I’m curious what everyone thinks about this question. It seems to be split, though many seem to consider them POC (probably because it makes DC look even with Marvel in regard to diveristy).
YES
NO
Only Kyle is Latino/Hispanic
Only Kendra is Latino/Hispanic
I’m curious what everyone thinks about this question. It seems to be split, though many seem to consider them POC (probably because it makes DC look even with Marvel in regard to diveristy).
I've always considered Hawkgirl Latina since the Justice League cartoon because I recognized her voice actress as being hispanic, and I hoped they would roll that into the main DC universe; even tho that was a different Hawkgirl. I feel Kendra makes more sense as being latino than Kyle because for one, it gives the hawks a little more cultural texture instead of always happening to reincarnating as another pair of white people to follow and I feel she [Kendra] has been drawn somewhat racially ambiguous often times, as opposed to Kyle who was clearly meant to be a white guy before DC just said he was latino. in both cases their latino heritage is rarely even touched upon or informs their characters in significant way, so either case isn't a great case for Latinx diversity at DC.
THE SIGNAL (Duke Thomas) is DC's secret shonen protagonist so I made him a fandom wiki
also, check out "The Signal Tape" a Duke Thomas fan project.
currently following:
- DC: Red Hood: The Hill
- Marvel: TBD
- Manga (Shonen/Seinen): One Piece, My Hero, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kaiju No. 8, Reincarnation of The Veteran Soldier, Oblivion Rouge, ORDEAL, The Breaker: Eternal Force
"power does not corrupt, power always reveals."
I would say this is the correct take. There are plenty of people with diverse heritage that have just become completely whitewashed by modern day. Americanization is a hell of a drug. Doesn’t mean they’re not “a proper Mexican”.
No opinions on Kendra. In Legends of Tomorrow she’s definitely not white.
Dick Grayson’s turn as Romani was AFAIK incredibly stereotypical and offensive go actual Romani people so I would be fine dumping that part of the history. FWIW I usually fancast Dick with Brandon Lee because I just feel like he’s got the right vibe.
When I was in college I had a buddy let's call Mark. Mark is for all intents an purposes a white guy. He's partly Mexican on his birth-dad's side or something, but he's not culturally Mexican in any meaningful way as far as I know, and it rarely comes up. I think that's about where Kyle is. If asked during one of those white people "I'm French and Polish, what are you" discussions, he would acknowledge that he's part Mexican, but he still knows he's white and considers himself white.
"You know the deal, Metropolis. Treat people right or expect a visit from me."
I consider Kyle to be half Latino and Dick to be Romani just because its fun tidbits about their family
I also consider Catwoman Hispanic because her mother Maria is Cuban.
Figured I’d should add Kyle Rayner’s New 52 version of his father.
Doesn’t resemble a Latino man, like his previous counterpart.
Kyle’s father has gone from being an unidentified Irish man, to being a Mexican CIA operative (Judd Winick 2002), to an ambiguous and undefined ethnicity for the New 52 (2013).
Exactly.
His father's name in the New 52 version is Aaron Rayner and not Gabriel Vasquez. Justin Jordan gave Kyle's father the original name that was intended from Kyle's creator, Ron Marz. So the story about his father being a Mexican CIA operative no longer existed. In fact, some instances in Judd Winick's run was done away with as well and not just that it seems.
Haven’t followed Kyle close enough to comment but Kendra - I would say, yes....
The first version of Kendra is mixed race. She grew up in TX and it was established in John’s run of Hawkman that her father, Michael Saunders, was white but her mother was a latina woman named Trina.
Rebirth era Kendra is Kendra Munoz-Saunders on Earth 2. She’s represented as afro-latinx.
Current version of Kendra.... unknown. They haven’t made any overt references to confirm one way or another. Her representation is more reflective of her previous mixed-race version though.
They've changed Kyle to look a lot more Latino in his physical appearance, so today I would say yes, perhaps more of a Spanish leaning Latino? (Hispanic/Latino seems to cover a broad spectrum) Back in the 90's before his history was changed he was pretty much of white European decent, Irish I think.
I wasn't aware that Kendra was actually in the comics, I only recalling seeing her in the Arrow show, apparently the actress is mixed race, Hispanic, Native American, so i'll just go with yes.
I don't think Kendra or Kyle's mixed Latinix ancestry has played any kind of role in their characterizations anymore than Bruce or Hal's Jewish heritage has been important to how they are portrayed. It's just another toy in the toybox that future stories can explore...or not.
Kyle didn't find out he had Mexican heritage until he was well into his 20s. Though he wasn't raised with Hispanic family traditions, his ethnicity is still Hispanic and Irish.
Please don't use the term "whitewashed" when describing a person. It's really freaking offensive. There should not be some set of guidelines for what makes someone identify as Latino. Let's not label individual POC because they don't fit a stereotypical or traditional model. You can maybe use it in an instance of a white actor playing a character in a movie that has traditionally been a POC, but that should be about it.
In Tom King's Omega Men (which is an amazing comics), Kyle actually prayed in Spanish. It was an interesting scene but it didn't really fit with Kyle not knowing about his Hispanic heritage for most of his life.
Last edited by Robotman; 07-08-2020 at 12:35 AM.
Eh depends. If they do it in a reboot, then why not. They made Etta Candy and Julia Pennyworth black.
It's re-established in Rebirth and they make his mother full Romani with one of his archnemesis Raptor is also a Romani with backstory related to his mother. Raptor is still being used, so as of present, his half-Romani status remains.
That’s really not what I meant. I’m talking about cultural genocide, for example Spanish priests hitting Native children speaking non-Spanish. Just because people are culturally made to conform doesn’t mean they’re not from that culture. This is specifically in references to complaints that “Kyle doesn’t speak Spanish”, not making any sort of claim that Latino people should conform to some stereotype.