Uncle Tom (film)

Last updated

Uncle Tom
Uncle tom movie poster Larry Elder.jpg
Official movie poster featuring Larry Elder
Directed by Justin Malone
Written by
Produced byRyder Ansell
CinematographyJustin Malone
Edited byJustin Malone
Music by Damon Criswell
Production
company
Release date
  • June 19, 2020 (2020-06-19)(US)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Uncle Tom: An Oral History of the American Black Conservative is a 2020 American political documentary film directed by Justin Malone, written by Ryder Ansell, Larry Elder, Justin Malone, with Elder as executive producer, and starring Chad O. Jackson. The documentary features interviews with notable people such as Robert Woodson, Stephen Broden, Jesse Lee Peterson, Herman Cain, Carol M. Swain, Allen West and Candace Owens, as well as archive footage of Ben Carson, Shelby Steele, and Thomas Sowell. [1] [2] [3] Elder, who helped write the film, hoped it would promote conservative views in the 2020 presidential election. [2]

Contents

Contents

The documentary collects interviews with a number of black conservative thinkers in the United States who question how the black population have been treated by the political establishment as well as consequences of the policies introduced specifically by the Democratic Party. [1] The war on poverty legislation launched in the mid-1960s is criticized.

Elder asserts that there is a lack of respectful disagreement in the American black community, and contends that conservative black thinkers like Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and Shelby Steele are unfairly ignored or marginalized. [4]

The film title references Uncle Tom, the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin , which today is used as a derogatory term for black people, as demonstrated in the documentary by how black conservatives experience being called terms like "race traitor," "house negro," sellout, "boot licker," "coon," "Uncle Ruckus," and "Uncle Tom" by political adversaries. [1] [5] Elder says in the film, "An Uncle Tom is someone who sold out and embraced the white man by rejecting the idea that you're a victim". [2]

The film was directed by Justin Malone, and is presented in black and white. [6]

Release and reception

Uncle Tom was released on June 19, 2020, and earned $400,000 USD in download sales in its first week [7] By August it had received relatively scant attention from critics. [8]

Megan Basham, the film and TV editor for evangelical Christian magazine World , said that "no major outlet has even bothered reviewing Uncle Tom." [9] Basham wrote that the film had "persuasive arguments and an appropriately long-term perspective that allows for only a few minutes on the presidency of Donald Trump" but that the film suffered from "an overreliance on pundits." [9]

Dante James of Film Threat gave the film 7 out of 10 and wrote: "It's a little misleading in some areas, especially if you know the players involved in this doc, but there are a lot of interesting historical facts about the breakdown of the Black family and how the whole welfare system targeted the Black community." James warned against too much trust of conservatives, citing Malcolm X's words about both political parties being dangerous to black causes. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Tom</span> Title character of Uncle Toms Cabin

Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to protect others who have escaped from slavery. However, the character also came to be seen as inexplicably kind to white slaveholders, especially based on his portrayal in pro-compassion dramatizations. This led to the use of Uncle Tom – sometimes shortened to just a Tom – as a derogatory epithet for an exceedingly subservient person or house negro, particularly one aware of his or her own lower-class racial status.

<i>Uncle Toms Cabin</i> 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Sowell</span> American author, economist, and conservative political commentator (born 1930)

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, author, and social commentator who is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. With widely published commentary and books—and as a guest on TV and radio—he became a well-known voice in the American conservative movement as a prominent black conservative. He was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoover Institution</span> American political think tank (established 1919)

The Hoover Institution is an American public policy think tank that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and limited government. While the institution is formally a unit of Stanford University, it maintains an independent board of overseers and relies on its own income and donations. It is widely described as a conservative institution, although its directors have contested its partisanship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Elder</span> American talk radio host and attorney (born 1952)

Laurence Allen Elder is an American conservative political commentator and talk radio host. Elder hosts The Larry Elder Show, based in California. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio station KABC in 1993 and ran until 2008, followed by a second run on KABC from 2010 to 2014. The show is nationally syndicated, first through ABC Radio Networks from 2002 to 2007 and then Salem Media Group from 2015 to 2022. He maintains ties to The Epoch Times, a far-right newspaper published by the Falun Gong movement.

<i>The Burbs</i> 1989 film by Joe Dante

The 'Burbs is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Joe Dante, and starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson, and Gale Gordon. The film was written by Dana Olsen, who made a cameo appearance in the film. It pokes fun at suburban environments and their sometimes eccentric dwellers. It is now regarded as a cult classic.

<i>The Leopards Spots</i> First novel of Thomas Dixons Ku Klux Klan trilogy

The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of the White Man's Burden—1865–1900 is the first novel of Thomas Dixon's Reconstruction trilogy, and was followed by The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan (1905), and The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire (1907). In the novel, published in 1902, Dixon offers an account of Reconstruction in which he portrays a Reconstruction leader, Northern carpetbaggers, and emancipated slaves as the villains; Ku Klux Klan members are anti-heroes. While the playbills and program for The Birth of a Nation claimed The Leopard's Spots as a source in addition to The Clansman, recent scholars do not accept this.

Black conservatism is a political and social philosophy rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the conservative ideology around the world. Black conservatives emphasize traditionalism, patriotism, self-sufficiency, and strong cultural and social conservatism within the context of the black church. In the United States it is often, but not exclusively, associated with the Republican Party.

