"Why can't Superman be black?"

[depluto]

They can't change him because once you go ... er, never mind.

[IMJ]

I can relate to Clark Kent because I'm white and his problems are problems that everyday white people go through, but many black people have different problems and see the world through different eyes than he, or I, would.

Clark Kent doesn't have to worry about getting stopped and frisked, being followed in department store, getting shot at by a moroic racist like George Zimmerman, keeping his temper in check, and etc. Clark Kent doesn't have to deal with that any of that crap.

No, I can't relate to a black Superman because I've never been stopped by the cops, followed in a department store, or been judged based on my appearance.

Sorry for the sarcasm but I'm sick of the attitude that being white makes you immune to racism. I've experienced it in several of the places I've lived in over the years. Hell, I even get flack from my mom's side of the family for being half white.

People who think being white makes one immune to racism are idiots who live in a bubble.

That said, minority groups (Especially Blacks) do endure more racism than whites. To say otherwise is inane.

When I went to school in the 90s my school was white, one would honestly think it was the before intergration it was so white. I can literally count on one hand the number and still have fingers left over of the number of mirority students I saw and/or knew in from grades 5-12 and it was a grand total of 3 kids! I live in a town right next door to Indianapolis, and believe me those kids were as racists as any Neo-Nazi who ever saw on TV.

I was called a "race traitor" for letting a kid from southwest Asia (he was a foregin exchange student whose English was very poor and no one knew which country he was from) sit at my lunch table.

So, yeah. Going up the only racism I ever I had to deal with was from white conseravitive racists jerkoffs that I had to deal with on a daily basis because I had five empty seats at my lunch table and compassion for my fellow man. And I would do it all over again.

This is a sad story, but it's also just another variation on bullying. In some shape or form, we've all got stories like this from grammar school, bud. You might feel that yours is somehow more poignant because you can slap the word "racism" on it, but the fact is that it's not any more or less poignant than what most of us experienced at that age amidst other children with limited mental vocabularies for insults.

[Savant]

I can relate to Clark Kent because I'm white and his problems are problems that everyday white people go through, but many black people have different problems and see the world through different eyes than he, or I, would.

Clark Kent doesn't have to worry about getting stopped and frisked, being followed in department store, getting shot at by a moroic racist like George Zimmerman, keeping his temper in check, and etc. Clark Kent doesn't have to deal with that any of that crap.

No, I can't relate to a black Superman because I've never been stopped by the cops, followed in a department store, or been judged based on my appearance.

Sorry for the sarcasm but I'm sick of the attitude that being white makes you immune to racism. I've experienced it in several of the places I've lived in over the years. Hell, I even get flack from my mom's side of the family for being half white.

People who think being white makes one immune to racism are idiots who live in a bubble.

That said, minority groups (Especially Blacks) do endure more racism than whites. To say otherwise is inane.

When I went to school in the 90s my school was white, one would honestly think it was the before intergration it was so white. I can literally count on one hand the number and still have fingers left over of the number of mirority students I saw and/or knew in from grades 5-12 and it was a grand total of 3 kids! I live in a town right next door to Indianapolis, and believe me those kids were as racists as any Neo-Nazi who ever saw on TV.

I was called a "race traitor" for letting a kid from southwest Asia (he was a foregin exchange student whose English was very poor and no one knew which country he was from) sit at my lunch table.

So, yeah. Going up the only racism I ever I had to deal with was from white conseravitive racists jerkoffs that I had to deal with on a daily basis because I had five empty seats at my lunch table and compassion for my fellow man. And I would do it all over again.

This is a sad story, but it's also just another variation on bullying. In some shape or form, we've all got stories like this from grammar school, bud. You might feel that yours is somehow more poignant because you can slap the word "racism" on it, but the fact is that it's not any more or less poignant than what most of us experienced at that age amidst other children with limited mental vocabularies for insults.

Interesting viewpoint you have there.

Myself, and another kid, would get chased by almost every male student in our grade level, on a daily basis, because of our ethnicity. The other kid was physically weak (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome), and couldn't run fast so I'd help him by holding his hand until we got into viewpoint of the teachers and the kids would stop.......I actually remember how it looked, with a dust cloud behind us because it was a sh!tload of kids running after us in what you'd describe as a stampede.

One day, they were catching up too close and I couldn't help the other kid. He was calling out for me to help him, but I had to gun it......He ended up getting pummeled by a sh!tload of kids, until one of the teachers noticed the commotion and stopped them.

So is that simply basic bullying, in some shape or form, like what you and everyone else has supposedly gone through, except I can stamp the word "racism" on my story? I don't think I've heard of non-racist bullying resulting in almost an entire grade level of male kids (Not an entire class, but grade level) trying to chase a kid, on a daily basis, to beat the sh!t out of him.

On a side note, what I ended up doing was singling out particular kids from that stampede (Like I said, it was almost every male student in my grade level, so it was easy to pick who I'd target)........When I'd see one of them walking alone at recess, I'd give whichever various kid a beat-down.

