February 11, 2011

Top 10 racist comic-book characters

Top Ten Racially Insensitive Comic Book Characters

By Etrane Martinez10.) Indian Fighter (1950)

Indian Fighter was just that. The book told tales of the old west where the heroic white man helped to tame and battle “injuns.” Not as much of a racist character as it is a racist book all together. Every issue told a western story about the might used to overcome the “savages.” The fact that 99% of all Westerns at the time did the same thing is the main reason why Indian Fighter is #10. Though, “Native American Fighter” just sounds creepy and wrong…or even…wrong..er?


Comment:  Another term for "Indian fighter" is "morally just Christian soldier killing by right of conquest." Just ask Bryan Fischer.

Here is Martinez's no. 1 pick. Not a bad choice:1.) Memin Penguin (1940-?)

Why is Memín Pinguín #1 you ask? Well, for one specific reason. This comic about a young Cuban boy was introduced in Mexico in the 1940′s and is STILL IN PRINT TO THIS DAY! He might be adored in Mexico but he is starting to gain attention from the other side of the border. Though the book did a good job of tackling racial and cultural issues head on, Memin received the majority of its criticism due to the way the characters are portrayed. It would be like animating Martin Luther King giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech but drawing him in black-face.
For more on the subject, see 19th-Century Cartoons About Indians and Native Women = Whores in SCALPED.

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