Originally Posted by
Restingvoice
The link Noct posted was something I read a long time ago, so I don't remember it word for word , but the gist of the message the poster trying to say and why it's racist is because in fandom, Duke's new guy role is used in fan fic as a support for the other, light skin boys. The old favorite. They're the focus, while Duke is the normal guy reacting to them.
Their stories aren't about him, it's about the light boys. The people writing it are not interested in studying him further because he's not their focus, the others are, and so, one or two panel of him by Tom King portraying him as The New Guy is enough information.
So it's not new guy portrayal that's the problem, it's how they use it and who's the focus
That being said, WFA is not like that.
While Duke is the new guy. the point of view character for readers to the Wayne family in the first episode, he also got stories that's about himself. About how he's learning to be a vigilante, him getting a girlfriend, his first time on the Batmobile, and telling his problems to Tim and Luke. Does all of this portray him as The New Guy like in fanon? Yes, but unlike fanon, the story is about him. The story where he's trying to get a girlfriend especially. Everyone else is his supporting cast.
(One episode where Duke fill the fanon role exactly is the one where the Bat kids are all comparing the number of times they died, but that's fine because everyone including him gets their focus episode, so it's just part of the format, and part of his progression in this universe.)
Portrayal of the character can be different depending on what's canon in certain universe. WFA chose to go with the new guy, maybe because that's what the fandom are familiar, maybe because that's what the writer's familiar, but that's just the launching point and his story doesn't just stop at him reacting to support the others.
They continue the story with his own conflict and problem, and since this is its own universe, new guy portrayal is fine as long as he's not used to prop others.
Now whether that helps people knowing Duke's character in the main comic universe, that's a different matter, but since WFA is using familiar fanon characterization for everyone anyway, all of their reputation are potentially fucked ^^
Note that the comment sections are filled with main universe readers and they've made it clear when recommending stories that these are not the portrayal in main canon