Racism, Stereotypes and Comic Books Part 2: The Blackquel

Racism, Stereotypes and Comic Books Part 2: The Blackquel

Most White people don't want a Black savior. Super Heroes are saviors. Unlike African Americans & other people of color who accept White super heroes as their own. Most white people think a BLACK SUPER HERO IS ONLY FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND THAT IS RACIST.

Editorial Opinion
By IveBeenHereB4uALL - Jan 21, 2010 01:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Other

Racism in the comic book industry isn't a new thing. Just look at DC and Marvel's starting line up. Yes, I know you're probably saying for me to lighten up like Sammy Sosa, but not until Marvel and DC darken up their roster. Now, why am I writing this article about racism in comic books? Because as a black man, it's hard to get a proper comic book movie made about the black characters I like, mainly because there aren't any. I'm a fan of Luke Cage from the 90's era. Not the jive-talking, bell bottom wearing, Jar Jar Binks, Stepin Fetch look-alike superfly that was popular in the 70's. Why anyone would think that a black urban kid can relate to such a character baffles me like Conan O' Brien's head. Let's take a close look at the "masterminds" behind this character.

Luke Cage was created by two white males, who obviously had never met a black man in real life. Cage's entire look and attitude is straight out of a blaxploitation movie. Not only was he an ex-con, but he saves people and gives them a bill for the service. The "Hero-for-Hire" concept is one of the dumbest concepts I have ever heard. All the other superheroes (you know, the white ones) do it for free, but the black man charges a fee. If I was in a burning building and Luke Cage tried to save me, I would want to go over his asking price before he threw me on his back and jumped out the window. If he was too expensive, I would wait until the fire department or Spider-Man showed up to save my black arse. Early Luke Cage was bad writing and to make matters worse, most white kids never get a chance to see a black person until they are well into there late teens. For many, it's when they go to away to college and it's usually during their mid-freshman year when they charge into their girlfriend's room unannounced only to find Bleep Beep Censored Bloop Bleep. The only white kids that have any interaction with blacks at an early age are usually the ones that have blacks as there nannies, gardeners and pool men. These kids are usually raised to believing that blacks are artificially grown in a pod on a farm for the sole purpose of serving them. This is then reinforced by the many black sidekicks in comics acting as servants to their white owners: Falcon to Captain America, Lothar to Mandrake the Magician, Ebony to The Spirit, etc. Last year, Ii befriendeda white gentleman that said he hadn't met a black man until he went to jail. Even then, he didn't interact with them much because jail is very segregated. This only solidifies the importance of comics because up until their teenage years, white children only to learn about black people through the TV, music and comic books. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that both Marvel and DC are full with people that wear white hoods on their head and looking like an ivory sheet Cobra Commander. But I wouldn't be surprised either. I'm distrustful of a lot of people and that includes old white guys that lived around the 1940's and before. And Stan "The Man" Lee is old enough to remember when his father owned a black man. So it's not surprising that his characters and countless other marvel characters wreak of exploits and stereotypes when it comes to non-white culture.

The Mandarin was a yellow man stereotype. Captain America fought against the Germans and helped promote American patriotism while preaching that all Germans were all Nazis (This is the only thing we agree on). Then, we had starks against the communist china and then later on it was the Russians. American comic books have always polarized people and abused nationalism like rormachine does to his penis on a lonely saturday night. Some of our biggest superheroes wear the god awful American flag colors on their clothing. Don't beleive me? Take a good look at Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Captain America and Superman. What's even worse than patriotism is the lack of blacks in these patriotic comics. Once again, don't believe me? Then look at the cast of Superman, Spider-Man, Daredevil and even Batman and you will see that it's whiter than a fresh batch of coke (not that I would know *sniff*).

Some people are quick to say that black comics don't sell because black can't read. While that statement might be true, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that black comics don't sell because of racism. To quote Alonzo Washington: "Most White people don't want a Black savior. Super Heroes are saviors. Unlike African Americans & other people of color who accept White super heroes as their own. Most White people think a BLACK SUPER HERO IS ONLY FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND THAT IS RACIST." They also did the same thing with Jesus and every biblical figure in The Bible. If anyone can tell me all those people who live in a desert are white, I will give them a 100 dollar bill. here's another quote from Alonzo Washington....."I also believe that most white males are closet racists - even if just subconsciously...oh, you could argue that someone reading a superhero book puts themselves in the place of the hero, and white males cannot identify with black heroes for some reason...I would venture that that reason is racism. Why are there few arabic superheroes in US comics? Why are there few hispanic blah blah blah? The answer is the same."

