Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1037race in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
It is understandable that readers of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
might find the depiction of its black characters,
many of whom are built on racial stereotypes, unset-
tling and even racist. To some extent, this is true: As
a writer in the mid-19th century, Stowe was subject
to the prevailing racial views of her time. Just as
southerners behaved differently than northerners, it
was believed blacks behaved differently than whites.
But even as they are formed by the racist views of
her time, Stowe’s principal black characters have
qualities that directly challenged the stereotypes
of the day. They are loving, compassionate, heroic,
thoughtful, and deeply committed to their families
and their religion. At the same time, many of her
white characters, such as Halley, Marx, Alfred St.
Clare, and Simon Legree, are small-minded, stupid,
and mercilessly cruel, thus challenging conventional
notions of white superiority.
The true measure of racial difference in Uncle
Tom’s Cabin is found between the different black
characters, based on the relative shade of their skin.
Eliza, George Harris, Cassey, and Emmeline, all
lighter-skinned, are more refined in their manner,
speak more fluently, and exhibit behaviors that
would normally be attributed to whites. Because
they are mulattos, quadroons, and octaroons (that
is, having a percentage of white “blood”), they carry
“white” traits. The women all share a beauty that
supposedly transcends their blackness and have
physical features that were particularly valued by
white readers, such as long, curling hair or an aqui-
line nose. George Harris is acutely intelligent. He
invents cost-saving machinery and has a burning
desire to be free. His fiery political speeches resem-
ble those of Thomas Jefferson or Patrick Henry.
Ironically, George Harris is so light-skinned that he
must darken his skin with burnt cork in order to pass
as a Spaniard to escape north.
The lighter-skinned characters contrast greatly
with their darker brothers and sisters in the novel,
all of whom appear to be the most stereotypical.
Even Tom, whose Christian virtue is an example to
all readers, is first noted for his physical difference: a
wooly head and skin a “full glossy black.” Tom’s loy-
alty to his various masters implies a natural servility,
while Tom and Chloe’s dialect suggests not so much
their lack of education but the “impressible nature of
[their] kindly race, ever yearning toward the simple
and childlike.” Other characters, such as Sam and
Andy, with their comic capering and skill in mim-
icry, seem to derive directly from minstrel shows.
Delineating such differences based on skin shade
and racial stereotyping may have served a purpose.
White readers would have demanded it in order
for the novel to appear “realistic.” Having had little
contact with slaves or free blacks, many white read-
ers only knew blacks through what they had read in
literature and seen in minstrel shows. Furthermore,
white readers would have identified more easily with
the lighter-skinned characters and felt the stings of
slavery through them. Eliza says to the Birds, “Then
you will feel for me,” and this sympathy could then
be transferred to the darker-skinned characters.
Highlighting the differences within the black com-
munity also makes the pathology of racism appears
more onerous when it is reproduced by slaves them-
selves. Such is the case in the St. Clare household,
where the lighter-skinned slaves—Adolph, Rosa,
and Jane—hold a privileged place at the top of the
house hierarchy and view with disdain the darker-
skinned slaves—Dinah, Tom, and Topsy. This inter-
nalized racism is both tragic and ridiculous—tragic
because this dynamic reinforces self-hatred, ridicu-
lous because mimicking the slaveowner’s prejudice
does nothing to protect the lighter-skinned slaves.
When St. Clare dies, they are all put up for auction.
Even as Stowe relies on racial stereotypes, she
also demonstrates that behaviors attributed to race
are in fact the products of racism. Topsy is imp-
ish, mischievous, and incorrigible; she lies, steals,
sabotages, and seems beyond discipline. Yet the
novel insists that her behavior is the direct product
of slavery. Raised by speculators, never knowing
her parents, having no family life, and subject to
brutal treatment, Topsy has been robbed of the very
conditions that would make for a psychologically
and socially healthy child. St. Clare says of Topsy,
“I’ve seen this child whipped with a poker, knocked
down with the shovel or tongs, whichever came in
handiest.” Such treatment bears down directly on
Topsy’s soul. When asked by Eva why she acts so
badly, Topsy states, “Spects its my wicked heart. . . .
I spects, if they’s to pull evvery spear o’ har out o’ my