Excerpt: In Defense of Uncle Tom

In his new book “The Overseer Class: A Manifesto,” Steven W. Thrasher rehabilitates the character "Uncle Tom," and encourages Black people in white spaces to be "Tonis"—in honor of Toni Morrison.

Excerpted from “The Overseer Class: A Manifesto.” Reprinted with the permission of the publisher, Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. Copyrighted 2026 by Steven W. Thrasher. Available now where all books are sold. We encourage you to buy from Black-owned or independent bookstores.

As an undergraduate film student, I took a class with cinema scholar Don…