Superman's Ethnicity

[Username taken]

I don't at all agree that Hispanic people alone solely represent the immigrant experience.

There might a lot talk about it in the media but there a LOT of black and Asian immigrants to the U.S.

DC already have a black Superman that would have gained a lot of traction but for some reason they've neglected the character.

I'd absolutely love to see a black Superman. No other race or ethnicity in the United States has faced (or is currently facing) the explicit discrimination and hatred that black people get. I'm not saying that other races don't experience racism though but something about black people's position and struggles in the US just flat out sends some people crazy (just check the yahoo news comments section everyday to see what I'm talking about).

I'm not advocating changing Superman's race (like I said, DC already have a black Superman that could be explored) but a black Superman on this Earth (not the alternative Earths) would be very interesting because it would an extra wrinkle to the character. How would the average American (and the world as a whole) respond to a black Superman?

[GodofBoredom]

To answer the thread: Superman is white, and should be white, because that's how he was created and portrayed for the last 80 years, by white jewish kids.

If you can't look beyond the color of the skin and want a black character, you can read Blue Marvel. If you want an asian Superman, you can read New Super-Man by Yang (it's great).

But the actual Superman, not an alternate Universe version or rip-offs (and there are a lot of them) is white.

People should be inspired by actions and personality, not skin color. If you're black, and you aren't inspired by Superman because of the color of his skin, that's your problem.

I look up to Black Panther. I look up to Wonder Woman. I love Luke Cage, both in the comics and especially in the show. Midnighter and Apollo are awesome. The fact that I'm not their skin color, their gender or their sexuality does nothing to stop my enjoyment, since hope, goodness, struggle or general badassness etc. is not associated with either of those immutable traits. The same way being a white straight character also doesn't enhance my enjoyment of them.

Good characters are good characters. Period.

People who think otherwise should maybe look beyond the surface characteristics.

[gwangung]

To answer the thread: Superman is white, and should be white, because that's how he was created and portrayed for the last 80 years, by white jewish kids.

If you can't look beyond the color of the skin and want a black character, you can read Blue Marvel. If you want an asian Superman, you can read New Super-Man by Yang (it's great).

But the actual Superman, not an alternate Universe version or rip-offs (and there are a lot of them) is white.

People should be inspired by actions and personality, not skin color. If you're black, and you aren't inspired by Superman because of the color of his skin, that's your problem.

I look up to Black Panther. I look up to Wonder Woman. I love Luke Cage, both in the comics and especially in the show. Midnighter and Apollo are awesome. The fact that I'm not their skin color, their gender or their sexuality does nothing to stop my enjoyment, since hope, goodness, struggle or general badassness etc. is not associated with either of those immutable traits. The same way being a white straight character also doesn't enhance my enjoyment of them.

Good characters are good characters. Period.

People who think otherwise should maybe look beyond the surface characteristics.

I agree with the ultimate point, but not with the reasoning. "Seeing past" what is a major shaper of character and what makes up a significant component of what makes a person unique is rather insulting. Appreciate and value it, don't ignore. And honestly, it denigrates the outburst of true joy and sense of belonging when there's a breakthrough in representation; that jubilation is unimportant and ignorable? Sounds very patronizing.

Rather, these are variations in a theme. They all bring something interesting and important to the table. I think you can argue that you don't want to muddy the main theme with introducing variations there; you don't necesarily want Julie Andrews singing "My Favorite Things" in the style of John Coltrane. But embrace Val Zod. Embrace Kenan Kong. they're good characters that bring something out the main theme can't.

[Ascended]

I still half-think that when they rebooted the DCU, they should have either made Barry black or (better yet) pulled a Silver Age and introduced a new Flash who was. Or Hispanic, Native, whatever. Doesnt have to be black.

Something about the Everyman of the DCU being a black guy appeals to me. I think you could do a lot of interesting things with that dynamic, and how this average, regular guy lives his life bouncing up against the ideals and notions people have about the costumed community and the ideals and notions people have about the black community. Or again, any other minority.

I mean, no matter what he looks like Superman is sort of above and beyond us, but Flash is knee-deep in the muck right next to us, and I think that's a better vantage point to explore how being a minority would impact these long-standing properties.

[daBronzeBomma]

Lots of interesting opinions on this thread (which I avoided even looking at before due to past experiences with out of control flaming/trolling on racial matters). I'm just going to contribute my opinion and hopefully be done with it.

Regarding Superman's ethnicity (all IMHO):

1. There is no in-universe reason that any Kryptonian must look white (or black or Asian or Latino or whatever Terrestrial ethnicity). None. Personally, I'd go with deep inhumanly pink skin, various shades of blue hair, and glowing all-blue eyes (GABEs) as the racial norm for all Kryptonians on Krypton.

2. I would have Jor-El "discover" Earth decades before Kal is born, show the evidence to the Science Council, who then would commission Jor to come up with a way to blend in with them, should the need for space travel become urgent. Jor comes up with wearable tech, which is initially an unbreakable (by humans) necklace or wristband that eventually will be shaped into the iconic eyeglasses. The wearable tech scans for nearby sapient lifeforms and duplicates their features onto the Kryptonian wearing the tech.

