Prof. Heike Paul on the discussion about the Berlin subway stop “Onkel Tom’s Hütte”
The Berlin underground stop “Onkel Tom’s Hütte” causes controversy. Its name is borrowed from the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852 and therefore the term ‘Uncle Tom’ is linked to a painful history marked by racism. A petition is now calling for the name of the station and the nearby street to be changed. The article in the Washington Post about the initiative and the resulting discourse about the origin of the name features Heike Paul, Chair of American Studies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/09/11/uncle-toms-cabin-berlin/