# Which super hero is most likely to be racist when he's off the clock? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014 "2012-02-16T05:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/81 "2012-02-19T12:02:44Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Some of the recent Black Panther I’ve read has seemed kind of anti-white. It may just have been those few issues. Were they written by Hudlin? If so, it’s because of him. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/82 "2012-02-19T13:41:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Captain America, Wolverine, any other supe with limited or total immortality. Doesn’t Wolverine get with Storm in one of the timelines? Of course, I guess that could be an example of jungle fever winning out over prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/83 "2012-02-19T16:35:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Except Japs… Likes to slap 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/84 "2012-02-19T23:22:33Z")
Let’s be honest, here… Who _wouldn’t_ like to get it on with Storm? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/85 "2012-02-20T00:12:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Except Japs… In this context “Japs” can be taken to mean “The war-criminal Imperial Japanese Gov’t of WWII”, just like we sometimes use “Nazis” to refer to the “War Criminal WWII Germans”. No one has problems with “Nazis, I hate those guys”, so in this context there’s no racist overtones behind “Japs”. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/86 "2012-02-20T01:24:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In this context “Japs” can be taken to mean “The war-criminal Imperial Japanese Gov’t of WWII”… Do you have any evidence that, at any point in history, the word “Jap” was understood to refer specifically to the Imperial government of Japan, and not the Japanese people in general? Do you think [this headline](http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/japanese_internment/newspapers.gif) is referring to members of the Tojo government living in California? > [@](#): > > … just like we sometimes use “Nazis” to refer to the “War Criminal WWII Germans”. No one has problems with “Nazis, I hate those guys”, so in this context there’s no racist overtones behind “Japs”. The difference there is that “Nazi” was the actual name of the criminal government of Germany during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/87 "2012-02-20T04:38:55Z")
I think it’s safer to say that when two countries are at war, they tend to stereotype the other, and they aren’t all that concerned with the other’s feelings. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/88 "2012-02-20T06:38:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In this context “Japs” can be taken to mean “The war-criminal Imperial Japanese Gov’t of WWII”, just like we sometimes use “Nazis” to refer to the “War Criminal WWII Germans”. No one has problems with “Nazis, I hate those guys”, so in this context there’s no racist overtones behind “Japs”. Naah. Sorry, but no,\* even if \*it only referred to the government (and others have shown this isn’t true) just the representation of the personification of that entity is still racist, with the slant eyes and buck teeth. Not unusual for its time, sure, but racist all the same. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/89 "2012-02-20T19:06:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Naah. Sorry, but no,\* even if \*it only referred to the government (and others have shown this isn’t true) just the representation of the personification of that entity is still racist, with the slant eyes and buck teeth. Not unusual for its time, sure, but racist all the same. Have you seen how we portrayed the Nazi leadership, with them looking like monkeys or pigs? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/90 "2012-02-20T19:34:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you seen how we portrayed the Nazi leadership, with them looking like monkeys or pigs? I’ve seen plenty of evidence that anti-Asian prejudice in the WWII era was much more common than anti-German racism. The anti-German sentiments were much more political and nationalist in nature than the alienization of Japanese based on physical features. So it’s reasonable to assume racism is a bigger component of anti-Japanese war propoganda. The problem with all these arguments is determining which of the superheros actually is more likely to be racist, i.e., harbor racist sentiments. We don’t know that Superman authorized the usage of his image on the Slap-a-Jap cover. And we don’t see him speaking in a bubble, just the headlines written on a sheet of paper without attribution. I think it might be difficult to find actual racist acts and words from the ultimate Boy Scout. On the other hand, we have the actual words and deeds of Tarzan that demonstrated his acceptance and practice of racism in regards to African tribesman. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/91 "2012-02-20T20:01:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you seen how we portrayed the Nazi leadership, with them looking like monkeys or pigs? From WWII? Not really, I recall that sort of thing from WWI ([Destroy This Mad Brute!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/%27Destroy_this_mad_brute%27_WWI_propaganda_poster_%28US_version%29.jpg) is a particular favourite) but from WWII? I mean, look [here](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Be_sure_you_have_correct_time%5E_-_NARA_-_515050.tif/lossy-page1-772px-Be_sure_you_have_correct_time%5E_-_NARA_-_515050.tif.jpg): two of these are caricatures (Hitler’s isn’t even very unflattering) whereas Tojo (I’m _assuming_ that’s supposed to be Tojo) is just unabashedly racist. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/92 "2012-02-20T20:13:03Z")