3. As long as Kal wears the tech/eyeglasses, he looks like the biological son of Jonathan Kent and Martha Clark. Once he removes them, he reverts back to his native Kryptonian alien ethnicity (pink skin, blue hair, GABEs).

5. Also open to the idea that Kal tinkers with the glasses so that he creates alternate racial identities that reside all over the world (South Africa, Hong Kong, Sweden, etc). In the end, he belongs to no one Terrestrial ethnicity as much as he belongs to all of them.

4. Superman should always appear to be a mix of the familiar and the other. Looks human from a distance but up close you know he is not from around here.

And that is all I have to say about that

[marhawkman]

The comics have actually stated in some issues that he really DOESN'T look human if you look close enough. For example, his eyes are the wrong shade of blue.

[Lightning Rider]

The comics have actually stated in some issues that he really DOESN'T look human if you look close enough. For example, his eyes are the wrong shade of blue.

Right, I always found that interesting. That there are little cues that suggest he's not human if you look hard enough. I don't think he has to look perfectly European and hasn't in many of his depictions.

[bat39]

Oh boy!

I know the OP meant well and this has actually been a pretty interesting discussion...but "making Superman black" is always going to be a political minefield. One that DC and WB will never risk stepping into (and rightly so, IMO).

Looking at it from a 'canon' POV...I'm against the idea because there's a certain image of Superman which has stayed constant for nearly 80 years (minor variations and gradual evolution notwithstanding), and tampering with that image for the sake of being superficially diverse or 'politically correct' is an invitation to disaster.

Looking at it from a political POV...I really don't see how the message it sends out is remotely positive.

To black folks, you'd basically be saying "Look, we know there's been a lot of historical discrimination against your race, and that discrimination continues in some form to this day. So here's our solution to that - we've made an iconic character look 'just like you', criticism be damned. Now laud us for being so progressive and solving this country's racial issues, Dammit!"

And to white folks, you'd be saying "I'm sorry, but because you guys are all supposed to be racist pr#cks, we can't afford to have this iconic character look 'like you' anymore. Tough luck! And if you don't like it, you've proven you're a racist!"

[Osiris-Rex]

Are there other Kryptonians that are black though? In Star Trek there are black Vulcans, such as Tuvok. The least the comic books could do would be to introduce a dark skinned Kryptonian as a regular character.

[Sacred Knight]

In main continuity I can't recall any of prominence, but I'm pretty sure that in many scenes of Krypton, and in Kandor, there have been dark-skinned Kryptonians whom from an Earth POV would look African.

[Ascended]

In main continuity I can't recall any of prominence, but I'm pretty sure that in many scenes of Krypton, and in Kandor, there have been dark-skinned Kryptonians whom from an Earth POV would look African.

I want to say that at some point in the Silver Age, there was a Kryptonian....nation....or colony...city state....or something.....where the population was "black."

I dont recall the details at all but it always struck me as pretty segregation-ist. But it was the Silver Age, so racism was okay.

[Jim Kelly]

You're thinking of Vathlo and it was first introduced in the early '70s on a map of Krypton in SUPERMAN No. 239/G-84 (June-July ’71).



On the map it's Vathlo Island, but the way I see it Krypton was much bigger than Earth, so Vathlo could be the size of Australia. There was lots of space for the Vathloans on their own island-continent and no pressure to leave for Lurvan or Urrika.

Vathlo has been mentioned in more recent comics, too. It wasn't racist--at least the intention was anti-racist. The editor noted that not a lot of black people ever appeared in the '60s stories about Krypton, so it was explained in the letter columns that black people lived in their own homeland.

As there was no slavery on Krypton, the Vathloans were never torn from their home by white folk. They lived freely in their own land. I don't see how you can take that as racist. But in the '70s, well-meaning people were trying to do things that were supportive of black people, yet could come off as patronizing--and Vathlo might be seen that way.

It's also noted that the Vathlo people were "highly developed" which suggests that their culture was well ahead of those in places like Kryptonopolis. And maybe they had a prime directive that restrained them from sharing too much science and technology with their less developed cousins.

Retroactively one can assume that Vathloans did travel to those other continents. Maybe they lived on other parts of the map, as well--such as some of the other islands. And this doesn't account for other types of people on Krypton. The existence of Vathlo suggests there lots of other parts of Krypton that we never got stories about, but we could get. So we can imagine all the cultures on Krypton, given its great land masses.

[Jim Kelly]

Note: The Map of Krypton for the giant-size SUPERMAN No. 239/G-84 was made by E. Nelson Bridwell and Sal Amendola--as I explained in the blog My Superman Summer.

[marhawkman]

Saying something is developed doesn't necessarily mean higher.

Also, you don't have true ethnic differences unless the populations are separate for some reason. Sure you can fake it by saying they have an interesting genetic makeup that makes them have major appearance changes based on single genetic traits, but that's not an ethic difference, just a cosmetic one.

[Lightning Rider]

Saying something is developed doesn't necessarily mean higher.

Also, you don't have true ethnic differences unless the populations are separate for some reason. Sure you can fake it by saying they have an interesting genetic makeup that makes them have major appearance changes based on single genetic traits, but that's not an ethic difference, just a cosmetic one.

What is a "true ethnic difference?"