Some people might say: What about Black Panther and Spawn? The argument for that is simple: The characters are covered from head to toe to hide who they truly are. Anyone could be under the that costume. In fact, when Spawn was created everybody thought he was white. Don't lie, you thought he was white. I did too, and the big gimmick became that he's black. Not that it matters, cause his face looks like rotten flesh. He doesn't look black, which shows you that white people would rather take an ugly monster looking creature as their savior than a black person. The Legion of Superheroes have a bunch of characters that are monster-like and up until recently, did not have any black heroes in it. This can be parallel to Star Trek. who has all kind of monster-looking creatures on their show, just so they can avoid putting blacks on TV. My friend and I used to laugh at the fact that Captain Kirk screws every known creature in the galaxy from purple to green to blue, but never a black chick. Yes, I'm aware that Kirk and Uhura was the first interracial kiss on television. Though if you've seen the episode, you'd realize that it only happened because Parmen forced them to kiss. As if no white man would ever want to be with a black woman unless if he was forced. They tried to fix that argument in the new movie by showing Kirk drooling over Uhara. Comic books need to do something of that kind to fix the damage they have done. The best way they can do this is to make some of the more prominent characters white in the comic movie. Just another example that every industry has to hold the black man down one way or another. While I am no fan of Will Smith, I think he would be the perfect man to play Steve Rogers. After all, you did promise black people forty acres and a mule, but since you have renege on your promise, we will take Captain America instead.

Tata

The Ultimate Voice is The Truth

Ch-n

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LEEE777
LEEE777 - 1/21/2010, 1:31 PM
Wheres part one??? : P
thwhtGuardian
thwhtGuardian - 1/21/2010, 1:44 PM
That was my first question too LEE.

My second question is this: Aren't your generalizations equally racist?
"harge into their girlfriend's room unannounced only to find a tall black man with a bone in his nose shooting off mandingo juice all over Suzie's smiling face. The only white kids that have any interaction with blacks at an early age are usually the ones that have blacks as there nannies, gardeners and pool men. These kids are usually raised to believing that blacks are artificially grown in a pod on a farm for the sole purpose of serving them."

That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
superdog
superdog - 1/21/2010, 1:48 PM
I'm waiting for blackquel 3 D
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/21/2010, 1:53 PM
This guy is just looking to get everyone up in arms over his statements

Don't feed the troll
thwhtGuardian
thwhtGuardian - 1/21/2010, 1:57 PM
yeah, there is no way anyone can seriously be this inflammatory naturally.
This could have been an interesting discussion on black heroes, but because he's peppered it with his own racist generalizations that topic is dead in the water.
Shaman
Shaman - 1/21/2010, 2:01 PM
I'm sorry but i don't read articles from black racists.
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:07 PM
yeah I am not even trying to make sense out of this drivel.

You guys ever wonder why there are so many lame conspiracy theories out there? Because most are too lame for anyone to bother disproving them.

And what would disproving them do? If you did it wouldn't matter anyway because people that buy into them do so because they have some emotional attatchement to the issue that makes them cling to their beleifs even if the proof it's wrong is right in front of them.
Also having a soap box even if it's imaginary makes them feel important. They get to tell themselves that they are doing some big favor for humanity by spreading "t3h tr000th" lol

I can't even think of one single black comic book character that I DON'T like.
Hell I like some black comic book characters that no one else does! Like Misty Knight, Falcon, Nightshade.

LOL I can't think of one comic book reader that I personally know that doesn't like Black Panther and they ALL know that he's black. And Bill Foster??? Who has EVER said Black Goliath was only for black people?

NOBODY, and you know why? Because that's INSANE
ecksmanfan
ecksmanfan - 1/21/2010, 2:11 PM
*Sigh*

verbicide
verbicide - 1/21/2010, 2:12 PM
Go somewhere else and whine!
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 2:20 PM
The simple truth is that you sir, are a racist. You are a racist because you assume the worst of people just because they are white, and the assumption of a person's actions or thoughts simply because of their race is the basis for racism.

I also like how you negated your own argument by not only stating that Luke Cage was no longer written like a character from a Blaxploitation film, but also stating that people were TRYING to correct these things you percieved as racism.

Your argument about Black Panther and Spawn is pointless because there are also many white characters who wear full-body costumes that hide any physical feature...for example, I still have no idea in hell what race Darkhawk is.

Also, Falcon wasn't Captain America's sidekick, he was Cap's partner...but that's neither here nor there... And I believe you glossed over characters like Isaiah Bradley and Patriot, so you might want to look into that.

And, though I think Will Smith is a great actor, and everything he touches turns into Box-office gold, he is totally wrong for Cap, not only because of race, but also because he is too old, and lacks the soldier-esque quality Cap should have. Casting Will Smith as Captain America would be as big a mistake as casting Robert Downey Jr as Captain America...he's just wrong for the role.

