Amazingly Predictable: Spider Man's Quest to Stop White Criminals

The wanted poster for the "blond" killer of Uncle Ben in The Amazing Spider-Man

Over the past year, I've been working on a fictional story called The Next Man in Hell. It’s a tale of what would happen if someone in our present society decided to take up the mantle of a masked vigilante in our world, taking comic books out of the America of the 1950s, where comics seem to be stuck.(See this piece on The Avengers at VDare and Will "The First 48" be the model?: "The Punisher" gets a TV Show).

Though comics do boast a proud history of heroes resisting tyranny, the cinematic world depicted in Superman Returns, in all of the Christopher Nolan Batman films, in X-Men, The Punisher, Thor, Iron Man, The Avengers, Green Lantern . . . well, they all offer pure escapism when it comes to the casting of villains.

The villains, be they megalomaniac super-villains with extraordinary powers or just your run-of-the-mill street criminal, are almost always white. In the world you and I live in, there are no super-villains; there are just your average, run-of-the-mill thug that depressingly tends to be either Black or brown.

It was my belief that were a vigilante to exist in our world, he would instantly be painted a racist by the media (and the government) and be peremptorily hunted down by the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) (if not first terminated with extreme prejudice) for violating the civil rights of criminals. Yes, a vigilante would be the ultimate racist: an individual engaging in the hate crime of trying to keep a city (or your gated community) safe from crime.

And crime does have a color in America.

But wait: Didn’t we recently see what would happen to someone fighting for justice and the betterment of a community? Isn’t that exactly what happened with the story of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin? That "white Hispanic," George Zimmerman, might just be the next man in hell...

The whole Zimmerman/Martin affair seemed to destroy the concept that a half Black/half Hispanic Spider Man would be allowed to fight crime; Martin became the "hero" in the eyes of the media and government, while Zimmerman was demonized and has been harassed by those same entities that celebrate "Obama's son."

Thus the entire Zimmerman/Martin affair is just a real-world application of the plot from The Next Man in Hell.

On that note, The Amazing Spider-Man swung into theaters on July 3rd, re-booting a franchise that was beginning to prove true the law of diminishing returns (at least in the American market). Just like the Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man sticks to the formula of Peter Parker's beloved Uncle Ben being murdered by a blond-haired white criminal. Leif Gantvoort gets to portray the Nordic killer of Uncle Ben this go-around, filling the shoes made famous by Michael Papajohn in the original trilogy.

Indeed, once Andrew Garfield's version of Peter Parker (who plays Spider-Man in this re-boot) tries to avenge the death of Uncle Ben by hunting down the blond-haired baddy, the viewer is treated to the hilarious spectacle of Spider-Man chasing down not one, not two, but at least six different blond-haired thugs in New York City -- all with police records.

Uncle Ben's killer in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy

For these actions of ridding New York City of blond-haired thugs, the police brand Spider-Man  "vigilante." Just as in Raimi's version of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man shows the Wall-crawler battling an impressive array of white street thugs.

The New York Times published an informative opinion piece on March 14 by Peter Moskos (You Can’t Blame the Police) that seems to paint a portrait of crime in New York City that isn't replicated in the cinematic world of Spider-Man:

It’s not politically correct to say so, but reality isn't politically correct. Over 90 percent of New York City's 536 murder victims last year were black or Hispanic. Just 48 victims were white or Asian. The rate of white homicide in the city (1.18 per 100,000) is incredibly low, even by international standards. The Hispanic rate of homicide in New York City (5.5) is barely above the overall national average (4.8). And yet the black homicide rate remains stubbornly high (17.2), 15 times higher than the white rate. Blacks are one-quarter of the city’s population and two-thirds of murder victims. Black men age 15 to 29 represent less than 3 percent of the city’s population but account for one-third of those murdered. 

Instead of showing a world where the criminals almost always look like the "sons" Barack Obama never had – as they do in the real world you and I live in – the cinematic world of Spider-Man shows us a world where they all look like the "sons" of Mitt Romney and his fellow Mormon believers.

Heather MacDonald from City Journal goes one step further (Distorting the Truth about Crime and Race, March 14, 2010). In discussing the "stop and frisk" program in New York City, she writes:

Here are the crime data that the Times doesn’t want its readers to know: blacks committed 66 percent of all violent crimes in the first half of 2009 (though they were only 55 percent of all stops and only 23 percent of the city’s population). Blacks committed 80 percent of all shootings in the first half of 2009. Together, blacks and Hispanics committed 98 percent of all shootings. Blacks committed nearly 70 percent of all robberies. Whites, by contrast, committed 5 percent of all violent crimes in the first half of 2009, though they are 35 percent of the city’s population (and were 10 percent of all stops). They committed 1.8 percent of all shootings and less than 5 percent of all robberies. The face of violent crime in New York, in other words, like in every other large American city, is almost exclusively black and brown.

So is the world ready for The Next Man in Hell? Judging by the support George Zimmerman has received, that answer is a resounding "yes."

The Proud Tradition of Heroes Resisting Government Tyranny in Comic Books

 PK Note: This is not an endorsement of violence, but an exploration of the history of heroes in comic books resisting government tyranny.

The past day has been interesting. The United States government has given the military the ability to arrest and detain any American citizen suspected of terrorism. No trial.

American citizens held without trial for being a suspected threat to the existing order. Read that again.

It got me thinking about an essay from Captain America and Whiteness: The Dilemma of the Superhero about the interesting history of the government passing laws against vigilante actions in the pages of comics and the heroes who resist capitulating to such legislation (the whole reason they exist is because the government has failed to provide adequate resources in fighting criminality). The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Marvel's Civil War story line all deal with the government passing laws outlawing vigilantism (those who challenge the state monopoly on violence).

A scene from G.I. Retaliation

Interesting, this writer recently finished reading a graphic novel on G.I Joe: A The Real American. After seeing the story from Zero Hedge that dealt with an episode of the 1980s GI Joe cartoon revolving around a plot by Cobra (the enemy of GI Joe) to burn all the money held by Americans and restore the gold standard, I became interested in the actual origins of Cobra.

