Tar Baby

a doll made of tar and turpentine, Tar Baby was used to entrap Br'er Rabbit in one of the Uncle Remus stories. The more Br'er Rabbit fought the Tar Baby, the more entangled he became. Since then, a tar baby has referred to a sticky situation that only gets worse the harder you try to fix it. Although the term originated in African folklore and the Uncle Remus stories were told in a manner acceptable (that is, not racist) to many people of the time, by the mid-20th century, the dialect and the "old Uncle" stereotype of the narrator, long considered demeaning by many blacks, as well as Harris's racist and patronizing attitudes toward blacks (he was white) and his defense of slavery in his foreword, rendered the book indefensible to many. When the stories were recently reissued with more acceptable illustrations, one critic wrote, "Isn't it just like liberals to diminish genuine racial and cultural diversity in the name of respecting it?" Actually, it's not liberals as much as some African Americans who find the stories demeaning. It's only fair to say that other African Americans are pleased that the folktales were collected and saved—and they are, considered out of context, rather delightful. The bottom line? Avoid Tar Baby until further notice.