# Did ANY Golden Age heros, besides Superman, do anything to fight racism before 1965? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 1, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850 "2008-07-01T02:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/21 "2008-07-01T17:59:13Z")
In the late 1940’s Fawcett Comics, publishers of Captain Marvel had an intresting ethical code. Go to page 24 here– > **[Fawcett Companion](https://books.google.com/books?id=E8z-CaR1OdcC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=ethics+fawcett+%22captain+marvel%22&source=web&ots=L0r7URMyOE&sig=qg5sM44OV8TKW2_m4ixt97A84N0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA24,M1)** > > The Fawcett Companion examines the history of Fawcett Comics, publisher of Captain Marvel, The Marvel Family, Spy Smasher, Bulletman, Ibis the Invincible, and other time-honored comic book characters. Editor P. C. Hamerlinck has compiled this... > [@](#): > > 1. No comic shall use dialects and devices in a way to indicate ridicule or intolerance of racial groups. Several stories were written in the late 40s, advocating tolerance between races. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/22 "2008-07-01T18:45:49Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] WARNING! I just got an “Adult Content” notice from my work filter by clicking on that link. [/QUOTE] All posts on Scans\_Daily come up with ‘Adult Content’ unless you’re logged into to LiveJournal. It’s marked as adult because they’re slash-friendly. And they have porn weeks every now and then. But everything is tagged appropriately (unless you don’t know what NSFW means :rolleyes: ). Depending on your workplace it may not be a good idea to read there, just on principle, but it’s easy enough to avoid the bad stuff. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/23 "2008-07-01T22:01:32Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Batman and Robin gave some training to [Batman Jones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Jones) in the 1950s… [/QUOTE] “Batman Jones” is a white kid on a bicycle. What racism was this confronting, the subtle racism of low expectations? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/24 "2008-07-01T22:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Silver Tyger Girl] But everything is tagged appropriately (unless you don’t know what NSFW means :rolleyes: ). [/QUOTE] That was a funny little thread. Funny how it actually prompted the most recent porn week, too. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/25 "2008-07-02T02:19:13Z")
Does [_Watermelon Man_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_Man_%28film%29) count? 1970 and not a comic book, but too good not to use. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/26 "2008-07-02T08:39:18Z")
I’ve got a big hardback book of old Wonder Woman comics from the WW2 period and she takes on sexism, facism and racism (there’s one where she goes after the fascist “Green Shirts” who are trying to lynch an Italian-American fellow, it ends with her convincing the rank & file that their behavior is un-American). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/27 "2008-07-02T14:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=astro] “Batman Jones” is a white kid on a bicycle. What racism was this confronting, the subtle racism of low expectations? [/QUOTE] There are sources that describe him as black. I’ve only seen the cover and not the interior story so I was going by those. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/28 "2008-07-02T14:33:13Z")
Interior illustrations also portray him as white. [http://www.thefifthbranch.com/gorilladaze/?p=298](http://www.thefifthbranch.com/gorilladaze/?p=298) How could there be any chance of him being black in a comic of that day? And how would that comic not be so famous that every Batman fan would be aware of it if Jones really were black? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/29 "2008-07-02T14:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] The EC comics often had stories attacking racism, with racists getting their just desserts. But no superheroes, of course. [/QUOTE] _Just deserts._ Though with EC Comics you never know; there might well be some form of horrific dessert involved. Wow; I’ll have to look all that stuff over when I get home. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/30 "2008-07-02T20:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] How could there be any chance of him being black in a comic of that day? And how would that comic not be so famous that every Batman fan would be aware of it if Jones really were black? [/QUOTE] I’m sure I don’t know. I’ll email the people who maintain that he’s black and pas along your question. Oh wait, no I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/31 "2008-07-02T21:37:31Z")
OK, then, here’s a question you don’t have to go far to answer. When _your own link_ took you to a page that showed the kid as clearly white, why didn’t you take the two seconds needed for a Google search to look for the interior panels that would have settled the matter before you posted? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/32 "2008-07-03T02:35:36Z")
I can’t say for sure about their comics, but on TV the Lone Ranger (premiered 1949) and Roy Rogers (1951) were both defending Indians as early as their first seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/33 "2008-07-03T18:20:41Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] OK, then, here’s a question you don’t have to go far to answer. When _your own link_ took you to a page that showed the kid as clearly white, why didn’t you take the two seconds needed for a Google search to look for the interior panels that would have settled the matter before you posted? [/QUOTE] You’reright, I don’t have to go far at all, just back to an earlier post in the thread. I have read several sources that identify the character as black. It’s not all that terribly clear to me from the cover in the link that the kid is supposed to be portrayed as white. Look at his skin tone as compared to Robin’s for example. Jones’ skin tone is notably darker, at least on my monitor. Now here’s a question for _you_: why do you care so much? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/34 "2008-07-03T18:45:30Z")
It bothered me because, like others in this thread, I couldn’t figure out any reason to link to a white kid named “Batman Jones” except for the racist effect of similar names. My first thought was of Cheech & Chong’s “Basketball Jones.” Or Rochester Van Jones, Jack Benny’s sidekick. Using an odd or high-toned first name with Jones has been a “comic” or stereotypical or flat-out racist usage for the last century. There seemed to be no possible way anyone could think that Batman Jones was a black character. That’s why it bothered me. And you need to get a new monitor. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/35 "2008-07-03T21:24:25Z")
[Batman Jones parents appear to be white…](http://bp3.blogger.com/_iE7xQRVADj4/R73Q-2B9XUI/AAAAAAAAAao/_Uv3IU1FSh8/s1600-h/batmanjones.jpg) …and somewhat elderly. Possibly Otto is thinking of “Batmon Jones”, the Rasta Batman. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/36 "2008-07-03T21:30:00Z")
[Here’s a black Batman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhbfMaIqmM) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/37 "2008-07-04T05:13:08Z")
Sherlock Holmes was fighting the Klan as early as 1891!: [The Five Orange Pips - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Orange_Pips) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/38 "2008-07-04T13:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] It bothered me because, like others in this thread, I couldn’t figure out any reason to link to a white kid named “Batman Jones” except for the racist effect of similar names. My first thought was of Cheech & Chong’s “Basketball Jones.” Or Rochester Van Jones, Jack Benny’s sidekick. Using an odd or high-toned first name with Jones has been a “comic” or stereotypical or flat-out racist usage for the last century. [/QUOTE] Ah. So you think I’m a racist. Thanks, I appreciate that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/39 "2008-07-04T14:15:42Z")
You posted something without explanation that at least two people on this thread thought had racist implications. Don’t blame us for your mistake. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850/40 "2008-07-04T14:45:06Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] You posted something without explanation that at least two people on this thread thought had racist implications. Don’t blame us for your mistake. [/QUOTE] I didn’t think he was a racist. But, when I read his post I couldn’t make anything other than a non sequitur out of it. I’d have to agree with you on one point, though, he needs a new monitor or glasses if he really thought Batman Jones looked black. Kythereia: Thanks for posting thos EC comic links! Those stories are terrific! I joined that group and am enjoying checking out what gets posted. Most of it is not up to the EC stuff, but still. Thanks! pat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-golden-age-heros-besides-superman-do-anything-to-fight-racism-before-1965/454850.md?page=1)