There's a song called UNCLE TOM'S PRAYER, sung by Cordell Reagon, on a 2-CD set called "Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs, 1960-1966," Smithsonian Folkways #40084, 1997. The following words come from a sound sample at Barnes & Noble:

Oh, I am no Uncle Tom, Lord. That's what the people say.
But I ain't no Uncle Tom, Lord. I'm just a little afraid.
Oh, help me, Lord, to stand up and be a man,
And to fight segregation as long as I can.

Well, what about my job, Lord? What shall I do?
You know if I join that line, Lord,...

This is a long shot, but I know a lot of civil rights songs were based on older songs, so MAYBE there is a connection.