> [@](#): > > The problem with all these arguments is determining which of the superheros actually is more likely to be racist, i.e., harbor racist sentiments. We don’t know that Superman authorized the usage of his image on the Slap-a-Jap cover. And we don’t see him speaking in a bubble, just the headlines written on a sheet of paper without attribution. I think it might be difficult to find actual racist acts and words from the ultimate Boy Scout. He’s shown personally operating the press that’s printing that propaganda. That seems like a pretty close equivalent to saying it himself, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Frankthedog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Frankthedog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankthedog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/93 "2012-02-20T20:21:23Z")
Half of the Sherlock Holmes books were out and out racist if you read between the lines! Speaks of a different era I suppose, though… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/94 "2012-02-20T20:24:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He’s shown personally operating the press that’s printing that propaganda. That seems like a pretty close equivalent to saying it himself, to me. The cover is clearly not a photograph. Even if Superman actually did hand crank an improbable printing press of that nature, I find it difficult to believe it was actually producing Slap-a-Jap posters. Those could have been drawn in on the cover and the press could have been printing Ovaltine advertisements in real life. It’s well known that Action Comics presented docu-dramas, stories based on Superman’s actual adventures, but often with many details and even key plot points altered and sometimes entirely fictionalized for dramatic effect. Also there are a lot of questions about why Superman was not more active in WWII and I suspect any cooperation with the government on the home front was part of an agreement regarding a tax debt and his citizenship status. I simply find it difficult to believe that Superman, an alien himself, would hold in his heart feelings of racial animosity, or accept the nature of the perceived petty differences of a different species based on superficial characteristics. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/95 "2012-02-20T20:31:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The cover is clearly not a photograph. They wanted a photograph, but the real Superman wouldn’t pose? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/96 "2012-02-20T20:45:15Z")
> [@Frankthedog](#): > > Half of the Sherlock Holmes books were out and out racist if you read between the lines! > Speaks of a different era I suppose, though… Cite? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/97 "2012-02-20T20:47:01Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Chronos: In _The Sign of Four_, Toby comes from the Andaman Islands, not Africa. Johnathan Small is the main villian and Toby acts at his behest. I also don’t recall Holmes making any disparaging remarks about Toby, although it has been a while since I’ve read the book. Also, Holmes and the police inspector (Athelney Jones?) clearly don’t like Small, who does say something to the effect “you don’t know what it’s like to be in a prison where all the black men are intent on taking it out of you.” > > In “The Adventure of Three Students,” it’s Watson who’s suspicious of an Indian student who doesn’t want to spend much time with the detectives and was pacing the floor back and forth because, in Watson’s eyes, he might be guilty. Holmes points out that it’s quite reasonable that a student studying for an important exam doesn’t want to waste time with strangers and many students often pace when memorizing material. The little guy’s name was Tonga. Toby was the bloodhound. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/98 "2012-02-20T20:49:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …and there’s another story where he goes head-to-head against the KKK. _The Five Orange Pips._ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/99 "2012-02-20T21:41:33Z")
Yeah, I thought that was it, but I didn’t bother to check (and wasn’t sure of the number of pips, either). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014/100 "2012-02-20T21:57:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > From WWII? Not really, I recall that sort of thing from WWI > . Goebbels as a monkey and others: > **[Redirect Notice](https://www.google.com/imgres?q=propaganda%2Bposters%2Bww2%2Bgoebble&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1385&bih=867&tbm=isch&tbnid=245aEAbEgwAFWM:&imgrefurl=http:%2F%2Fwww.psywarrior.com%2FAxisLeadersMonsters.html&docid=4qHxWH1S9AuboM&imgurl=http:%2F%2Fwww.psywarrior.com%2FGoebbelsMonkey2.jpg&w=332&h=440&ei=68BCT9uNDaLYiAL9o4TLAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=506&vpy=128&dur=1198&hovh=259&hovw=195&tx=102&ty=113&sig=101590504859967188177&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=115&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=0CE8QrQMwAw)** Hitler as a gorrila, and theres a cartoon with all the axis leader, where indeed, Tojo looks pretty bad, but so do the others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-super-hero-is-most-likely-to-be-racist-when-hes-off-the-clock/613014.md?page=6)