"Uncle Tomming"

[Garson O'Toole]

The OED has Uncle Tomming with a first citation in 1947.
Uncle Toming n. (also Uncle Tomming)
1947    S. Lewis Kingsblood Royal x. 52   Why, you gold-digging,
uncle-tomming, old, black he-courtesan!

Here is a relevant cite in 1933:

Cite: 1933 March 18, The Pittsburgh Courier, Views and Reviews by
George S. Schuyler, Page 10, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (ProQuest)

Negroes responsible for the ballyhoo about conditions being so good
down South that Negroes who escaped should return there, are merely
Uncle Tomming in the hope that it will please the white folks.

There are many earlier instances of "Uncle Tomming" with multiple
overlapping senses. An "Uncle Tomming" troupe is a theatrical group
that performs "Uncle Tom's Cabin". "Uncle Tomming" also refers to
performing as part of such a troupe.

Garson

On Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 4:24 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Arnold Zwicky wrote on his blog:
>> Green’s Dictionary of Slang (2010) has a 1954 cite
>> for the verb tom, in the relevant sense, and that dating
>> could probably be improved on by a systematic search.
>
> Here are two leads for the verb form "Uncle Tomming". These are
> unverified matches in Google Books. The first has a GB date of 1944,
> but the GB pointer really leads to seventh printing in 2009. The term
> "Uncle Tomming" might be in the 1944 edition, the 1962 edition, or
> later. (Maybe Green already checked these leads.)
>
> An American dilemma: the Negro problem and modern democracy - Page 774
> books.google.com
> Gunnar Myrdal, Sissela Bok - 1944 - 936 pages - Google eBook - Preview
> But the common Negroes do feel humiliated and frustrated. And they can
> afford to take it out on their leaders by defaming them for their
> "kowtowing," "pussy-footing," and "Uncle Tomming"; by calling them
> "handkerchief heads" and "hats ...
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=1S8XwCM-EYcC&q=tomming#v=snippet&
>
>
> Here is the same text in another book with multiple editions. The
> first has a GB date of 1956 and a WorldCat copyright date of 1948, but
> there were multiple editions so the date is uncertain. The term "Uncle
> Tomming" might be present in some 1948 edition, or a 1964 edition or
> later.
>
> The Negro in America
> books.google.com
> Arnold Marshall Rose, Gunnar Myrdal - 1956 - 324 pages - Snippet view
> And they can afford to take it out on their leaders by defaming them
> for their "kowtowing," "pussyfooting," and "Uncle Tomming"; by calling
> them "handkerchief heads" and "hats in hand," and particularly by
> suspecting them of being ...
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=vTt2AAAAMAAJ&q=Tomming#search_anchor
>
> Worldcat has an entry that says:
> The Negro in America
> Author:         Arnold Marshall Rose; Gunnar Myrdal
> Publisher:      Boston : Beacon Press, 1956 [Copyright 1948]
>
> But another edition was published in 1964:
> 1. The Negro in America.
> With a foreword by Gunnar Myrdal.
> Published: New York, Harper & Row [1964]
>
>>
>> According to the late-great:
>>
>> "He [a black policeman, when in the company of a white partner] may
>> _tom out_ on yo' ass."
>> -Richard Pryor, ca. 1967, in person; 1971, on the album, Hope I Don't
>> Crap! (Laff Records)
>>
>> I find that sign to be more embarrassing than appalling.
>>
>> <sigh!>
>>
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org