"Injustice & an insult to make white Superman a symbol for xenophobia"

[Superlad93]

LOL! That's awesome!

Though, to be nit-picky, characters used to make points are considered a tool to do so.. so I guess MM and CK would be the pegs, and it's "our" (collective) fault for grabbing the wrong peg.

And with all the sexual assault allegations going around in the news these days, "don't grab the wrong peg" kinda works as a general life lesson, too. One that, I'll grant you, you'd think we should know by now, but still. (it's not like you see people using that as an origin story of how they built their moral code after doing such a thing, after all)

Ok, I'll shut up now. lol

Lol I respect the topical ramble

Agreed. As another son of black immigrants, I do find it backwards to imply that my ability to relate to a character has anything to do with my skin color or specific cultural background. Superman, depicted as a white midwesterner, is my favorite fictional character.

It seriously blows my mind. Like, I mean, that would negate so much fiction for all of us lol

[sakuyamons]

It seriously blows my mind. Like, I mean, that would negate so much fiction for all of us lol

Hell, I was a little latina girl. There wasn't too many characters that were latinos that weren't stereotypical caricatures growing up, if I have to relate to a character, high chances are that they are white...or an anime character

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

While I get what Jiminez and the other poster were going for I think they missed the point of the character and to be fair I think a lot of people at DC going back many years have missed the point.

The point of the character is that no matter what privileged the character may benefit from he was always trying to solve the inherit problems of the world he landed in. He was able to recognize that things were awful on Earth and tried to make it better. Problem with the character now is that he's much more self focused than he use to be and DC doesn't seem to see that.

It's not that they missed the point of the character, but that what is now the solid foundation of the character and what you're describing has its own racist connotations.

Even going back to the Siegel days, there were stories where Superman would engage with "Noble Savages" and act as a white savior. The white guy from America going to other countries populated by brown people and solving their problems for them, cause they sure couldn't do it on their own.

While not written by Siegel, the the newspaper strip did a story justifying Japanese internment, framing it as a defense of democracy.

Superman's always had his share of problems, whatever the intentions may have been.

[sakuyamons]

It's not that they missed the point of the character, but that what is now solid foundation of the character and what you're describing has its own racist connotations.

Even going back to the Siegel days, there were stories where Superman would engage with "Noble Savages" and act as a white savior. The white guy from America going to other countries and solving their problems.

White not written by Siegel, there the newspaper strip did a story justifying Japanese internment, framing it as a defense of democracy.

Superman's always had his share of problems, whatever the intentions may have been.

Most Golden Age characters suffer from this, the 30s weren't exactly a progressive era. Even Marston's Wondy has it's share of problematic issues, I haven't read The Secret History of Wonder Woman, but a friend sent me a couple of pictures of it, and it's very interesting.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Most Golden Age characters suffer from this, the 30s weren't exactly a progressive era. Even Marston's Wondy has it's share of problematic issues, I haven't read The Secret History of Wonder Woman, but a friend sent me a couple of pictures of it, and it's very interesting.

Yeah, this isn't a problem with just Superman.

[Superlad93]

Hell, I was a little latina girl. There wasn't too many characters that were latinos that weren't stereotypical caricatures growing up, if I have to relate to a character, high chances are that they are white...or an anime character

The fact that Superman, Damian, and Jon speak to you as characters is just further proving the ironically narrow viewpoint of the "he can't be white" thinking. There's something that spoke to you, me, and Kuwagaton that went beyond racial or cultural boundaries. It's the nature of fiction. Slowly but surely we've been seeing an influx of new characters of color, and that's unambiguously a great thing, but even then I don't need my character to be black or Nigeria or Brazil (my dad's side). Hell, Kamala Khan is one of my favorite characters in comics right now and she's, well, a she, and Pakistani.

[Prime]

Im latino and I don't see the problem with Superman being white. I really wouldnt want Superman to change who he is just to prove a quota. His successor can be a person of color, but i dont think Kal-El should be anything else that what he is. Why is Superman the only one that gets this sh*t?

[Citizen Kane]

I find it extremely hard to take people like this seriously. Is the effectiveness of a symbol or message determined by skin colour? If it is, then the meaning behind it is shallow.

[Ra-El]

This remind me that episode of Community where the Dean is trying to create a mascote that is neutral in race, gender and sexual orientation, and the result is something that no one likes. Superman does not need to be black or racially ambiguos for me be able identify myself with him, he only needs to feel "human", and he is, even being an alien.

[Frontier]

This kind of just makes me think about how Supergirl fits in this since she's pretty much always depicted as your typical blue-eyed blonde but probably fits the immigrant narrative better because she actually grew up on Krypton before the planet blew up and she had to assimilate into Earth society.

[Thor-Ul]

A poor white person will still have privilege that a poor person of color doesn't. Being poor does not mean racial privilege is no longer a factor.



https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gina-...b_5269255.html

That the most unsensible thing I have read in a long time. A white person would fell less hunger than a black person? It that what you are implying?

[Jon-El]

Sometimes these boards aren't much fun.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

That the most unsensible thing I have read in a long time. A white person would fell less hunger than a black person? It that what you are implying?

No.

It means that while a poor white person and a poor person of color will both be subject to class inequality/wealth inequality and face problems relating to that, a person of color will also be subject to racism within the same system. Racism further complicates things.

Nowhere in the piece does it discuss white people feeling less hunger than black people.

[JAK]

Im latino and I don't see the problem with Superman being white. I really wouldnt want Superman to change who he is just to prove a quota. His successor can be a person of color, but i dont think Kal-El should be anything else that what he is. Why is Superman the only one that gets this sh*t?

He gets it because he's one of the first, arguably the most powerful ever made, essentially set the entire genre as we know it today, and has - by far - the largest social and/or societal reach of any of them. He's a part of the social consciousness. He's the equivalent of saying "give me a coke" when you want pop/soda, or Kleenex when you want a tissue. He literally put the Super in Superhero.

So, much like McDonald's taking flack for fatty food and having to correct when Burger King basically got to gloat from the back room about how fatty their food was, so it is with Superman. lol

That's why that context can't be divorced from the character when thinking about his narrative in stories (at least for any "main/official" version) - it's a part of the collective us whether that's fair or not, and too important to ignore.

Having said that, though, he is fairly defined as a character, and the idea of changing him to click a box seems arbitrary - and as others have said, something of a disservice to those characters who already claim those spaces proudly.

Lol I respect the topical ramble.

It's what I do. The conversational equivalent of: *turns head* "....squirrel!"

On the rest of what you and others have said, I also agree. A character didn't need to be white and from Iowa before I felt an affinity or connection to them. Of the four Supermen in '93, my favorite (if you don't count my being suckered in by Henshaw) was Steel. I even got his comics regularly, back when he had his initial line.

[Jokerz79]

No.

It means that while a poor white person and a poor person of color will both be subject to class inequality/wealth inequality and face problems relating to that, a person of color will also be subject to racism within the same system. Racism further complicates things.

Nowhere in the piece does it discuss white people feeling less hunger than black people.

The thing is this is viewing through the simply views of America globally most xenophobic behavior is labeled "racism" when in fact it's usually has more to do with Nationality but the bigotry and discrimination is the same. One of the largest minority groups discriminated in the UK are Polish immigrants and many would be classified as white. In Asia there are divides due to nationality there are South Koreans and Chinese who hold bigoted views of the Japanese due to WWII war crimes and Japan's refusal to acknowledge them. There has been genocides in Africa over geography is the discrimination and violence they face less valid because it's about where they were born opposed to their skin color?