It’s been overused to the point that calling conservatives traitors to their race or gender has become boring, unfunny, and ineffectual.
Here is a short list of prominent conservatives and independent thinkers who’ve been accused by their critics of being an “Uncle Tom” or some other vitriolic variation on the overplayed left-wing theme of being a traitor to their race or gender (“Aunt Tomasina,” “Uncle Juan,” “Aunt Jemima,” “Uncle Wong,” etc.):
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley
HUD Secretary Ben Carson
Rapper Kanye West
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West
Former Louisiana GOP governor Bobby Jindal
Attorney Miguel Estrada
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Judge Janice Rogers Brown
Author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza
Author and CRTV host Deneen Borelli
ACT for America founder and author Brigitte Gabriel
Former secretary of state and national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice
Former GOP vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin
Attorney and author Ann Coulter
Former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke
Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.)
Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas)
Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.)
Economist Thomas Sowell
Economist Walter Williams
Scholar Glenn Loury
Turning Point USA activist Candace Owens
Conservative radio talk-show host Larry Elder
Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson
Author Erik Rush
Actress Stacey Dash
Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain
Former University of California regent and businessman Ward Connerly
Former ambassador and GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes
Conservative activist Niger Innis
Tea-party organizer Lloyd Marcus
Author and columnist Star Parker
Author Shelby Steele
Social-media stars Diamond and Silk
ESPN’s Sage Steele
Radio host Charlamagne tha God
Me
Surveying this short list, you’ll notice that all of us public enemies of the progressive diversity-mongers possess an incredibly diverse array of life and work experiences.
We are black, white, brown, native-born citizens, immigrants, and naturalized Americans.
We are Republican, libertarian, moderate, hard-right, and unaffiliated.
We are politicians, diplomats, academicians, writers, economists, entrepreneurs, entertainers, lawyers, doctors, and pastors.
As I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Pretty much any “person of color” who doesn’t adhere militantly to Democratic-party orthodoxy has faced or will face the barbed charge of self-loathing or tribe betrayal.
And legions of women, famous and obscure, wealthy and poor, have been labeled “female impersonators” or “Stepford Wives” for embracing everything from unborn life to gun ownership, high border walls, low taxes, and local control.
According to the self-appointed arbiters of color-coded and chromosomal fealty, if you marry outside your race, you’re a traitor. If you adopt your husband’s name, you’re a traitor. If you’re happy with stay-at-home motherhood, you’re a traitor. If you straighten your hair, or culturally appropriate some other culture’s hair, or bleach your hair the wrong color, you’re a traitor.
Lord, what dreary killjoys these p.c. police be.
I catalogued my favorite malicious mutations of the Uncle Tom card for years on my blog, from “white man’s puppet” to “Tokyo Rose” to “Manila whore,” “Subic Bay bar girl,” banana, coconut, and Oreo. Instead of dissuading me from espousing heretical opinions, these insults spurred me on. Now the increasing exposure and public ubiquity of unapologetic and unorthodox women and minorities seems to have triggered the collectivists’ bile production at the highest levels.
Most recently, the White House Correspondents’ Association gave “comedian” Michelle Wolf a lofty platform upon which to denigrate Sarah Sanders’s womanhood by sniping:
I’m never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you know? Is it Sarah Sanders, is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is it Cousin Huckabee, is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? What’s “Uncle Tom” but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh, I know. Aunt Coulter.
Ultimately, the problem with the whinnying Wolf’s shtick isn’t that it’s mean and divisive. It’s that it’s boring, unfunny, and ineffectual. When everyone qualifies as an “Uncle Tom” in the eyes of the Left’s raging resistance, there will be no one left to pretend to laugh at their anemic jokes.
© 2018 Creators.com