Minorities In Comics and Related Media

[Agent Z]

DC has only themselves to blame for that one.Pushing Duke in the Robin mantle when Damian hasn't out grown it yet is just begging for fan backlash.

Not that there wouldn't be backlash no matter how Duke got the role.

[Gryphon]

I was reading a Robert E Howard Story set in the medieval ages where the protagonist stops two Moorish men from raping a white woman, this seemed like a stereotype and almost made me forget that the Protagonist himself was black. He was a black Spaniard who passed himself off as a Moor so he could walk undetected in Egypt to carry out his revenge.

I was conflicted till I realized something. Howard wrote this in 1930's West Texas. He put that in there and the fact that the protagonist was a Christian in a Muslim country, to get the reader on his side and make him seem less black almost. He did it to make the racist readers forget they were rooting for a black protagonist. This was interesting to me since Howard had written stereotypical black characters before. This made me realize that Howard was able to get the reading audience on the side of the black protagonist ( I forget the character's name) who sees through deception, outwits his would be killers and stops an invasion of Spain after taking his revenge. This may seem insignificant but it really stands out that at the height of the depression, in a racist part of America, Howard was able to sell a story with a black hero but to do so he had to made him seem less black to convince white audiences to get on his side. And the interesting part is that in the story there is a reason he hates the Moors. He was enslaved by Moors after a battle before the Spanish paid his ransom and freed him. So while it seems like he is just a pulp hero stopping stereotyped black men raping a white woman, Howard was able to give a reason in the story that doesn't come as super racist ( while still using racist language to sell this to the audience), while the real reason was so he could sell the story to magazines. Even when he knew he had to put that in or racist audiences wouldn't read the story, he was able to downplay it in the actual story.

That stood out to me.

[Vic Vega]

Because Gaslighting never takes a holiday:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate...as_a_hoax.html

[C-Cool]

Because Gaslighting never takes a holiday:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate...as_a_hoax.html

*Looks at who helped start this*

Oh, great. Sean Davis. Again. And over in the Fox Sports side... Clay Travis. Joy.

At least Ultimates #1 came out this week to make things better.

[ouroboros]

I was reading a Robert E Howard Story set in the medieval ages where the protagonist stops two Moorish men from raping a white woman, this seemed like a stereotype and almost made me forget that the Protagonist himself was black. He was a black Spaniard who passed himself off as a Moor so he could walk undetected in Egypt to carry out his revenge.

I was conflicted till I realized something. Howard wrote this in 1930's West Texas. He put that in there and the fact that the protagonist was a Christian in a Muslim country, to get the reader on his side and make him seem less black almost. He did it to make the racist readers forget they were rooting for a black protagonist. This was interesting to me since Howard had written stereotypical black characters before. This made me realize that Howard was able to get the reading audience on the side of the black protagonist ( I forget the character's name) who sees through deception, outwits his would be killers and stops an invasion of Spain after taking his revenge. This may seem insignificant but it really stands out that at the height of the depression, in a racist part of America, Howard was able to sell a story with a black hero but to do so he had to made him seem less black to convince white audiences to get on his side. And the interesting part is that in the story there is a reason he hates the Moors. He was enslaved by Moors after a battle before the Spanish paid his ransom and freed him. So while it seems like he is just a pulp hero stopping stereotyped black men raping a white woman, Howard was able to give a reason in the story that doesn't come as super racist ( while still using racist language to sell this to the audience), while the real reason was so he could sell the story to magazines. Even when he knew he had to put that in or racist audiences wouldn't read the story, he was able to downplay it in the actual story.

That stood out to me.

REH also wrote a lot of stories with either bitchy women or helpless princesses in them, but he could create a powerful female character if he felt moved to do so. I'd hypothesize that he used racist stereotypes when he thought it would help sell the story, but he could create formidable POC when it fit with the demands of the story. Some fans may have read the "Solomon Kane" story where the white Puritan hero is obliged to call upon the help of a Black African juju-man to fight off an occult menace. At story's end the juju-man N'Longa tells Kane that he's a great fighter but in the ways of magic he's like a little child.

