Backlash Over Bi-Racial Miss Japan 2015 Ariana Miyamoto Highlights How Racial Attitudes Must Change In Asia

(Right: Lou Jing and Ariana Miyamoto) Image sources: Hindustan Times and Crunchyroll

Do the names Ariana Miyamoto and Lou Jing ring a bell? For most people, probably not. 

Lou Jing made heads turn in China after appearing on a reality TV show; she is a Blasian- as in half- black, half Asian. Her father is African American and her mother is Chinese; Ariana's parents are similar; she has an African American father and Japanese mother. She was the winner of the recent Miss Japan 2015 beauty pageant and her win prompted verbal abuse and criticism from critics and some Japanese people because of her Afro-Asian identity, going as far as accusing her of not being Japanese enough. 

In the wake of the fiasco surrounding Miss Japan winner, Ariana Miyamoto, people have gone on record to say how Japan is a very homogeneous society. Well, the same applies to many Asian and most African countries that have homogeneous populations; when you live in a country where everyone is of the same race, it is assumed that there is very little chance of racism happening. But when you are part of a tiny racial minority compared to one group that is larger than the other groups, the chances of experiencing racism in a country, is huge. 

The controversy over Ariana Miyamoto's win just goes to show that racism doesn't just occur in places like the UK and US: countries with multicultural populations. Homogeneous countries are and can also fall foul to racial discrimination, prejudice and intolerance. Asian and African countries - for the exception of say South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya - do not deal with or experience multiculturalism, because such a thing rarely exists in those regions, due to the lack of immigration. Sure they are used to foreigners and visitors from overseas on holiday, but when it comes to individuals born and bred in those countries and being of a different race to themselves, some understand - & many do not understand and sadly choose not to be understanding about the concept and importance of diversity. Being born, raised and lived in London as a British born Chinese, I had experienced my fair share of racism in my daily life, whereas native Chinese in China and Hong Kong, they don't really know what it is like for people like myself, who are born with 2 identities. Until they come and live in the UK and see that racism does exist and is real. 

Identities are so complex - just when you thought you know it all, by being White/Black/Asian/Latino or whatever, there are other elements that come into play as well. Such as your nationality. Race is just one part. Black/Latino, Afro-Asian, mixed race, biracial. With Ariana Miyamoto, it is downright sad and horrendous the way she was treated by some anonymous posters online, whose ideal image of being Japanese is being light-skinned with slanted eyes etc. They don't consider half-casts, mixed race or biracial people, who were born in and are from Japan as being Japanese enough. 

I don't care what race you are, or what colour your skin is - if you are born in that country, or have lived in that country for most of your life, you are technically British, American, Japanese, Chinese, Australian, Canadian etc regardless. 

In the U.S in particular, there is a considerable number of Blasians living in the country; their identities is half African- American and half Chinese/Korean/Japanese in terms of physical appearance. 

It really tells you something when certain homogeneous countries go out of their way to bash the likes of America and UK and calling them out on their racism towards Africans and Asians (which happens still unfortunately & I find it appalling), - when these same homogeneous countries single out and target bi-racial and multi-racial individuals such as Ariana Miyamoto & spewing their racist, anti-Black/White venom, all because they don't look 110% Asian, just like the rest of the country. The hypocrisy is startling, racism and bigotry can not be tolerated under any circumstances; Japan, China, Hong Kong and the others need to wake up & face up to the realization that in the next 5, 10, even 50 years time, more and more bi-racial and mixed race babies will be born in those respective countries. 

The Eastern perception that Blacks and having dark skin is seen as 'dirty' or whatever, is unfortunately deeply rooted throughout history that dates back centuries ago. It is deeply offensive and beyond ridiculous. Beauty comes in all colours, as well as shapes and sizes; although the real beauty lies in inner beauty that goes beyond the physical -ness of it all. 

Japan is a country that prides itself as a society being 'pure' and unique that is not so similar to other countries. By this, I am referring to the fair skin, the slanted eyes, dark hair, you name it. It is the framing of an homogenous 'myth' of looking 110% Japanese by appearance against the multicultural Japan of not resembling being Japanese, because they are of say, mixed-race, biracial origin. 

As much as countries such as Japan excel in areas such as technology, from a social and racial standpoint, a lot of the people have very narrow-minded views when it comes to ethnicity. If you don't look like them, according to them, then you are not Japanese enough. Elsewhere in countries with large ethnic populations and diverse communities, identity these days is much more less to do with the colour of your skin. It's about who you are as a person, the type of person you want to be and other things. The African and Asian continents needs to understand this. 

