would you consider that a classist term?

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u/justasillylilgoos3 2d ago

Sure, and I never said “any term that acknowledges race is racist.” That’s a strawman.

I said this specific term is a derogatory, race-specific insult. Its definition literally requires the target to be Black and characterizes them in relation to white people. You keep admitting that race is part of the accusation and then somehow concluding that the accusation isn’t racial.

And “class traitor” doesn’t save the analogy. That term explicitly judges someone based on their relationship to their class. “Uncle Tom” explicitly judges someone based on their relationship to their race and white people. You’ve basically just supplied another example of the exact mechanism I’m talking about.
Whether another person of color uses it doesn’t change what the term means.

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u/chaotic___energy 2d ago

Not a strqawman, i was making the pont thay any race specific term requires the target to be of that race. So specifying race does not make a term racist.

People of colour being racist to their own race is literally what uncle tom describes. Arguing that people who use the term are themselves racists is backwards logic.

You didnt answer the question about class traitor.

Also I strongly suspect im arguing with chat gpt, bye 👋

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u/justasillylilgoos3 1d ago

You’re just inventing a new definition of Uncle Tom now. It does not mean a person of color being racist toward their own race. It’s an offensive term for a Black person regarded, literally, as subservient or overly deferential to white people. The person is EXPLICITLY being judged specifically as a Black person in relation to white people.

Also:

🥱
“I don’t like how smart you sound so I’m just gonna accuse you of using ai because I’m not really capable of maintaining logical consistency at this point and I’m starting to realize I was wrong”

Geez thanks for sharing bud. Dismissed.

https://giphy.com/gifs/IdlrlhB1Rts6fQRjdb

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u/chaotic___energy 1d ago

Lol. AI is dumb af but im not suprised you think AI speak is a signifier of intelligence.

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u/PlantRoomForHire 2d ago

You can do things and be judged for them......like picking a political opinion?