I know you from IMDB, Rayonmullings...You are an annoying douche there as well... You must be an incredible attention-whore in order to do something so idiotic and pointless.
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 1/21/2010, 2:20 PM
I could argue this racial garbage rant from now till doomsday but its pointless.

I would rather butt a stump.

Ivebeenanidiotallmylife: You know life is too damn short to go through it anywhere near as angry as you are, or to blame anyone else for your problems.

Lighten up, you may find that the reason people put you down and give you shit has nothing to do with your color, but the fact that your a moron.

When you make some sort of effort to be decent to those that you address, they will do the same in return.
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 2:26 PM
@Hawksblueyes--Oh no, you told him to "lighten up"...that's racist, I'm afraid. What's wrong with how dark he is now? Why should he have to become a lighter color? To be accepted by us foolish white folks and--eh,?

it had to be said...

heh
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:30 PM
lol @ Hawks: Butt a stump?? llololol

that was a new one on me

Anyone that goes around saying that they know what people are thinking has some bad problems and probably just needs to be ignored all around.

@ Contrast: does he talk the same bullshit on IMDB too?
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:37 PM
Oh yeah. we can't dance. Or slam dunk. We all feel a sense of entitlement. We are definitely afraid of blacks, intimidated by blacks, think we're superior. And were ALL rich of course, and nerdy. And underdeveloped physically. We're weak.

And deep down we all just want to oppress the black man. Of course.
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 2:38 PM
@DarthMulder--Hell yeah...except there he's called "Rayonmullings". He's just as infamous there as he is becoming here. There's even a thread on the IMDB Captain America page called "How long will it take Rayonmullings to show up here?"

And beware...the white devil is near. (I wonder if White devil ever takes his fiddle down to the crossroads and meets up with Ole Scratch for a jam session...hmms)
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 2:39 PM
@Darth--speak for yourself about the "schlong" thing, man...

heh
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 1/21/2010, 2:43 PM
I can't slam dance. Or was it dunk? Well there was something on your list I'm guilty of. Oh yeah, tiny schlong, thats what it was. Miniscule even.
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:45 PM
rofl @ Contrast. There's no tuth to any of that. Those are just things Reverend Wright types beleive.
I am sure our esteemed author would probably describe white comic book characters that way also ;)
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:47 PM
ok I'm going to have to fix that part. U dudes are obsessing here.
Stumblin
Stumblin - 1/21/2010, 2:47 PM
Wow, you just proven yourself not only racist, but an idiot all in one article. Congrats.
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 2:48 PM
@DarthMulder--Well, and this isn't helping the argument any, but I asked one of my friends what she thought about "Watchmen" after she got back from the theater; her response: "Doctor Manhattan...I, I thought he'd be bigger"
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/21/2010, 2:50 PM
LOL!
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 1/21/2010, 2:51 PM
Darth: Don't change it, I know exactly what you meant with the statement.

But it really is extremely little and they don't want to see it in Wal Mart ever again.

I read the entire article the whole damn thing, and your generalizing again with the terminoligy "most of you."

You, (I say that singularly) you are more of a racist than anybody you have bothered pointing your nasty little finger at.
bleedthefreak
bleedthefreak - 1/21/2010, 3:00 PM
@IveBeenHereB4uALL this has been known that comics are racist or have you not read one? For the most part many whites are used to growing up with blacks as their equals unlike back in the 50s where you seem to think you are living through. i do know people who rarely see black people and are scared but its stereo types that put the fear into people. i wouldn't say i live in the hood but i live in quite the shit hole and there whites are the minority's and i have been friends with kids of different skin color all my life even if i do have white friends. your just crying white devil because you assume where all racist when the most racist person on this page is you. all you have done sense you got here is piss of people and cry that all whites are racist. and where the [frick] is part one to this article i enjoy laughing at your terrible grammar and your arrogance
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 3:02 PM
I, for the record, read the whole damned thing...and wasn't really arguing with the "jest" part of it, unless by "jest" you mean "ignorant tripe"... I am not a racist, racist implies that I hate minority groups moreso than anyone else. Not true.

I hate everyone equally.
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 1/21/2010, 3:03 PM
IveBeenTakingItInTheAss: All of them? Which experts would that be? Name a couple.

Although I probably already know the list you will pull them from.
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 3:06 PM
@IveBeenHereB4uALL--we've never interacted on IMDB...I wasn't looking for "cool points" (whatever the hell those are), I'm not even on IMDB, I just read the posts constantly.