Ariana's tale and triumph is pretty remarkable - she has turned a couple of heads - for all the right reasons, as well as evoking some hostile and nasty reactions around Japan (which were totally undeserved and uncalled for) - her victory will hopefully be a sign that having a more multicultural Japan is no bad thing, whatsoever. 

If it means changing Japanese people's attitudes, then for the sake of the country & making them less close- minded, then definitely. 

Why Are Black Male X-Men Superheroes Treated So Badly By Marvel?

For a comic book super hero franchise lauding diversity and the X-Men being signifiers of the oppressed and disadvantaged groups and communities ostracized in society, it is rather telling that the strong, male Black mutant hero has been one of the number of issues Marvel have not only overlooked, but it is also one that they have failed to tackle properly on a consistent basis. 

Whereas with The Avengers, they have no qualms making the Falcon/Captain America and Nick Fury bad - ass, integrating them into the team. It's one rule for the Avengers, and another for the X-Men. If you are going to make this occurring for one franchise, then you ought to do the same for the other franchises as well. 

So why does Marvel Comics treat the Black male superhero X-Men characters with little contempt, especially given with Storm, they did such a good job with a Black female superhero and making her a key asset to the team? Their track record with the former is undeniably poor. 

New X-Men, Vol 11, #141 (cover by Phil Jimiez) 

Bishop (see above) could have been, and ought to have been an interesting character to fill the anti-hero role left void by Wolverine after his death by making him a permanent team X-Men member. Despite the fact, he tried to kill a baby. Sadly though, with Marvel, fans saw the self-destruction of this character. Once he fell from grace, he lost everything that made him a hit in the first place. 

And what about Black Panther? He was married to Storm and I think he would have fit in well with the team & become a valuable team member.

The problem with Marvel is with the X-Men, all the non-white male Black characters are a) killed off after 2 or 3 years existence & b) written as the stereotypical 'Angry Black man', who wants vengeance against 'Whitey'. 

Jesse Bedlam, Tag, Prodigy, Maggot, Spike to name but a couple - characters who have such interesting back stories and personalities & of whom could have been potentially great characters - were shafted and/or ended up dead. 

As for Darwin, there was uproar from fans when he was killed off in X-Men: First Class, the live action Hollywood movie. But he was also killed off earlier on by Marvel in the comic book series canon story line. Other than the X-Men comics fans, nobody bat an eyelid when that happened. It was only until First Class that the audience got angry and cried racism. So you're all up in arms because the one and only character got killed off because he was Black, but you don't know how and why it happened and that it was part of the story line in the comic books, even if it was ridiculous? I beg to differ. 

To have so few key male Black superheroes in X-Men in just 30 or almost 40 years since its creation, is diabolical really. Given that Black comic book readers fans, particularly X-Men fans can relate to and understand the social struggles and issues in their search for equality and fighting prejudice and discrimination, not to mention the U.S media's recent attempts to paint young Black males, either as criminals or individuals, who end up on the news as victims of racially-motivated murders, having Black male superheroes would help shatter this myth. 

The mutant struggle is reminiscent of the civil rights movement. 

The writers are left with the option not to touch these characters again, because they were treated badly because of the writing and received terribly by the fans. 

Adding a minority character for the sake of enhancing the racial makeup of the team, is not enough: there has to be a justification or reason as to why they need to be there. Otherwise, it's like saying we have to add a Black or Asian superhero, because of their ethnicity and to fill a quota. Not because they bring something new to the team. 

But right now, and just as they have done during the past couple of years, Marvel comics are coming across as being hypocrites: hypocrites in that they say they are trying to push for more diversity, but only in franchises that a) they have the movie rights to or b) when the fandom is alive and active. That would explain why The Avengers, along with Guardians of the Galaxy are the company's poster child - and X-Men are not. Not just because of the poor sales of the comics, but because Fox currently owns the movie rights. 

The writers have little to no interest developing Black male X-Men characters properly in the long run. They believe that the Black readership of X-Men comics is tiny (which it probably is) and that the rest of them are into their other franchises more so than the X-Men. Which results in these characters being dead, de-powered, or later defect to the Inhumans or Avengers, or go solo. 

(above: former X-man Prodigy, who defected to The Avengers) 

Let's hope that we don't have to wait long for a new creator/writer who creates more Black characters, and that includes Black male comic book characters for the X-Men universe that have the staying power of Storm, and that they don't end up being treated as little more than background characters. 

