Uncle Tom's Pancake House

As I was recording my visual experience for the module five, I noted a particular sign that I find troubling every time I pass by it. It is just off of I-55, exit 165 to be precise, when you are entering Bloomington. The sign is yellow and red and says Uncle Tom's Pancake House. Can you imagine why I find this troubling. If not, a quick google search should give you a 'heads-up'. "Uncle Tom is a perjorative term for a black person who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to white authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation." (Wordnet.princeton.edu. Retrieved March 31, 2010)

I pass by this sign every day and even though I am not a person of color, I find it offensive. The stock characterization of a group of people isn't right and I think signage like this perpetuates stereotypes.

I know I'm on a soapbox here, but really what's in a sign is more than mere letters. The visual rhetoric of this particular sign screams 'slur'.