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The Death of Uncle Ben

Apparently the word uncle has racist annotations. Can someone fucking explains this to me please. Can I not call my uncle uncle at more without some person being offended somewhere
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
Apparently the word uncle has racist annotations. Can someone fucking explains this to me please. Can I not call my uncle uncle at more without some person being offended somewhere
iirc "Uncle" and "Auntie" are old throwbacks to the post-slavery era where black people who were servants were called that as an endearing term because they were members of the family in many ways. "Uncle Remus" is maybe the most popular version of this trope.


guess "Uncle" is problematic, then. however there is a sexist double standard here, since K-Hive fans and liberal allies are fond of openly calling black women "Auntie" to this day.:

upYj8Bd.png


Kamala actually has "Auntie" in her Twitter bio alongside a bunch of other things white allies like:

oSAqh0R.jpg


odd that "Uncle" is problematic but "Auntie" isn't?
 
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DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
#Phonepunk# #Phonepunk# I think the Auntie thing THESE DAYS is more a term of endearment to older black women whom the younger set look up to. It's not referencing the old days though I know some old heads probably don't like the term (including Uncle) towards non-relatives.

I honestly didn't know about this growing up. I only called my actual aunts "aüntie" or "aintee".
 

nush

Gold Member
#Phonepunk# #Phonepunk# I think the Auntie thing THESE DAYS is more a term of endearment to older black women whom the younger set look up to. It's not referencing the old days though I know some old heads probably don't like the term (including Uncle) towards non-relatives.

I honestly didn't know about this growing up. I only called my actual aunts "aüntie" or "aintee".

Auntie in that context isn't exclusively used by black families.
 
This shit is tiresome.

This jogged a memory of me making stupid jokes in retail years ago which would be heinously racist by today's standards since humor is dead these days. When I saw a POC with this product in their basket, I used to ask one of my staff if they would dare to approach the customer and tell them that unfortunately they are not allowed to buy it.

military.house2home.jpg
 

cryptoadam

Banned
iirc "Uncle" and "Auntie" are old throwbacks to the post-slavery era where black people who were servants were called that as an endearing term because they were members of the family in many ways. "Uncle Remus" is maybe the most popular version of this trope.


guess "Uncle" is problematic, then. however there is a sexist double standard here, since K-Hive fans and liberal allies are fond of openly calling black women "Auntie" to this day.:

upYj8Bd.png


Kamala actually has "Auntie" in her Twitter bio alongside a bunch of other things white allies like:

oSAqh0R.jpg


odd that "Uncle" is problematic but "Auntie" isn't?


I work with a bunch of black people that use the term as one of respect and enderment for an elder man. Its either an island thing or maybe an African thing.
 
They were going to rename it to Father Ben but then nobody could find it.














Thank you, I'm here all night! Tip the staff.
 
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Was uncle ben ever even racist?

I understood when Aunt Jemima got the axe, since she was originally a slave character, but I always thought Uncle Ben was just a black guy enjoying his rice, minding his own business
Same here.
I never even thought about that logo as racist before they told me.
 

Drake

Member
I read a conspiracy theory about this. It was that the people who start initiatives to remove these "racist" images off of products are actually racists themselves. The end goal being that they can now safely walk down the grocery store isle and not have to see black people on products.
 

TheContact

Member
Was uncle ben ever even racist?

I understood when Aunt Jemima got the axe, since she was originally a slave character, but I always thought Uncle Ben was just a black guy enjoying his rice, minding his own business

He was based on an actual rice farmer, and white southerners would call black men and women Uncle and Aunt instead of Mr. and Mrs, and also his getup looks like a servant. I don't really have an opinion on this one way or another but those are the supposed reasons.
 
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