The X-Men needs more minority superheroes, especially that of colour; for Marvel, that shouldn't be too difficult. They've done it a couple of times, but their failure and inconsistency to develop Black X- mutants in the long run has to change. 

There are no prominent Black male X-Men characters in the team to speak of, whatsoever & the company have made little attempts to address this problem. 

Marvel, you dropped the ball in this area .... now you need to pick it up. 

The Ghost In The Shell Race-Bending Furore & Are Asian & Asian American Actresses & Actors Really Not That Bankable?

Despite the West's love for Japanese culture and its cultural properties, such as Anime and Manga, this hasn't stopped their attempts in their refusal to cast Asians and Asian- American actors, actresses, presenters and hosts in movies and TV shows. 

The term 'race-bending' refers to situations where the creator of the media content, changes the ethnicity of a character. This practice has been used by Hollywood on countless occasions to discriminate against people of colour. Black-face and yellow-face had been employed by Hollywood to prevent Black and Asian actors from undertaking roles in TV and film. 

It has also been criticized for perpetuating racial and ethnic stereotypes that have long persisted in Western media and entertainment, particularly in America. 

Ghost In The Shell isn't the first Japanese Anime feature where Asian characters have been replaced with White American versions; the live action versions of Dragonball Evolution, Speed Racer, and the infamous Avatar: The Last Airbender all fell victim to race-bending.

The controversy over Scarlett Johansson's casting in the Ghost In The Shell movie that later blew up online via social media this week, doesn't just expose the hypocrisy of Hollywood casting a Caucasian actress in a role of a Japanese character. There is a much bigger problem that lies in the heart of all of this: 

That Asian and Asian- American performers are not as financially bankable as White and Black and African-American actors and actresses. It is an admission of truth, as sad it may be, but also that it's not that Hollywood isn't ready for an Asian- American actor or actress, because they have done so for quite some time.

This is Hollywood saying that Asian faces don't sell movies and help make millions of dollars at the box office. 

It pretty much underlines that we still have a long way to go in ensuring that Asian- American actresses and actors are on the same level of success and wavelength as their Black and white peers. And of whom are treated with as much respect as them as well. 

And if they don't help sell movies, the less likely Asian faces will appear in movies and television. And more worryingly, the less Asian and Asian American celebrities for the Asian and Asian American audiences to look up to as role models and positive representations.  

 

Above: Ming-Na Wen in Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Lucy Liu who plays Dr Jane Watson in Elementary


Thankfully, the TV landscape is a lot brighter, to say the least; with Asian American characters as regulars on prime-time television in the US.  

The Elementary situation is interesting - if a little bit baffling and confusing at the same time; Dr. Joan Watson is an Asian- American woman, as opposed to a Caucasian White British man in Dr. John Watson. So not only do we have a case of race-bending, we also have a case of gender-bending as well. The producer of the series did go on record to say that as far as cultural differences and race go, the series wasn't going to play into it, nor will it have much of a bearing. 

The Dr. Joan Watson character is a character that doesn't have an Asian- sounding name, but neither does she strike the odd Kung Fu pose. In fact, she's just a person - not a person of color or of Asian descent, even though her race is different, and people will make a deal about it, this is not the integral part of the show. She's just Watson doing her job.  

Still, people will say this is an example of double standards in race-bending. That it is racist if a Caucasian actor or actress commit acts of race-bending, but when an Asian or Black person does it, they don't get called out for it. 

This is the first time where race-bending, in this instance, has been applied to a fictional character that was and is traditionally male and of White British descent. 

But Lucy has received backlash before over her casting as Dr Joan Watson in Elementary. And really, when I think about Elementary, it is not the same show as Sherlock Holmes. I don't think of it that way, well I try not to - it's just a modern twist on an old formula by making it contemporary, but also the casting of Lucy Liu is an example of race-casting done right, without further diluting the character. 

Things such as race-bending, casting non-Asians as characters of Asian origin in movies, generally do a lot of damage control to the Asian and Asian- American community, as well as towards the wider communities, inasmuch as the stereotypical roles and portrayals of Asian characters themselves.  

*above: Rila Fukushima, actress who appeared in The Wolverine with Hugh Jackman

I was watching an interview with George Takei (of Star Trek fame) and he mentioned that the challenge is that whilst on TV, there is an Asian nurse (by that I presume he means Sandra Oh on Grey's Anatomy) and detective (Lucy Liu in Elementary), there isn't an Asian-American actor of the status of Denzel Washington to sell movies. Which is very accurate and true. 