What was the name of the medieval story you describe?

[Greg]

I can't wait for Gods of Egypt to fail. Twitter are getting on their asses for this movie.

[Gryphon]

REH also wrote a lot of stories with either bitchy women or helpless princesses in them, but he could create a powerful female character if he felt moved to do so. I'd hypothesize that he used racist stereotypes when he thought it would help sell the story, but he could create formidable POC when it fit with the demands of the story. Some fans may have read the "Solomon Kane" story where the white Puritan hero is obliged to call upon the help of a Black African juju-man to fight off an occult menace. At story's end the juju-man N'Longa tells Kane that he's a great fighter but in the ways of magic he's like a little child.

What was the name of the medieval story you describe?

Hawks over Egypt


The story you mentioned was Hills of the dead where N'longa does all the work and Kane basically serves as a distraction.

That story was also great in that while N'longa seemingly talks like a stereotype, at the end its made clear he is eloquent in his native language, he just isn't great at English which is completely fair.

[Gryphon]

The story is collected in the collection called Sword Woman which also has the Dark Agnes stories....A protofeminist character

[Old Man Ollie 1962]

Hawks over Egypt


The story you mentioned was Hills of the dead where N'longa does all the work and Kane basically serves as a distraction.

That story was also great in that while N'longa seemingly talks like a stereotype, at the end its made clear he is eloquent in his native language, he just isn't great at English which is completely fair.

This is an rather lengthy excerpt from an article in the ESCAPIST: Robert E. Howard, Conan, and Subverting Racism by
ROBERT B. MARKS | 14 OCTOBER 2015 9:00 AM


"But, even as a lifelong fan, it would be foolish to deny the problem of the racism in the original stories. Like pretty much all of his contemporaries, Robert E. Howard was a racist, although he was not really what one could call a malicious one. He believed that white people were better than non-white people, but he didn't seem to hold that against anybody from a visible minority. This non-malicious racism is alive and well in his stories, and his Afghanistan adventure tales are so steeped in the "White Man's Burden" that I was unable to finish them.
Once we start digging into the actual Conan stories, that racism becomes far more complicated, and even subverted. The young, vibrant civilizations of the Hyborian Age, like Aquilonia and Nemedia, are white - the equivalent of Medieval Europe. Around them are older Asiatic civilizations like Stygia and Vendhya, ancient, decrepit, and living on borrowed time. To the northwest and the south are the barbarian lands - but only Asgard and Vanaheim are in any way Viking. The Black Kingdoms are filled with tribesmen evoking the early 20th century vision of darkest Africa, and the Cimmerians and Picts are a strange cross between the ancient Celts and Native Americans - and it is very clear that the barbarians and savages, and not any of the civilized people or races, will be the last ones standing."

The professor was spot on.

[Smoov-E]

I can't wait for Gods of Egypt to fail. Twitter are getting on their asses for this movie.

I just found out about this today

I wish I was unaware of this bs

[jeanvaljean]

While America is talking about Starbucks' red cups, European dairy giant Müller (German origins, registered in Luxemburg for tax reasons, selling all over Europe) is celebrating Christmas with sexually charged images of scantily clad women on their flavored milk bottles. And of course, the chocolate flavor comes with a light skinned black woman.



Ladies and gentlemen, 2015.

[Agent Z]

Finn Attacks A Stormtrooper In Brand New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Footage

http://io9.com/finn-attacks-a-stormt...the-1742286822

[Kasper Cole]

It's wild to me that places that are usually on top of these new Star Wars trailers pretty much ignored this latest one because it aired during #TGIT.

Places that typically hype up the upcoming trailer before it drops and does breakdowns immediately after it drops had nothing on it last night.

[Overhazard]

I just found out about this today

I wish I was unaware of this bs

So apparently this is real? I saw a poster on facebook and just assumed it was bad photoshop.

[Smoov-E]

So apparently this is real? I saw a poster on facebook and just assumed it was bad photoshop.

It's real, Hollywood gives no f's real