The American Directory Of Certified: Uncle Toms [Paperback]

James B. Lowe (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 443 pages
• Publisher: Lushena Books (March 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930097239
• ISBN-13: 978-1930097230
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Realize the point of this book, January 10, 2003

By 

JNAbraham "Justin Abraham" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American Directory Of Certified: Uncle Toms (Paperback)

TO ALL THE PREVIOUS READER RESPONSES.......before you degrade the validity of this book, please remmember what the authors are trying to make us as readers realize. Even though not EVERYTHING in this book is 100% true, and although it SEEMS that the authors are slamming the idea of "success" in america, they are right in saying that these so called Uncle Toms or "sellouts" are not using their positions as powerful and popular figures in the black community and abroad to explode the reality of WHITE SUPREMACY in this country. The book is not saying that just because they are successful that they are Uncle Toms, it is saying so because they do not address the fact that we as a Black community are still being controled and manipilated by the same forces and powers that give these figures their salaries and status. True, people like Oprah and Bill Cosby have done many great things with their careers for all people, but they are still operating within their bondaries as the figures they are. If one of these prominent black figures had the audacity to speak out against the real history of this country dealing with the holocaust against black people and it's 400 year history and HOW TO REVERSE IT, their credibility AND their status, finances, positions and all would be virtually stripped away from them by the SAME corporations, financers and institutions that not only have an influential hand in their present status, but were a part of the mental degradation of black people when this all started. THAT is why some of these names are in this book. Look past the fact that they all don't live in the ghetto or don't speak slang, and pay attention to their role (or lack thereof) in working so that black people will no longer be associated with these things, as well as re-define the meaning of black people being "successful" as a WHOLE and not only as individuals.

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Is everyone an Uncle Tom?, June 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The American Directory Of Certified: Uncle Toms (Paperback)

No matter what a brother or sister does to uplift the race, we are still viewed as Uncle Toms. It's not enough that a brother or sister wants to embelish in his or her success without being made to feel that we are trying to be white. Who we select as mates isn't really anyone's business. Just because they chose outside doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have a great impact on the black community. As a member of the African-American community, we should be encouraging one another to achieve and strive to be what we can be. Not stabbing one another in the back and bringing another down. This book is nothing more than a backlash to successful people of color.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indicted and Convicted, July 30, 2003

By 

Julian G. Johnson (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American Directory Of Certified: Uncle Toms (Paperback)

Did the people who had a problem with this book read it? The analysis, the history, the nuanced perspective is devastating. Perhaps this is the trouble. The authors do not contend that "anybody who makes it is an Uncle Tom." Rather, the authors look at those of us who have been "allowed" to make it and examine their statements on the public record and their contributions, if any, to the race. Fair enough. To paraphrase Malcolm X, "you might not like their saying it, but you can't deny it."

I suspect that the other discomforting aspect of this book is the fact that black people are challenged to look at themselves and determine the ways in which they collaborate with the racist/capitalist system. I felt indicted and on a number of counts - convicted - by the author's, but happily so. Happily, because I hope to shed the self-hating, warped beliefs and behaviors that I hold and that, coincidentally, succor the horrific government we have in the US. The people who mistake a subtle, analytical work with a broad brush attack on successful black folk for being successful black folk are not being real.