I hardly see how that it "the better question"...because even if my STATEMENT was a question (which it wasn't), then your question is no better than mine, because it is the same question, just pointed in the opposite direction.

Congrats on the great job of race-baiting... tool.
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/21/2010, 3:07 PM
BeenHere-This could've been an interesting article for debate, that being black superheroes or lack there of. When you pepper it with inflammatory comments and generalizations, you are not being any better than those you criticize.

If you truly want to have an open discussion about the topic-put out an article and use some facts, not just your hypothesis. I agree that racism still exists but you won't get anyone to see your point when you paint with such a broad brush.

If you want to fire people up and not truly see what you are trying to do, Congrats-you succeeded.
thwhtGuardian
thwhtGuardian - 1/21/2010, 3:07 PM
I read the whole article, and it's full of hasty generalizations.

Like I said the role that black heroes play in comics is something that can be discussed, but you're doing it in such an abrasive and inflammatory fashion that such a discussion is impossible with you.
Hawksblueyes
Hawksblueyes - 1/21/2010, 3:11 PM
Gaurdian: He is doing it in an abrasive and inflammatory fashion because that is how he is, not at all unlike a hemroid.
ecksmanfan
ecksmanfan - 1/21/2010, 3:11 PM
Can I throw out the fact that the so called "racist" Stan Lee created the X-Men as a representation of supression, segregation and bigotry...

Just sayin...
StrangerX
StrangerX - 1/21/2010, 3:11 PM
Being African American I am offended at this article. Black people are so quick to get offended there aren't that many black superheroes. Yet a large majority of Marvel and DC characters were created by Jews. Who have been persecuted just as much as Blacks. They created what they felt was marketable at the time. If your a black man or woman who feels there should be more black comic book characters go get one of your graffiti drawin on the wall ass freinds and create one. Or Maybe,,why don't you just be happy for the fact that the most powerful man in the world is African American.


Ps. Heroes for Hire is an awesome concept. Damn right the black man charges. I also noticed you left out Iron Fist out of that topic. Dude seriously STFU!!!
Stumblin
Stumblin - 1/21/2010, 3:15 PM
Yeah, I read your whole ignorant article and the only thing I agree with was in the beginning yes comics were racist, they were also sexist too. But that's no longer the case.

You clamor on about how no blacks are consider equal because they have masks that cover their faces. Guess what, white characters have the same thing going on. Eventually the mask does come off and you see who it is; Shadow Hawk, Spawn, John Stewart (Green Lantern) Nick Fury, Steel, Storm, James Rhodes (War Machine) The Falcon, Mr. Terrific, Luke Cage are the ones that I can come up with from the top of my head. And you know what? Three of those characters hide their faces, the rest are easy to recognize. I didn't mention Black Panther because his name itself tells you he's a black man, the Black Panther group was for the defense of blacks and African Americans (note I do not put two together because not all black are African decent, though technically we are all African decent, so aren't all Americans really African American?)

Your idea that whites only meet blacks later in life, but it's too late due to the fact our feeble little minds are already warped from misunderstanding other races. This idea is very wrong, stereotypical crap, my best friends growing up was black kid named B.J. a Chinese kid named David, and a white kid name Nathan. Still friends with B.J. though, David moved and Nathan turned into a prick. So that debunks your racist theory of whites.

So stop with the race card, you sound like someone owes something to you. If you want a black character to relate to, create him! Don't sit back, actually make an effort, or are you too lazy? I guess bitching about things that happened before your time is too convenient for you.
DogsOfWar
DogsOfWar - 1/21/2010, 3:16 PM
You want to be funny and try to get a racial bias point across at the same time? Go buy a Chris Rock video and take some notes
contrast
contrast - 1/21/2010, 3:16 PM
@IveBeenHereB4uALL--How unfair. I read your article and you don't even bother to read my comment. I'M NOT A MEMBER OF IMDB!!! I just read the posts daily. You don't have to be a member to read that crap...
InstigatorGIRL
InstigatorGIRL - 1/21/2010, 3:17 PM
Check this troll out trying to be a [frick]ing HOOPER (from Chasing Amy)... I understand why these get deleted. Also the only sad one here is you considering you took the time to write this trash. I also bet that just like Hooper you are a closet case douche who is putting up an image to get readers and to look bad ass, only you come off as racist and idiotic. We all know the flaws of the comic books you preaching about shit that happened years ago isn't going to make us think differently about the characters or the companies now. The comics industry has evolved throughout the years maybe you should catch up with them. Also Will Smith is a no as Captain America for the reasons I agree with Contrast.
MisterFixit
MisterFixit - 1/21/2010, 3:17 PM
Which of the Harlem Globetrotters in red and blue is in that pic? LoL
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