I picked up GI Joe: The Worst of Cobra Commander and learned that the origins of Cobra were from a mild-mannered American upset with big government! (p. 88). The eventual Cobra Commander launches his political party (which eventually becomes a terrorist organization) with this speech in Springfield, Illinois with these words:

War is an extension of politics and politics is an extension of economics! If the government says an honest man can't work as much as he wants to and earn as much as he wants to -- it's wrong! And we have a right to fight back if we want to!

Wait a second... is Cobra a right-wing populist movement? Could Cobra be the motivation behind the Tea Party Movement? It should be noted that G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - from which this graphic novel is collected - was published back in the 1980s.

Anyways, it's always interesting what a little intellectual curiosity will help you uncover. Who knew that the origins of Cobra (the comic, not the cartoon or the 2009 movie) would be a right-wing populist movement?

Let's get to the essay at hand, which is on the interesting tradition of beloved superheroes like Batman and Captain America fighting back when the government decides to enact laws that target those who dare challenge the state monopoly on violence.

Just like the Voldermort was Right piece, SBPDL will occasionally publish articles that dare ask why the so-called villains in a movie are wrong. At some point soon, an article stating Why the Empire from Star Wars is Right will be published. Tomorrow, an article detailing why Bane Must Break the Bat: Why the Dark Knight Rises Must End With the League of Shadows Winning will be published.

Yes, this site is still SBPDL. But you have to add some variety every now and then. The Atlanta/Walking Dead piece will be published soon too.

Now, in honor of those superheroes who participate in true civil disobedience, let's take a quick look at the healthy tradition of masked heroes fighting to save America from itself.

Mark Millar’s Civil War storyline is one of those rare occasions where comic books transcend into real world situations and serve as a metaphor for all that is wrong with national politics. After a horrific accident (part of Stamford, Connecticut is destroyed in a battle between superheroes and villains), Congress decides to pass a Superhuman Registration Act:

The Bush Era of the early 21st century was another politically contentious time in American history. The Marvel Universe and Captain America, once again, were not immune to the times. It was the age of the War on Terror, post-911 jitters, the Patriot Act and controversial presidency of George W. Bush. It was also the age when Marvel launched their epic Civil War saga. 

In events that mirrored the highly controversial Patriotic Act, the U.S. Government passed the Superhuman Registration Act. The Act required that all persons with super powers register with the government as "a human weapon of mass destruction" (the real world political lingo of five years ago is still very familiar). The superhumans were also required to reveal their true identities and submit to government training. 

Today, in the era of Tea Party politics, such an act would no doubt be seen as ‘big government trying to run the lives of good decent American superheroes'.  But during The War on Terror era things were different. The unofficial motto was, ‘You are either with us or against us.'  Captain America was most decidedly on the ‘against us' side.

Captain America vehemently opposed the Act and refused to register. He argued that such legislation was an infringement of American civil liberties. Actually, he didn't just argue. He fought. Hard. And a lot. And against his former friends and allies, like Iron Man.[1]

Iron Man, Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), Henry Pym, Spider-Man – who would unmask to the public in the process and reveal himself as Peter Parker - and other heroes decide its best to side with the government; Captain America and a ragtag group of heroes decided against such actions and refuse registration. Tony Stark (Iron Man) is named head of the government’s security wing – called S.H.I.E.L.D – and an actual Civil War is waged between the heroes of the Marvel Universe.

When President Bush is talking with his advisors about the registration act, he worries that having a symbol like Captain America leading the rebellion against registration will embolden those heroes who refused registration:

President Bush: Cap going underground means every super hero who disagrees with us suddenly has a figurehead.

Iron Man: Then we find ourselves a leader of our own, sir.

President Bush: What are you suggesting, Mr. Stark?

Iron Man: You push ahead with registration as planned, gentlemen. Leave Captain America to us [the panel shows Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and Henry Pym staring ominously at the gathered politicians].[2]

Civil War: Captain America sides with the people

Prior to Captain America going rouge, he has an important conversation in one of the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier’s with a Commander Hill regarding how he will help the government round-up heroes who refuse to comply with the Registration Act:

Commander Hill: This proposal goes to a vote in two weeks’ time and could be law in as little as a month. But we can’t go in half-cocked. We’re already developing an anti-superhuman response unit here. But we need to make sure the Avengers are on ourside and that you’re out there leading the Avengers.

Captain America: Forget about it.

Captain America: You’re asking me to arrest people who risk their lives for this country every day of the week.

Commander Hill: No, I’m asking you to obey the will of the American people, Captain.

Captain America: Don’t play politics with me, Hill. Super heroes need to stay above that stuff or Washington starts telling us who the super-villains are.

Commander Hill: I thought super-villains were guys in masks who refused to obey the law.

At this point, scores of S.H.I.E.L.D agents turn their guns on Captain America, which leads to his immediate decision to join the rebellion. [3]

The decision by Captain America to side with those who refuse to obey Washington’s call for transparency in superhero actions became one of Marvel’s most successful comic storylines to date. Funny that it should mirror earlier storylines in two of comics – and all of recent literature – most important titles, where the government dictates that superheroes must either work within the system (Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns) or retire completely (Alan Moore’s Watchmen).


Moore’s Watchmen is yet another story where the whiteness of the characters is overwhelming, as every superhero is a white male or female. The 2009 Zack Snyder film gave white actors like Patrick Wilson (who played Night Owl II) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who played The Comedian) opportunities to be action stars in an industry that is doing everything possible to remove these types of parts for actors of their similar racial hue.


Thomas Jane was originally cast in the role of The Comedian and we have learned that he was deemed too white to star opposite Sylvester Stallone in a 2012 action film.