The global society we are living in today such as the US and UK, for example, is made up of various ethnicities, cultures and where the entire populations are not 110% White. One would assume the film and to a lesser extent, TV industry would reflect these populations, but unfortunately, this is not the case when it comes to the lack of representations of ethnic minorities within the media. 

And yet they make up for this by resorting to race-bending by taking a fictional person of colour, keeping their name and turning them White by casting a White actor or actress. 

There are lots of - if not that many East Asian and Asian-American actors and actresses that could play Asian characters on screen, so why try and take that opportunity away from them, and thus, drag their industry further down the ground? 

It's like that other race-bending situation with Michael B. Jordan being cast as Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movie reboot - you can change Johnny Storm's ethnicity, from White to Black, and yet one can still change an Asian character into a White one by casting a White actor or actress? No, absolutely not. It just reeks of double standards. 

The differences between Lucy Liu being cast as Dr. Jane Watson in Elementary and say that disastrous Avatar: The Last Airbender live- action movie is the casting of white actors in Asian roles in Avatar, were used to heavily distort the ethnicity of the characters from the original cartoon series. Jane Watson's ethnicity might have been different, but it wasn't done to offend the original source material of Sherlock Holmes.

Because of the twist of making Watson Asian and as a woman, in addition to moving the location to New York from London, one may argue these changes were made to reflect contemporary American society for the show's benefit. 

The White-washing is worse in movies than it is in TV, and still, Hollywood insists that it happens, because it is a business and that as a business, their aim is to get as many bums on seats as they can and make as much money as they can. 

Well, that answers it then: they don't care about the demographics or ethnographic of the people attending their movies, or about embracing diversity. 

Scarlett Johansson is a good actress - her role in Lost in Translation from 2003 is still her best to date- and whilst she has undertaken action roles before, such as Black Widow in The Avengers, for me, the main character in Ghost In a Shell should be played by a female of Asian descent, preferably Japanese or Japanese-American. 

There have been few occasions where race-bending characters have been utilized to positive effect to add diversity or enhance diversity, or just to change the dynamic of the narrative slightly, such as Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury in The Avengers. And Lucy Liu's Jane Watson in Elementary. But other than that, it further discredits or lessens the actor's contribution, as well as further discriminating against the racial group s/he is supposedly conforming to. 

Yet Hollywood continues to operate in a way that unless you are of the caliber of Will Smith or Denzel Washington, they will continue casting Caucasians, and actors of other ethnicities in race-bending roles.  

I'm all in favour for racial diversity in movies and television.... but at the expense of sacrificing and swapping the character and/or actor's ethnicity, because the colour of someone's skin, in their eyes, doesn't make them marketable? Sorry, but this is messed up. 

Black Super Heroes & The Problem On The Lack Of Visability

By Waiching Liu

Spider-Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Thor and Batman all have 2 things in common: 1) being they are all examples of super heroes and 2) they are all Caucasian/White. They are all popular and well known, not just in the comic book universe but also in popular culture as well. At least with Batman and Superman, if you asked a person on the street who their favourite super hero is or to name a superhero, the most likely of all answers would be both or either of those two.

But what about the Black super hero, and do people know that they exist as well? Of course they exist, there have been many Black super heroes, most notably Storm of the X-Men (played by Halle Berry in the earlier feature length movies of the series), Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) and to an extent, The Avengers Nick Fury, and there is also the Black Panther, the Falcon, War Machine (played by Terrance Howard and later Don Chedle in Iron Man 2), Bishop of X Factor, Steel and Spawn to name but many. Characters of whom many do not know of themselves, for the exception of say Nick Fury and Blade.


Race & Ethnicity - the distinction between the two societal concepts 

In the chapter defining race and ethnicity, Popeau once said: ''The modernist connotation of race and ethnicity sees 'race' either subsumed in ethnicity, or referred to euphemistically through ethnicity'' (Spencer, 32). What he is saying is the term 'ethnicity' is the polite way of saying 'race', when referring to a person's skin colour. Whereas with race, the word is considered as problematic, reviled, detested and contested- yet it is widely used in Western society.

It is indicated that in countries such as the USA for example, 'race' is employed in contexts where in Europe and the U.K they prefer the term 'ethnicity'. The common folk view of race & ethnicity in the U.S is one of 2 factors: 1) biology and genetics and 2) culture (Gracia, 1). This idea has been challenged in the past 20 years with no evidence the biological concept of race and the cultural concept of ethnicity has survived.

