He's clearly not Johnny's uncle, but it's so sweet how the kids all used it as a term of endearment.But I do have to wonder why Johnny's mother calls him uncle, since she doesn't have the same sort of relationship with him as do the kids.
shareMy guess is that "Uncle" and "Auntie" were just common terms of endearment for older black people at the time. It's the same way in "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
shareUgh... A lot of us in the South call older folks we're not related Uncle and Aunt. My 3rd cousin is my best friend and my kids call them Uncle & Aunt but we are really cousins. when it comes to SotS... I would suspect Remus in his young days before the war worked in fields with everyone else... But as he grew older he worked less and became more of a teacher and helped rearing the younger black and white kids on the farm. Soon he became someone they all looked up to for advice and common sense. Judging by his age he may not have worked in fields at all and done more handy work around the place instead. Just guessing. But despite the general want to make every slave owner a mean, hitting, lynching white plantation owmer... There were those that did place thier slaves as thier own kin in a way and treated them well or else they had little help for smaller farms. something else schools refuse to explain any more is the blacks were allowed to gather amongst them selves and have church together. Since they became such deep spirited people in a rich Christain South... That's why the Really Bad People used such harsh methods, using terrible religious imagery, to keep them from having suffrage and voting rights even after being freed. Some where probably treated well... Like Bellsouth's Internet and Charter's service... Only the bad news was spread.
shareWhites of the time period preferred using the terms "Auntie" and "Uncle" rather than "Miss" Mrs. or "Mr." BTW, what's Uncle Remus's last name? In "Gone With the Wind," what's Mammy's actual name?
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
'Uncle' is fairly used when having kids name an adult and able to use their first name
they aren't related to, or directly related too. I remember calling someone 'uncle' that was a friend of my dads for a while. He was white. My 3rd cousin (and best friend) my kids call him 'Uncle' thought they are really 4th cousins to him... I think. Now my dad's parents DID have a maid... he said he called her something... possibly just her first name. But as a general rule so kids aren't calling adults by their first name... (unlike the chubby kid in Modern Family, or Bart in The Simpsons) which is completely rude and without respect... yeah, they might have called a maid 'Aunt something' or ages ago, "Mammy" whatever... it wasn't completely without its context. In actuality it was in respect to the elder. I'm in my 40's and still want to call my Aunt and Uncle, but my Uncle actually told me to just call him by his first name. Some professors/teachers actually also ask, once the student graduates that they can then call the teacher by the first name... for some of us, the respect is so ingrown... it's hard to call them their first name... especially when your Senior English teacher is now your mother-in-law! Ha ha! no kidding! ...though she passed away about 5 years ago...
3rd generation American from a long line of Gottscheers... it was Drandul, dude!
My 3rd cousin (and best friend) my kids call him 'Uncle' thought they are really 4th cousins to him... I think.
You are being picky.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else
It was mentioned in the movie that both of Johnny's parents listened to Uncle Remus's tales when they were younger.
So there was a time when Sally had that sort of relationship, but she grew out of it.
it seems to have been a common term for older black people in the south, used by white people of any age. for instance, in the novel Gone With the Wind i remember an older female character refers to her black butler as 'uncle Peter' even though he is a similar age to her.
I'm not black and not from the south. I'm from the northeast. I was a preteen in the 1970s. My sister and I called all our parent's adult friends aunt or uncle. Their kids did the same thing with my parents. I guess it was a bit unusual because I had to explain it to my friends at school.
shareWell, I´m from Croatia and we kids call all adults that are not our family uncle and aunt. If you are under 18 you usualy call your neigbours and your parents friends like that.
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