The plot of Watchmen would take a long time to try and summarize, but the graphic novel/film are both set in an alternative 1980s America where comic books actually inspired normal people in the 1930s and 1940s to become heroes. The group – called The Minutemen – actually battled crime, becoming celebrities in the process.

The later incarnation of the group, led by Ozymandias, Night Owl II, Rorschach, and the Comedian face a much different challenge then the original Minutemen group did as America has evolved into a much more dangerous place. Eventually, ‘masks’ as they are called (heroes) are outlawed through the passage of the Keene Act (similar to the Superhero Registration Act of Millar’s Civil War story):

The Keene Act was a national law passed in 1977 by the United States Congress that outlawed "costumed adventuring". Passed by a United States senator named John David Keene, it immediately made illegal any form of vigilantism by costumed adventurers, except for the few who worked solely in the remit of the United States government. Although the Act had been on the table for some time, it was finally rushed through as an emergency law following the police strike on America's east coast, which was itself a reaction to the extreme methods employed by costumed crimefighters (notably Rorschach) who used excessive force when punishing criminals.

Passage of the Keene Act seems to have ended the strike action. Only Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian chose to continue to use their careers in service of the government (although both had in fact been working for the government for some time previously). Although Laurie Juspeczyk's identity had been public knowledge throughout her career, and although she entered government service at this time (largely as Dr. Manhattan's lover), she nevertheless chose to retire her Silk Spectre identity. Dan Dreiberg also chose to retire, but without revealing his identity. Adrian Veidt had retired from superhero work and made his identity public two years before the passage of the Act, thereby paving the way for the foundation of his multi-billion dollar corporation.

Rorschach refused to comply with the strictures of the Act. Shortly after the Act was passed, he left the dead body of multiple-rapist Harvey Charles Furniss outside a New York City police precinct with a note bearing only his symbolized signature and the word "neveR!"[4]

Prior to the passage of the act, Night Owl II (played by Wilson in the film) and the Comedian try and put down a riot in New York City, and this poignant exchange of dialogue transpires:

[Dan and The Comedian, in the midst of a riot]

Dan Dreiberg: But the country's disintegrating. What's happened to America? What's happened to the American dream?.

The Comedian: [brandishing shotgun] It came true. You're lookin' at it. Now c'mon... let's really put these jokers through some changes.[5]

As in the Civil War story, Captain America channels the character of Rorschach who refuses to comply with the decree from Washington D.C. that ‘masks’ stop their extraordinary, vigilante actions and come work within the system.

Only – perhaps only - Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns illustrates a vigilante’s extraordinary crusade to go outside the law and fight for justice better than the Watchmen. Set in the Ronald Reagan’s 1980s America and 10 years after Bruce Wayne has retired his cape and cowl, the Dark Knight Returns the Batman story that all others are compared to and Richard Spencer, the editor of Alternative Right, understood this when he wrote these words:

Perhaps the best elaboration of the tensions inherent in the Batman character can be found in Frank Miller’s masterful graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns (1986). The conceit here is that after spending a decade in unpleasant retirement, a fifty-something Bruce Wayne is driven to once again to go kick ass on the streets of Gotham. But when the Dark Knight returns, he encounters none of the brightly dressed mafiosos of the original comic but instead a gang of teenage punk rock sadists, “the Mutants”—’60s counter culture with a gun.

Ruling the city is an effete liberal elite that offers the few remaining good people of Gotham barely a semblance of order. Among them is Dr. Bartholemew Wolper, a psychologist who’s been “rehabilitating” and subsequently releasing the Dark Knight’s archenemies, who, of course, quickly return to murder and mayhem. On television, Dr. Wolper refers to Batman as a “social fascist,” then as a “social disease.” Comissioner Gordon—Batman’s only real ally in law enforcment—goes into mandatory retirement and is replaced by the post-feminist Ellen Yindel, whose first act on the job is to issues a warrant for Batman’s arrest.

There is some hope in Gotham. Carrie Kelly, a young girl who eventually becomes Batman’s new “Robin,” decides to join the Dark Knight after listening to her baby-boomer parents prattle on about the caped “fascist” who’s “never heard of civil rights”—“America’s conscience died with the Kennedys.”

The Dark Knight Returns: Bruce Wayne raises an army to fight the true enemy

The ultimate villain in The Dark Knight Returns is in fact Superman—whom America’s folksy, patriotic president sends off to fight the commies, deflect a nuclear weapon, and finally bring down the ungovernable Dark Knight. At the close of the novel, Batman is so alienated from civil society that his only recourse is to, in fact, “go underground,” where he plans to train an army that might one day “bring sense to a world plagued by worse than thieves and murderers.” The Joker being dead, one senses that Batman’s referring to the Wolpers, Yindels, and the rest of the establishment.[6]

All of the heroes in the DC Universe have been driven underground or forced into retirement. Superman – always the Big Blue Boy Scout – can “never say no to a badge” and becomes the United States governments primary weapon for keeping the peace. Recall that Captain America refused to comply with the Superhuman Registration Act, stating that he could never allow Washington to dictate who the villains are.


In The Dark Knight Returns, the ultimate villain – in the eyes of the government - is Batman himself, and it is the United States Government that orders Superman to ultimately stop Bruce Wayne in his quest to rid Gotham City of crime once and for all. As Superman does the bidding of the government and destroys numerous Army divisions and Naval Aircraft carriers of the Soviet Union, he contemplates to himself the reality that he will soon have to put down the Batman:

Superman: You were the one they used against us, Bruce. The one who played it rough.

When the noise started from the parents’ groups and the sub-committee called us in for questioning—you were the one who laughed… that scary laugh of yours… “Sure we’re criminals,” you said. “We’ve always been criminals.”

“We have to be criminals.”[7]

Juxtaposed in the comic panels during Superman’s destruction of the Soviet Union’s military, is Batman trying to thrwart the Joker from killing hundreds in Gotham City. Superman continues to think to himself about his impending confrontation with the Batman, all the while casually dismantling the Soviet Union’s military might at the behest of the government:

Superman: We almost threw a party when you retired. Do you remember why you retired, Bruce? No—just ok at you—you’d do it agin- and like a murderer, you’d cover it up again. Nothing matters to you – except your holy war.