Race has historical roots and is woven into discussions and analytic debates with regards to defining citizenship as a sense of 'belonging' to a country (Spencer, 33). Race is a key component; the idea first emerged in European languages during the late 13th and 14th centuries but the usage of the word 'race' didn't come into fruition until the 16th century (34).

Media studies is the study of media institutions, the study of the television, movie, music, video game industries, the ideas and concepts around it and how it impacts on people of all races, ages, genders, nationalities. Sociology is the study of human behaviour in society and sociologists have learnt one thing: all human behaviour that takes place occurs in a societal context (Andersen, Taylor, 4). This 'societal context' Andersen and Taylor refers to is one of institutions and cultures that surround us. Examples of institutions and cultures are schools and education, media and entertainment, the law and order such as the police, solicitors, lawyers, religion, family, race, nationality, identity and politics. It can be argued that Media Studies is partly influenced by Sociology; because of the idea of analysing and studying the media, and the media being the outlet for projecting characters and personalities on TV, film and thus showing how and why their behaviour is or could be a direct consequence of societal, cultural and personal factors.

Sociology is thinking about society and its influence of people of different social groups, but in a scientific way. It involves observing, reasoning and making logical points of view together with a body of theoretical and analytical work carried out by various theorists and sociologists. (Andersen, Taylor, 4).


Superheroes and Super Black

The role of the superhero is steeped in affirming a division between right and wrong. They all operate on a framework that is of morality. It is of no coincidence that superheroes become victorious in the end. Yet this is little to do with their strength, powers and weapons and more to do with being concerned for others and their own notions, - of which are never the same as every other super heroes- on what 'justice' is to them. Likewise, the Punisher, who is a vigilante, own sense of justice will be different to that of say, Superman's. (4, Nama)

With Black superheroes, Nama points out that not only are they representative of all things that are for the good in a racial, 'lets defeat racism, racists' - kind of way. They are cultural ciphers for accepted wisdom regarding racial justice and the changing politics of Black racial formulation in the U.S (4, Nama). When these acts of heroism are being carried out, they are fighting a waging war against the villains, whilst also upholding and maintaining their status and identity as a Black man/woman.

Despite the symbolic significance of Black superheroes in American popular culture, the topic itself is un-examined. In the essay, Finding Other Heroes, John Jennings and Damian Duffy stated the problem lies in the comic book industry itself. An industry dominated by White male characters and most quintessential images of heroism and one of the obvious examples of  unequal representation (13, Brown).

It is believed that just because there are no or there are very little Black superheroes in movies, on TV, it is suggested that there are NO black superheroes existing, period. For years, young comic book readers have encountered an idealised image of what heroism was all about: honest, law-abiding, masculine, and White. (13, Brown)

It is a wrong misconception because if you go on the internet and Google Black superheroes, you will find websites that have names of all the Black superheroes. 

It is a case of knowing the information on this subject is out there- it's just that people choose not to investigate and delve deeper into it, and probably out of ignorance, dismiss that Black superheroes exist and just exclaim racism. There was a infamous video posted on YouTube a few years ago by rapper P. Diddy, who having seen Will Smith's, Hancock decried the lack of Black superheroes, whilst heralding Hancock as a saviour. The video prompted a furious reaction and was met with shock and anger by most viewers, who- unlike Diddy- understood that there are indeed Black superhero characters and went on to list most of them, just to prove a point. 

For the exception of say, Spawn played by Michael Jai White, many people will go on record to say Black superheroes are poorly represented and lacking on screen. For me personally, the discussion and talk regarding Black and minority superheroes is one I find fascinating to me; not just due to them being from a minority group but because they have a super power or ability, it makes them stand out from other people. Because they are Black, Asian, gay/lesbian, their presence and morality alone represents their social group and is seen as a positive influence. In the X-Men series, mutants are discriminated against by the humans. This discrimination is on par with that of racism, sexism and gay bashing. But when in the case of Jubilee, who is Asian -American and a mutant, she is having to come to terms with herself being Chinese-American AND also fighting discrimination, because she is a mutant with these super powers.

Unlike Marvels The Avengers, I personally identify myself more with the X-Men than the latter, given they were treated like social outcasts by the rest of society, of whom looked down on them and saw them as a 'problem'. Something that I could relate to. Because of this, the mutants, especially those who were under Professor Xavier and were the do-gooders, Wolverine, Cyclops, Gambit, Storm etc were increasingly isolated, discriminated against and marginalised.  

