Tuesday, January 6, 2009

...Is Black.

filed under: cyborg, green lantern

I touched on this pre-Christmastime and never revisited: the issue of buying black toys for black girls and boys. As a 70s child runnin wild, I feel like I was of the first generation for who the option even existed. I’m sure the Black Is Beautiful era showed a spike in sales for black baby dolls; I remember a Halloween when the son of my babysitter dressed up as OJ Simpson, and it was a big deal that a costume of a black man even existed. My 3-year-old is growing up in the age (albeit not the country) of President Obama – he’s got his CHANGE toddler T-shirt from Union Square Park – but I still think it’s an issue, that children of color be somewhat surrounded by images (from pop culture or elsewhere) that reflect them.

Incidentally, I’d bought my boy a Green Lantern action figure without realizing he was in a messy métissage relationship with Hawkgirl. So I suppose he’s not the greatest superheroic race man role model. Oh well. Mattel releases Cyborg sometime this year…

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Comments

Mark at 6:23 AM on 01/07/09:

Ah Miles . . . you know about Cyborg and Sarah Simms? Alas, a shiksa :)

MML at 6:30 AM on 01/07/09:

fuck, mark, i didn’t know. i DID know about power man marrying jessica jones, not to mention his old thing for coleen wing. (faux outrage:) BLACK WOMEN AIN’T GOOD ENOUGH?! (lol)

brook stephenson at 1:19 PM on 01/07/09:

yo. Its a struggle but I think back to my folks. they didn’t care but then again they made sure we knew we were beautiful, talented, dynamic, great and so are our people. Man you got to talk it, show it and live it. you already are. Best believe lil man is peepin ya style and co-opiting it…make it happen. in the words of talib kweli off the Reflection Eternal album “..Its the reflection!”

MML at 4:47 PM on 01/07/09:

yeah, thinking back to the ‘rents, i don’t remember a huge influx of black toys either, brook. healthy amounts of blackness were thrown into the mix in other ways. it’s true though: kids imitate their parents swagger (or lack of)….

Reverse Rascism is Ugly too at 4:06 PM on 04/23/09:

“Incidentally, I’d bought my boy a Green Lantern action figure without realizing he was in a messy métissage relationship with Hawkgirl. So I suppose he’s not the greatest superheroic race man role model.”

Even for something as trivial as a GL action figure & because he’s with Hawk Girl? You have GOT to be kidding! Of all the things you could’ve picked wrong about that movie this is what got you? really?! GL IS a great super hero.. My God. The degree of racism is astounding and it’s on YOUR part. Here they are trying to transcend the race barrier and YOU’RE the one putting up the blocks. Then you want to cry foul if they dont put any black superheroes in the movie.

I didnt care for the hook up because of her story line with Hawk Man & how they got their powers from the Egyptian gods etc… their love was eternal.. they totally changed that storyline. THAT is what I disliked about them being together. I dont like my comic books tampered with.

I Cant believe what REVERSE RACISTS you people here are! Instead of learning from that hatred and that destructing force that goes with it.

How can you expect for racism to be eradicated if you keep breeding it, bolstering it, enabling it? It’s horrible and ugly and appaling. Then you want to say “white” people are the racist when it shows you are no better. In this day and age you are still saying you wont fall in love with someone if they are not black like you (and are white)? That is sad. It’s sad, shallow and ignorant. Who cares who you fall in love with? so long as you fall in love.

If a “white” person wrote that article in reverse against the blacks you would be calling Al Sharpton, demanding apologies, and holding rallies to have this retracted cuz it was racist to black people so why doesnt it also apply here those same ethics? So hypocritical.

You are like arian nations only reverse. Its ugly. Disgusting.

STOP BEING SO RACIST!!! No matter what you are!Black, white, hispanic, asian just stop it. REVERSE RACISM IS JUST AS UGLY.

MML at 6:17 PM on 04/26/09:

you’re absolutely right. sorry.

(but i’d never call al sharpton, for anything.)