They [the government] were considering their options and you were probably still laughing when we came to terms. I gave them my obedience and my invisibility. They gave me a license and let us live. No I don’t like it. But I get to save lives—and the media stays quiet. But no the storm is growing again—they’ll hunt us down again—because of you. [8]

When you consider the Civil War story, Captain America’s reaction to the registration of superheroes falls more closely in line with that of the Batman’s understanding of the criminal nature of his vigilante actions, as opposed to Superman’s submittal to allowing the government full power to direct and dictate his actions.


Batman and Captain America, plus the characters in Watchmen dare challenge the state monopoly on violence.

An essay in the book Superheroes and Philosophy, Aeon J. Skoble writes about his dichotomy between Superman and Batman’s decisions in the face of the government ultimatum to hang it up or come fight for them:

Miller’s Superman understands the resentment that at least partially fuels the anti-superhero movement: “The rest of us recognized the danger – of the endless envy of those not blessed… We must not remind them that giants walk the Earth.”

Batman regards Superman as having allowed himself to be co-opted, but Superman sees his decision to work for the government as justified in utilitarian terms, directed to the greater good…Both recognize that the nature of their distinctive activities make them ‘outlaws,’ regardless of the fact that their motivation is to fight crime and keep innocent people safe.

For Superman, this can only mean going to work for the government, more as a soldier in the Cold War than in the War on Crime. Batman’s interpretation of this is telling:

"Yes"-- you always say yes -- to anyone with a badge -- or a flag -- no good. You sold us out, Clark. You gave them the power that should have been ours. Just like your parents taught you. My parents taught me a different lesson... lying on this street... shaking in deep shock... dying for no reason at all. They showed me that the world only makes sense when you force it to."

For Batman, the presence of a badge or a flag is neither necessary nor sufficient for justice. Laws may be unjust, politicians may be corrupt, and the legal system may actually protect he wicked, but none of this will deter Batman from his mission.  (Superheroes and Philosophy, Open Court, 2005; p. 30)[9]

In the end, Bruce Wayne understood that those who took action against criminality “could have changed the world. Now... look at us... I've become a political liability and you... You're a joke.


The Dark Knight Returns – like the Civil War story – deals with the extraordinary illegal lengths that heroes go to combating crime and the decisions they must make when confronted with a government ultimatum to come and either work for them or be hunted down by those who do. Either or with us, or against us. 

Batman understands that his actions have always been criminal, a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands where others cower in fear as they live in a society overrun by criminals. Captain America’s actions in Civil War mirror this, but he ultimately comes to believe those actions carry too heavy a price.

At the end of the Civil War story, Captain America’s side has won the war but he inexplicably turns himself in to the police, allowing “Steve Rogers” to be arrested. Taking off his mask and throwing it on the ground, Captain America decides that no one can win that war, because much of New York City has been destroyed in the process:

As Captain America is about to deliver a fatal blow to Iron Man, ending the Civil War for the anti-registration side, civilians attack him.

Captain America: Let me go! Please, I don’t to hurt you…

Civilian One: Don’t want to hurt u? Are you trying to be funny?

Civilian Two: It’s a little late for that.

Next panel of the comic shows multiple blocks of New York destroyed

Captain America: Oh my God.

Falcon: What’s wrong.

Captain America: [He has just dropped his shield] They’re right. We’re not fighting for the people anymore, Falcon… Look at us.. We’re just fighting.

Human Torch: Cap, What are you doing? They’ll throw us in jail if you surrender.

Falcon: We were beating them… Man. We were winning back there.

Captain America:  Everything except the argument.  And they’re not arresting Captain America… they’re arresting Steve Rogers. That’s a very different thing.[10]

The Punisher: The 21st Century Captain America?

The civilians they want to protect have had their lives put in danger by the ‘heroes’ actions. Captain America surrenders, but the final pages of the comic show someone else picking up his discarded mask.


That man is Frank Castle, a character whose actions don’t belong in a world where men can move buildings with their minds and shot lasers from their eyes. 


The Punisher. 

---

[1]http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/984587/why_they_shouldnt_change_the_name_of_the_captain_america_movie.html

[2] Civil War. Millar, Mark. Marvel. 2010

[3] Civil War. Millar, Mark. Marvel. 2010

[4] http://watchmen.wikia.com/wiki/Keene_Act

[5] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Watchmen

[6] http://takimag.com/article/batmananarcho-fascist_or_unassimilated_jew

[7] Dark Knight Returns. Miller, Frank. DC. 2002

[8] Dark Knight Returns. Miller, Frank. DC. 2002

[9] Superheroes and Philosophy, Open Court, 2005; p. 30

[10] Civil War. Millar, Mark. Marvel, 2010

Why isn't "Captain America: The First Avenger" coming out in theaters on July 4th?

Editors note: On July 22, 2011, a short book on superheroes and whiteness will be released. Expect to see a few Web sites carry an article or two (in truncated form) that will be featured in this tome. This is a passion of mine - along with college football - and the date coincides with the release of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Captain America finding out Will Smith wasn't cast to play him

Fitting that Harvard University would publish a study - Shaping the Nation: Estimating the Impact of Fourth of July Using a Natural Experiment - that finds July 4th parades as nothing more than jingoistic events that benefit Republicans only:

Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day.


"Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard.


"The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century. Survey evidence also confirms that Republicans consider themselves more patriotic than Democrats. According to this interpretation, there is a political congruence between the patriotism promoted on Fourth of July and the values associated with the Republican party. Fourth of July celebrations in Republican dominated counties may thus be more politically biased events that socialize children into Republicans," write Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott and Bocconi University Assistant Professor Andreas Madestam. [Enjoy political cartoons about President Obama.]