The concept of the hero isn't necessarily tied to race per se; when s/he goes and fights bad guys, saves the world and the people, they are not doing it for just the Blacks, Whites. They do what they do out of respect for others and for people in general. Superheroes are icons, role models, people we look up to for inspiration and who fight- not out of evil or for any bad cause, but because they truly care and want to be good people. 

Up to 1966, representations of Black superheroes were mostly degrading and seen as offensive by comparing Black people to animals. The first Black superhero was the Black Panther, who hailed from Africa; he was a king named T'Challa from a fictitious country known as Wakanda. And in contrast to other African countries that were labelled financially poor, suffering from famine and poverty - another stereotype labelled by the media- Wakanda was affluent and the most technologically advanced civilization in the world. 

Meanwhile, the first African-American superhero was the Falcon (1969); he was the first mainstream Black African-American superhero. In the book Super Black, Nama mentions the Falcon being his first and favourite flying Black super hero. He cited the Falcon as an example of a person, who operated on a broader social level. He said:

'The image of the Falcon gliding across an urban skyline symbolised the unprecedented access and upward social mobility many African Americans were experiencing in educational and professional positions in the wake of hard-earned anti discrimination laws and affirmative action.'  (2, Nama) 

Superheroes As Role- Models For The Rest Of Society

Black superheroes were not only positive representations of people's dreams, aspirations, desires and an idealised notion of ourselves and themselves but in addition, they symbolised an extension of America's political role and racial landscape which was shifting (Nama, 2). No longer were they the butt of ridicule and jokes, rather their existence pointed towards the development of the U.S as a nation and in the land of the free, anything was and is possible. Days of when America was predominately White- even though the Native Americans were the first to set foot in the U.S- is history. America today is more culturally diverse and the Black population is becoming increasing larger.

The discussion of Black superheroes and of them being positive and exemplary role models for people in general, as well as for young Black kids is important to address but at the same time, it is being neglected mostly by the media and the entertainment industries. The Black community in general are crying foul of incessant negative portrayals and representations of Blacks on TV, especially in reality shows and the lack of Black sitcoms on mainstream TV networks such as NBC, Fox, CBS, ABC. Yet in Black superheroes, these people are doing good things in the name of justice and fighting crime, mostly by using their powers more-so than guns.

It is surprising but also sad that for whatever positive representations of Blacks and other minority groups shown within the media itself, it tends to be hidden away, or in the case of comic books, not as widely accessed by the rest of society as other mediums such as TV, movies. Therefore, it is more of an issue of awareness, or be the lack of awareness of these things, rather than being a lack of Black superheroes. I do think comic books in general is looked down upon as a 'minority'/geek-like activity- and that is an image that needs to be challenged, seeing as we can all relate to superheroes and how their efforts impact us as individuals. 

Just because it is not visibly out there, as in on TV does not mean they do not exist. Black superheroes do exist and the comic book industry needs to continue to do more and feature more of them in their comics and stories to promote their image, and for the Hollywood industry to understand that whilst television in the U.S on major networks has changed completely over the past 15 years or so, the reality is, the representations of Black people are mostly negative and are doing a huge disservice to their community.

Black super heroes and comic books are filling that void being virtually ignored by Hollywood; unlike the idiots on reality shows who behave terribly and make them look bad, they stand for truth, justice, Black empowerment and heroism. Sure it would be good if they were given as much exposure as Spiderman, Superman, Iron Man, Captain America etc. But the fact that they exist is better, rather than of them being non-existent. And given what they do is not for fame, greed, drugs, sex etc, superheroes in general should be considered as legitimate role models by everyone, besides celebrities, sports stars, family members anyhow.

Even if they are not real, that is besides the point: the point being is they do good things and ought to be respected for that.... And moreso than all because of the colour of their skin underneath their coloured Lycra attire. 

Sources: 

• Other heroes: African American Comic Book Creators, Characters and Archetypes: Art Exhibition Catalog, 2007

• The History of the Black Male Superhero in Comic Books: An Interview with Dr Jonathan Gayles - Black Voices, 2013 

• D.C Comics & Black Superheroes,  Margena A. Christian, Ebony, January 2012 

• Race and Ethnicity: Culture, Identity & Representation, S. Spencer, 2006 

• Race or Ethnicity? On Black and Latino Identity, Jorge J.E Garcia, 2007

• Sociology: The Essentials, 2009 

• Black Super Heroes, Milestone Comics and Fans, Jeffery A. Brown, 2001 

• Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes, Adilfu Nama, 2011