Also, I knew a girl with the same ethnicity. She had teachers put her down for who she was, and had a few parents of kids, whose houses she ended up going to for sleep-overs and such, put her down for her ethnicity, as well. I guess that's also basic bullying which everyone has gone through, except she could stamp the word "racism" in her story.

I could bring up plenty more examples. You can try to dismiss early racism as basic bullying, but it's on a different level. But, hey, you can be in denial about that all you want.

I also knew an older white guy who was forced to move to an almost all-Black school, because of integration, and he'd get beat up and picked on all the time by various Black students on a daily basis.

[nutflush76]

Does this mean that someone can't appreciate another person's racial and cultural makeup? Not at all. But as for relating to them, I mean really identifying with them is a much taller order than relating to someone in your own situation.

If I understand what you are saying here, then none of us can relate to Superman in any way even though his race has not been changed, right?

I am sort of saying that. It's one of the reasons why Superman has been having so many issues really catching on in movies these days because he is basically a god and who can relate to that?

But my overall point is, if you change a character's race, you change the character.

[Sven the Returned]

I personally cannot relate to him because he is such a boy scout. RDJ's pragmatic idealist is way more relatable to me.

[IMJ]

I am sort of saying that. It's one of the reasons why Superman has been having so many issues really catching on in movies these days because he is basically a god and who can relate to that?

Another point though - what happened to looking up to "heroes"? Why do we have to relate to them instead of striving to be what they are? Everything is so *SQUEE* up I swear to God.

[Cyberstrike]

Black Girl Nerds needs representation a very good read

[slym2none]

I am sort of saying that. It's one of the reasons why Superman has been having so many issues really catching on in movies these days because he is basically a god and who can relate to that?

Another point though - what happened to looking up to "heroes"? Why do we have to relate to them instead of striving to be what they are? Everything is so *SQUEE* up I swear to God.

If I had kids, I'd much rather them look up to superheroes than sports stars, or most other real-life people that others look up to.



-slym

[lorddunlow]

I am sort of saying that. It's one of the reasons why Superman has been having so many issues really catching on in movies these days because he is basically a god and who can relate to that?

Another point though - what happened to looking up to "heroes"? Why do we have to relate to them instead of striving to be what they are? Everything is so *SQUEE* up I swear to God.

If I had kids, I'd much rather them look up to superheroes than sports stars, or most other real-life people that others look up to.



-slym

QFT

[comicsyte95]

I am sort of saying that. It's one of the reasons why Superman has been having so many issues really catching on in movies these days because he is basically a god and who can relate to that?

Another point though - what happened to looking up to "heroes"? Why do we have to relate to them instead of striving to be what they are? Everything is so *SQUEE* up I swear to God.

If I had kids, I'd much rather them look up to superheroes than sports stars, or most other real-life people that others look up to.



-slym

QFT

+1

[Burrito Boy]

Even if Superman were black, I wouldn't be able to tell him apart from any other Kryptonian. They all look alike to me.

[lorddunlow]

Even if Superman were black, I wouldn't be able to tell him apart from any other Kryptonian. They all look alike to me.

[Heath]

Black Girl Nerds needs representation a very good read

I have to agree, that was a very good read. Only one complaint. Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) is not black. She's Inuit.

[leonmallett]

Milestone was a whole DU full of black superheroes from black creators. Milestone was pretty much integrated into the mainstream DCU before the New 52 debacle just to put Static in the Teen Titans. Where are they now?

Edit - the biggest fan of Milestone I know is leonmallet. Can he not be fans of them since they are not englishmen?

If I could only be a fan of comics created by the English, it would be dull for me (especially as my two favourite British writers are both Scots and would be disqualified!).

Nothing to add to the debate BTW, just supporting Chiclo's assertion about my fondness for Milestone...

[Burrito Boy]

Milestone was a whole DU full of black superheroes from black creators. Milestone was pretty much integrated into the mainstream DCU before the New 52 debacle just to put Static in the Teen Titans. Where are they now?

Edit - the biggest fan of Milestone I know is leonmallet. Can he not be fans of them since they are not englishmen?

If I could only be a fan of comics created by the English, it would be dull for me (especially as my two favourite British writers are both Scots and would be disqualified!).

Nothing to add to the debate BTW, just supporting Chiclo's assertion about my fondness for Milestone...

Everybody knows the best writers are the Scottish, the Irish, and the French.

[leonmallett]

Milestone was a whole DU full of black superheroes from black creators. Milestone was pretty much integrated into the mainstream DCU before the New 52 debacle just to put Static in the Teen Titans. Where are they now?

Edit - the biggest fan of Milestone I know is leonmallet. Can he not be fans of them since they are not englishmen?

If I could only be a fan of comics created by the English, it would be dull for me (especially as my two favourite British writers are both Scots and would be disqualified!).

Nothing to add to the debate BTW, just supporting Chiclo's assertion about my fondness for Milestone...

Everybody knows the best writers are the Scottish, the Irish, and the French.