<i>C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America</i> 2004 mockumentary directed by Kevin Willmott

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a 2004 American mockumentary written and directed by Kevin Willmott. It is an account of an alternate history, wherein the Confederacy wins the American Civil War and establishes a new Confederate States of America that incorporates the majority of the Western Hemisphere, including the former contiguous United States, the "Golden Circle", the Caribbean, and South America. The film primarily details significant political and cultural events of Confederate history from its founding until the early 2000s. This viewpoint is used to satirize real-life issues and events, and to shed light on the continuing existence of racism against Black Americans.

Huey Freeman is the main protagonist and narrator of The Boondocks syndicated comic strip written by Aaron McGruder, as well as the animated TV sitcom of the same name. Politically sapient and borderline militant, Huey, being a self-described revolutionary left-wing radical, regularly reflects upon current events as well as the plight of African-Americans as it relates to a greater American society. As presented by his logical and rational personality, Huey's character has often been described as "misanthropic" and "cynical". He's named after Huey P. Newton, one of the co-founders and leaders of the Black Panther Party. He is voiced by Regina King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Ruckus</span> Fictional character from The Boondocks

Uncle Ruckus is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the American animated sitcom The Boondocks. Voiced by Gary Anthony Williams, he first appeared on television in the show's pilot, "The Garden Party", on November 6, 2005. Created and designed by cartoonist Aaron McGruder, Ruckus enjoyed great success after appearing in the comic strip of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelby Steele</span> American academic

Shelby Steele is an author, columnist, documentary film maker, and a Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action.

<i>The Mayfair Set</i> British TV series or programme

The Mayfair Set, subtitled Four Stories about the Rise of Business and the Decline of Political Power, is a BBC television documentary series by filmmaker Adam Curtis. It explores the decline of Britain as a world power, the proliferation of asset stripping in the 1970s, and how buccaneer capitalists helped to shape the climate of the Thatcher years, by focusing on Colonel David Stirling, Jim Slater, Sir James Goldsmith and Tiny Rowland—members of London's elite Clermont Club in the 1960s. It won a BAFTA Award for Best Factual Series or Strand in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter E. Williams</span> American economist (1936–2020)

Walter Edward Williams was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author. Known for his classical liberal and libertarian views, Williams's writings frequently appeared in Townhall, WND, and Jewish World Review. Williams was also a popular guest host of the Rush Limbaugh radio show when Limbaugh was unavailable.

In the United States, black conservatism is a political and social movement rooted in communities of African descent that aligns largely with the American conservative movement, including the Christian right. Black conservatism emphasizes social conservatism, traditionalism, patriotism, capitalism, and free markets. What characterizes a "black conservative" has changed over time, and proponents do not necessarily share the same political philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 United States elections</span>

The 1994 United States elections were held on November 8, 1994. The elections occurred in the middle of Democratic President Bill Clinton's first term in office, and elected the members of 104th United States Congress. The elections have been described as the "Republican Revolution" because the Republican Party captured unified control of Congress for the first time since 1952. Republicans picked up eight seats in the Senate and won a net of 54 seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans also picked up a net of ten governorships and took control of many state legislative chambers.

<i>What Killed Michael Brown?</i> 2020 documentary directed by Eli Steele

What Killed Michael Brown? is a 2020 documentary film written and narrated by conservative author Shelby Steele and directed by his filmmaker son, Eli Steele. The film was released on October 16, 2020.

On April 20, 2023, Larry Elder, an American right-wing political commentator and conservative talk radio host who ran for governor of California in 2021, announced his campaign for president of the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kass, John (July 1, 2020). "What frightens the American left: Larry Elder's new documentary 'Uncle Tom'". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on August 5, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Bond, Paul (March 20, 2020). "'Uncle Tom' Documentary Explores What It's Like to Be a Minority Within a Minority Group, a Black Conservative". Newsweek. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020.
  3. "Who stars in Uncle Tom?". uncletom.com. 2020. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  4. Elder, Larry (June 28, 2020). "ELDER: 'Uncle Tom,' the movie". Toronto Sun . Archived from the original on July 5, 2020.
  5. Michael Ayetrwa, Joel Patrick, Brandon Tatum, Patricia Watson, Jesse Lee Peterson, King Facen, Rob Smith, Viswanag Burra (June 19, 2020). Uncle Tom (Motion picture). 2 minutes in. "race traitor", "house negro", sellout, "boot licker", "Uncle Ruckus","Uncle Tom", coon
  6. Jorgensen, Todd (June 24, 2020). "A Dallas Filmmaker Wants to Give Marginalized Black Conservatives a Voice". D Magazine . Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  7. Richardson, Valerie (July 20, 2020). "Larry Elder's Black conservative film 'Uncle Tom' takes top spot for documentaries". The Washington Times . Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  8. Varney, James (August 16, 2020). "Justin Malone, filmmaker, documentary showcases stories of Black conservative thinkers". The Washington Times. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Basham, Megan (August 13, 2020). "A lonely road for black conservatives". World . Archived from the original on September 30, 2020.
  10. Dante James (June 23, 2020). "Uncle Tom". Film Threat .