Their findings also suggest that Democrats gain nothing from July 4th parades, likely a shocking result for all the Democratic politicians who march in them. [Check out editorial cartoons about the Democrats.]


"There is no evidence of an increased likelihood of identifying as a Democrat, indicating that Fourth of July shifts preferences to the right rather than increasing political polarization," the two wrote.

We live in a nation where the United States national soccer team was booed viciously on American soil, in what amounted to a 'home game' for the visiting Mexican national team in Los Angeles:

Speaking to the LA Times, Mexican supporter Victor Sanchez said: 'I love this country, it has given me everything that I have, and I'm proud to be part of it.'

The 37-year-old Monrovia resident reflected the sentiment of most of the 93,000 strong crowd when he added: 'But yet, I didn't have a choice to come here, I was born in Mexico, and that is where my heart will always be.'

The question you have to ask yourself is simply this: "In an increasingly diverse nation, where racial loyalties supersede any bonds of commonality to the United States history (past, present, or future), what is the point of celebrating July 4th anymore?"

When the history is of the United States is nothing more than white males dominating People of Color (PoC); creating white privilege; exploiting Black people for their slave labor; and demonizing immigrants who risk everything and leave behind their nation for the chance to succeed in America, what hope does July 4th have anymore to instill pride in PoC who are taught to loathe and despise this country?

In short, it doesn't. July 4th was always a holiday celebrated by white people, who in 1964 represented 90 percent of this nations citizens. As the Republican Party becomes the de-facto 'white' party, it only makes sense for July 4th parades to become the dividing line between what constitutes the old concept of 'American' with the Democrats concept of the PoC rainbow coalition. 

Disingenuous White Liberals (DWLs) hate July 4th, because deep within many of the Untouchable White people throughout this land some connection to Pre-Obama America still exists, and with that, the belief that an actual nation worth defending is still there. 

But you must remember one of the two most important comic book characters and iconic figures in all of American pop culture turned his back on 'truth, justice and the American way' recently (read What is Superman Renouncing?) and the words of James Kilpatrick from an article at Alternative Right will help show that celebrating July 4th is an anachronistic activity at this point:

In the same way, Superman, Batman, and other iconic American characters once reflected certain aspects of the American experience but have since become brands. Killing off characters only to bring them back and creating drastic character changes straight out of pro wrestling only create short-term profit spikes and news-cycle mentions. The larger significance and importance of characters that were once national icons are slowly drained away.


Of course, in some ways, Superman is not really abandoning America, but fulfilling it. American conservatives, the self-defined champions of the Constitution, the Flag, and the Troops, have set themselves up for this by creating an American patriotism divorced from any particular attachment to an American nation. To the American conservative movement, America is to be a universal nation, where anyone from any background can come to a land of freedom and fulfill their dreams.  When Barack Obama noted that presumably people in every country have a national dream, conservatives pounced, claiming that ours is superior precisely because America is the purest exemplar of universal values of freedom, equality of opportunity, and prosperity.

It is only in comic books that some concept of the United States still exists: the villains and criminals are all still white guys (a departure from real world crime rates); the nation appears to be permanently stuck in 1960s American demographics; and Superman renouncing his U.S. citizenship is meaningful in any way, when the concepts he vowed to defend have long died.

But it is one character whose debut on the big screen (discounting the horrible early 1990s film) curiously doesn't coincide with July 4th that has scratching our head. Steve Rogers, that 4F weakling who volunteered for a military experiment and became the super soldier known as Captain America, will see his story told on July 22 with the release of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Knowing that we live in Black-Run America (BRA) it would be wise to point out that in Marvel Comics lore (as of 2002), Rogers was retconned as the second Captain America with a Black person being the original, an obvious homage to the hoax known as the dastardly Tuskegee Experiment.

Just as July 4th parades are seen as a way to turn kids into Republicans - the 'purported' party for white people - and have them love the flag, daring to release Captain America: The First Avenger over the July 4th weekend in theaters would wrap this film in a saccharine patriotism that should no longer exist.

White people can have no heroes anymore and daring to make Captain America a hero on par with Will Smith would be heresy. Wait, you forgot that July 4th was designated as "The Release of the Latest Will Smith" movie?:

I just realized something. None of this matters. A critique of Hancock is an essay in irrelevance. It's Independence Day Week, and six times since 1996, that's meant a Will Smith movie — a mega-giga-gigantic hit. Independence Day; Men in Black; Wild Wild West; Men in Black II; I, Robot: He shows up, people line up. Thomas Jefferson used to own this holiday, but now the former Fresh Prince does. So why should critics even bother to review a new Will Smith movie? You'll go see it anyway. 

It's my theory — and I have the stats to back me up — that Hollywood is in its first ever post-movie-star era. Big celebrity names no longer guarantee box-office hits. Casting dramatic stars like Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, etc., no longer guarantees a movie's commercial success; and the more reliable comedy stars, from Adam Sandler to Ben Stiller, lose much of their audiences when they try something a little different. 

To all this, Smith would say ha, and rightly so, since he's the big exception. He actually deserves that overused epithet "the last movie star." For more than a decade, he's been immune to moviegoers' fickle fashions. His films have earned $4.5 billion worldwide. And except for his pro bono work in Ali (for which he won an Academy Award nomination) and Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance, every Will Smith movie has been a hit or smash, earning at least $100 million in North America and another $100 million or more abroad. Sometimes lots more.

Strangely, Smith's charisma (and movies with Black leads) seem to only 'go over' with American audiences, as international audiences sour to films with Black characters:

As The New York Times reported in a long feature yesterday, Dreamgirls has earned more than $101 million in the U.S. and Canada, but Paramount expects it will make little more than $60 million abroad. Which is particularly problematic in an era when Hollywood increasingly depends on foreign box office to drive profits. These days, 52 percent of movie earnings come from international markets. As BET Networks entertainment president and House Party director Reginald Hudlin says in the Times‘ story, "I always call international the new South. In the old days, they told you black films don’t travel down South. Now they say it’s not going to travel overseas." At home, frequent box office champ Will Smith seems like the biggest star on the planet, but the Times quotes industry watcher James Ulmer as saying that Smith ranks no better than No. 12 in terms of worldwide bankability. 

