Reckoning with Uncle Remus, Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby

A culture is always actively seeking re-definition. Things change. We are not what we were meant to become. The same is true for our stories. Where once "Tar Baby" may have been a childhood term of endearment in a folklore story from 1881, today, "Tar Baby" means entirely something else; and it is our duty to each other to learn the why of the difference when context changes.