Uncle Remus’s Tale of Br’er Rabbit and the Tar Baby has a strange history. It’s been banned for decades, called racist – yet reflects a longstanding Black oral tradition. What’s the REAL story behind this controversial folktale?
#1: This story was STOLEN by a white man. He heard Black people telling stories to each other, and wrote them down. He’s given credit for writing these stories, but they existed long before some white writer decided to steal them!
#2: The story of the tar baby was never actually labeled racist. It was only described as a story that MIGHT upset some readers. Some people seem to be offended by everything Black!
#3 The term “tar baby” refers to a sticky situation that keeps getting worse. The term was only called racist after white conservatives started using it to criticize liberal politics!
#4: This story was used by our enslaved ancestors to extol the virtues of staying one step ahead of violent white terrorists. It helped encourage those who heard it to hone their survival skills.
#5: This story encouraged young children to challenge a system that was meant to destroy them. Br’er Rabbit was technically a “villain,” yet we root for him to beat the system like those storytellers sought to escape oppression.
We cannot depend on others to tell the truth about our stories. Like those before us, we must sustain our own stories and use them to challenge any system that hurts us!