Who’s to blame? "The international marketplace is still fairly racist," Ulmer tells the Times.

 When you remember white action stars are slowly giving way to a world governed by Fast and the Furious (a guy like Thomas Jane is 'too white' to star in an action flick), you'll understand that Will Smith is seen as bigger then spandex wearing white people trying to save the world yet again. For more on Will Smith, check out Hollywood in Blackface. He is seen by many as the real Captain America:

Box office champ Will Smith has become as synonymous with the Fourth of July as fireworks and backyard barbecues — but the star says he takes nothing for granted as he opens yet another summer holiday blockbuster with his new action film, “Hancock.”


“I feel like I have a relationship with the audience,” Smith told Matt Lauer on the TODAY set, winding his way through a cheering throng of fans. “They agree they are going to go in droves, and I agree that every time they go, it’s going to be better than the last time.”


Smith, 39, has launched such all-time action hits as “Independence Day” and “Men in Black” on Fourth of July weekends past.


Smith, whose films have grossed more than $4 billion in his prolific career, told Lauer he plans to play the real-life role of public advocate for Barack Obama’s election this fall — saying he can already feel the mood of the world tilting toward America as a result of Obama’s campaign.


“I just came back from Moscow, Berlin, London and Paris, and I’ve been there quite a few times in the past five to 10 years,” Smith said. “It just hasn’t been a good thing to be American. And this is the first time since Barack has gotten the nomination that it was a good thing.”When Lauer countered, “Do you think people can’t get behind America led by John McCain?” Smith said: “There’s certain ideas I believe Obama stands for that are fundamental, that the forefathers of this country wrote down on paper that we’re all supposed to pay attention to, and we’re not supposed to ignore it and do what we want to do because we have different ideas.”

Why is this not coming out on July 4th?

Though in the real world it is almost exclusively white people saving and defending Black-Run America, movies must no longer have a white superhero. Rumors persisted for years that Will Smith was going to be offered the role of Captain America, something incredibly hard to believe considering the United States Military was segregated during World War II. It is unknown if there is veracity in these rumors:

Just when you thought Marvel was trying to get a blue-eyed, blonde-haired muscle head to play Captain America in their upcoming live-action flick, MTV sneaks onto the scene with one whopper of a rumor. While speaking to Derek Luke about Miracle at St. Anna up in Toronto, the actor let slip that, as far as he knows, Will Smith was offered the part of Captain America. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Chris Evans will play the part of Captain America in the film debuting on July 22, but you can bet that had Will Smith been cast in the role the film would have debuted on July 4th (or July 4th weekend). Having a white dude synonymous with the red, white, and blue is draconian and an image that can no longer be tolerated.

Some writers, including Jeff Sneider at The Wrap, attacked the whiteness of the character of Captain America. Attacking whiteness of Captain America is attacking the foundations of this nation and as the late Sam Francis correctly pointed out about then Senator Barack Obama after his 2004 Democratic Convention address:

Mr. Obama in other words is both a living testament to the power of black racial consciousness and identity and at the very same time a living renunciation of white racial identity. 

He joins Tiger Woods and Halle Berry as the model of what the New American is supposed to be—the multiracial utopia where every racial identity is legitimate except that of whites.

As Mr. Tilove notes, Mr. Obama "can argue for policies virtually indistinguishable from Sharpton's in cooler, non-racial terms, while still affirming a message of racial identity and uplift implicit in his very being." 

"I think he is talking about race when he's not," Professor Dillard says. "Something about the way he pitches things is perfect for this moment." 

And what is "this moment" exactly? It's the moment when America ceases to be a nation defined and characterized by the white racial identity of its founders and historic population and is transformed into the non-white multiracial empire symbolized and led by "people like Obama."

So now you know why Captain America: The First Avenger couldn't come out over the highly logical July 4th weekend. What's more American then Captain America, fighting to win World War II and being the ultimate embodiment of the dictum E pluribus unum?

Well, when you remember that the United States soccer team was booed by Mexicans who have colonized Los Angeles - ethnically cleansing Black people from Compton in the process - you realize quickly that Captain America, a blue-eyed and blond hair warrior, can't go the way of July 4th parades.

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X-Men First Class, Green Lantern, Captain America and Whiteness: Black-Run America and Comic Book Movies

X-Men First Class and its unbearable whiteness

 Over the past 10 years, Hollywood has relied heavily on comic book adaptations to bring people into the glut of state-of-the-art theaters built across the country. Transformers, Harry Potter, Star Wars I - III, James Bond and a few other franchises have been big money-makers for Hollywood studios of late, but comic book movies - and movies based on  Nicholas Sparks books - pace the box-office.

We have pointed out the trend of the white action star being completely phased out from movies, but because comic book characters were largely created in a time when the concept of Black-Run America (BRA) was only in its infancy, your Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, Captain America (and all The Avengers), Daredevil, Wonder Woman, etc. are all white. This whiteness upsets a lot of people, including The American Prospect's Gene Demby:

A purple-skinned alien hurtles across the cosmos, bearing a ring that grants its wearer unimaginable power. The alien is mortally wounded, and the ring is seeking its next wearer—the Green Lantern, Earth’s champion—by finding the planet’s most courageous inhabitant.

In a world with billions of people, what are the chances that the ring’s next owner is a white American dude?

Pretty high, apparently. In DC Comics’ Showcase #22, released in 1959, the power ring chose Hal Jordan, a dashing military test pilot modeled on a young Paul Newman. Jordan would become a founding member of the Justice League of America, DC Comics’ flagship superhero team, and one of its most famous characters. And while comics, over time, began to challenge that whiteness, two major films to be released this summer avoid the critiques on race found in the original comics.

In the early days, whiteness was so pervasive in comics that it could actually span the universe: a Kryptonian Superman could crash-land in Kansas and pass as an ordinary white farm boy. In the 1960s, though, comic-book publishers began trying to create nonwhite heroes. As the civil-rights movement came to dominate the national conversation, a young white artist named Neal Adams tried to subtly incorporate black characters into the newspaper strip he was illustrating. “I come out of a time when bigotry was a lot more subtle than it [was] in the days of slavery,” Adams says. “Not for the people who had it working against them but for the people who walked around saying, ‘There’s no problem, right?’” His world in New York City, Adams says, was full of people who did not think of themselves as Southern-style racists.

But Adams drew and submitted an installment of a syndicated comic strip featuring a black doctor and a white ambulance driver in one panel. When he later saw proofs of the strip, he realized that higher-ups had switched the characters’ heads. The higher-ups told him audiences would be confused by a black doctor.

When Adams got to DC Comics, where he worked on the Green Lantern in the early 1970s, he started to push back. “I asked [my editor] what happens if Hal Jordan gets killed,” Adams says. “They tell me they have a backup.” That backup turned out to be a blond gym teacher from the Midwest.

Adams, however, thought that the secondary Green Lantern should be black. So, with his editor’s approval, he and writer Dennis O’Neil created John Stewart, a black architect who would later become the main Green Lantern. (In the early drafts, Adams says, an editor wanted to name the character Lincoln Washington; Adams talked him out of it.) “I’m very proud of that,” he says. “I’m glad that [my editor] was open to it and malleable. But it did have to be explained to him.”

Disingenuous White Liberals (DWLs) have to constantly apologize for America's past whiteness, because regrettably,  that past actually worked quite good compared to the strange country we have now where a space program is scrapped to care for a growing colored underclass.

Hard to believe, but as late as 1964 the United States was 90 percent white. Because of their ubiquity on television and in movies (not to mention college and professional football and basketball) people have been conditioned to believe Black people represent as much as 33 percent of the current population. 

Blacks are but 13 percent of the United States population.

Historically America was a white country with a Black problem. Now, America is a country dedicated to advancing the principles of BRA, and it has a white problem.

Once Black people refused to assimilate to America; now white people refuse to fully submit to BRA.

For those who have been reading comic books and understand that most comic book heroes are white, this presents a huge problem. X-Men: First Class came out last Friday (Sailer reviews it here; James Pinkerton here; and thegrio.com here) and Black people are royally upset that none of the characters in the film were Black:

Ta-Nehesi Coates recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about the lack of an African-American presence in the latest X-Men movie. Despite the fact that the X-Men’s story is based on the Civil Rights movement, racism and discrimination, there is no African-American presence in the latest movie at all.
In fact, no X-Men movie has any African-American presence at all. Sure, Storm is African, but not African-American and her struggle does not represent the struggle of overcoming slavery and Jim Crow, though it is still a very real struggle.

DC Comics also has a very small Black presence. They co-opted Milestone’s comic, Static, who was later given a successful TV show for kids, but other than that has a very small presence in the DC Universe.
Even DC’s Classic graphic novel “Watchmen,” despite its historical and social commentary, doesn’t have any African-Americans or even alludes to the Civil Rights movement; despite the fact that it focuses on several social issues of the time, including the Vietnam war, Watergate, the anti-war movement, the atomic bomb and police brutality.

Similarly, DC’s classic Batman novel, “The Dark Night Returns,” deals with several social issues as well, such as the cold war, police brutality, and the prison system; but does not refer to racism or Blacks either.
The recent DC cartoon “Justice League: The New Frontier” which is also a historical piece, set in the 60′s, alludes to an African-American super hero that was killed by the KKK and recently, the white Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was replaced by an African American, John Stewart, who appears in many recent Justice League cartoons and DC comic books.

The lack of successful Black comic book characters cannot be blamed on DC and Marvel and the companies they work with. Reginald Hudlin produced an excellent TV series on The Black Panther for BET, but they never aired it. It was only seen in Australia and on DVD and digital download.

The lack of successful Black comic book characters is because the free market has shown that comic book readers aren't interested in purchasing stories with melanin-enhanced heroes. Sure you can make Heimdall, Kingpin, and Nick Fury Black for the movies, but attempts to add Black characters to other comics have largely failed.

X-Men First Class did have one Black character called Darwin, and the film resurrected the time-honored tradition of the "Black guy dying first" by killing him off quickly. Set in a highly-stylized 1962, X-Men First Class worked a lot like 2009's Watchmen (set in the mid-1980s) where there is a noticeable lack of Black people in any prominent role.


The fictionalized countries are dedicated to advancement in both films, instead of debasing the overall health of the country in a never-ending quest of Black empowerment. Today J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg's  Super 8 comes out, which is basically a homage to The Goonies, E.T., and Indiana Jones. That movie is set in 1979 and looks to have an all-white cast, because any movie set in today's world would be forced to include a cast brimming with diversity (see the inevitable SEALS Team 6 film).

Super 8 is going to make gobs of money, something next weeks Green Lantern will fail to do. In July, Captain America debuts and, with it being set in the 1940s, we believe it will be the sleeper hit of the year. Setting movies in a past untouched with the glorious and enriching diversity of 2011 is an easy way for film producers to appeal to that group of people who still long for Norman Rockwell's America.

Will Smith was perfect for this role!

Everything has to be about racism now and how Black people are constantly discriminated against, so when X-Men First Class failed to sufficiently wallow in white guilt and Black empowerment, The New York Time's Ta-Nehisi Coates went nuts:

But as “First Class” roars to its final climactic scene, it appeals to an insidious suspension of disbelief; the heroic mutants of America, bravely opposing bigotry and fear, are revealed as not so much a spectrum of humankind, but as Eagle Scouts from Mayfield. Thus, “First Class” proves itself not merely an incredible film, but an incredible work of American historical fiction. Here is a period piece for our postracial times — in the era of Ella Baker and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the most powerful adversaries of spectacular apartheid are a team of enlightened white dudes. 

“First Class” is set in 1962. That was the year South Carolina marked the Civil War centennial by returning the Confederate Flag to the State Capitol; the year the University of Mississippi greeted its first black student, James Meredith, with a lethal race riot; the year George Wallace was elected governor of Alabama. 

That was the year a small crowd of Americans gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and commemorated the 100th birthday of the Emancipation Proclamation. Only a single African-American was asked to speak (Thurgood Marshall, added under threat of boycott). In “First Class,” 1962 finds our twin protagonists, Magneto and Professor X, also rallying before the Lincoln Memorial, not for protest or commemoration, but for a game of chess. “First Class” is not blind to societal evils, so much as it works to hold evil at an ocean’s length. The film is rooted in its opposition to the comfortably foreign abomination of Nazism.

Remember when Superman denounced America? We wrote about it here. Within that article we learned how pioneering comic book and television/movie producer Bruce Timm changed the traditionally white Hal Jordan (who is the Green Lantern) to a Black character because the Justice League television show "couldn't be another white people running around saving the world event":

He becomes the only major black character in the Cartoon Network’s (CN) regular lineup and one of the very few in any animated series.

Executives at CN, which is part of AOL Time Warner’s Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System, said they have sought to have more black characters in general but that they never suggested the Green Lantern character to the making “Justice League.”

Create and producer Bruce Timm, a sort of star in the confined world of superhero TV animation, said he chose a black superhero “so it wasn’t just a bunch of white guys saving the universe every day.”

Timm doesn’t think most viewers will give much thought to Green Lantern’s skin color. But, he added, “I would hope black audiences would watch those and say, ‘There is somebody I can relate to.’

More than 20 percent of the CN’s viewers are black. 

It’s an effort that should be undertaken with sensitivity, said Linda Simensky, the network’s senior vice president of original animation. Cartoon characters are by nature extreme personalities, often ripe for mockery. “You don’t want your first lead African-American character on the network to be shown in a negative light,” she said. 

The selection has irritated some superhero fans. “On one hand they are mad we aren’t using their favorite version of the character,” Timm said. “On the other hand they are accusing of us of being hopelessly P.C. (politically correct).”

Timm please guilty to that last one. “It’s is a P.C. kind of move, but I don’t think it hurts anything.”

A scholarly article was written by Phillip Lamarr Cunningham who asked why are there so few Black supervillains? One Black comic writer who tried to create more Black heroes (and villains) was the late Dwayne McDuffie, who was responsible for the Black Green Lantern:

Milestone was co-founded by Dwayne McDuffie, who was black and would go on to write for a host of titles. He later became a writer for the Cartoon Network’s Justice League, which debuted in the early aughts. The writing staff chose the Stewart version of the Green Lantern specifically because the rest of the show’s superhero cast—which included an Amazon and an alien policewoman who was part hawk—was white. (Except for the Martian guy. He was green.) For a generation of superhero fans weaned on the popular cartoon series, the black Green Lantern has been the only one they’ve ever known. “If you ask a kid who Green Lanterns is, the kid will say it’s John Stewart,” Adams says.

The inclusion of nonwhite characters in the Justice League of America comic raised hackles among fans who thought McDuffie was trying to enforce a quota system on the pages. “The quota arguments … crack me up,” McDuffie said in an interview last year in the documentary Shaft or Sidney Poitier: Black Masculinity in Comic Books. “Which fictional character is losing a job?” (McDuffie died in February due to complications from heart surgery.)

McDuffie’s efforts won’t make it onto the big screen, though. When the big-budget Green Lantern movie rolls out in mid-June, white heartthrob du jour Ryan Reynolds will wield the power ring as Hal Jordan, the original white character. Captain America, another iconic superhero, is getting his own tentpole summer flick, out in July. Like the Green Lantern comic-book character’s story, Captain America’s mythology has been reimagined to explicitly comment on American racism. And like the Green Lantern film, the movie isn’t likely to touch on that critique. News reports from the start of the project said that the moviemakers were going back to the original source material and would hew to early Captain America tradition. Elisabeth Rappe, writing for Moviefone, stated, “I honestly think there would have been riots if they tried to update Captain America, so color me unsurprised by the news.”

The original Cap didn’t challenge much: Introduced in 1941, he was a scrawny, meek military recruit who becomes the only recipient of a super-soldier serum that augments him to the peak of human ability. The character was meant to be a totem of American ingenuity and grit and to drum up support for the war effort. The irony of creating a physically perfect blue-eyed blond guy as a counter to Nazi ideology was apparently lost on everyone.

 Knowing that at the time of World War II - and even today - a large percentage of American's had blue eyes and blond hair, the concept of Steve Rogers/ Captain America being drawn with those physical attributes wasn't that shocking. 

Racialicious can whine all they want to over the lack of Black characters in comics, but the fact is comic book characters that are popular - and worthy of making a movie about - are overwhelmingly white. Hollywood is trying to get rid of the white action star (think Thomas Jane), but comic book movies won't allow that to transpire.

Even though the mutants in X-Men First Class might be gifted with extraordinary powers with Professor X and Magneto having the ability to destroy cities with their mind, Black writers and DWL-enthusiasts constantly pull out the metaphor of the X-Men representing Black people or other oppressed minorities that society shuns.

No Black person, sexual or racial minority has the ability to destroy a city with their mind (a city with a  majority of Black people do however have that ability as Detroit and Birmingham evidence), so trying to have X-Men stand in for minorities makes little sense.

The real reason Black people and DWLs disliked X-Men is because it was too white. The film was drenched in an unbearable whiteness (all the good mutants were white mind you) and in 2011 this isn't possible anymore.

Which is why you'll find more and more movies set in an older America, one untouched by the wonders of diversity and Black-Run America.

Super 8 coming out today is just the beginning. Remember that Black people are being rejected by popular culture, and you'll understand why they are upset about the whiteness inherent in comic book movies.