A response to Why Spawn Isn't Black:

>> I know this was kinda aimed at Gnat, but I had to address it...I can't back away from a challenge!! <<

Go for it!

>> Mummy -- Egyptian. I thought that was a well-known fact that went with the legend. He was a man who was mummified (a mummified Egyptian is till an Egyptian, no?). <<

Egypt was a multicultural society. Some say the founders of Egypt were Nubian—i.e., black. You can't determine the Mummy's race from what you think he was.

But the answer depends on how much of his body is left. If enough of his body (and thus his racial characteristics) were intact, and he was Egyptian (i.e., Semitic) in life, I might grant that he'd still be Egyptian. The key point in Spawn's case is decaying corpse—as in no longer resembling a person of any race.

>> Frankenstein's Monster -- a monster created out of the parts of dead men. Men who belongd to some race at one time. If they were all, say, German, I'd say that makes him German by default. <<

If, if, if. Ol' Frankie was "born" in Eastern Europe, which saw invasions by both Mongols and Arabs at various points. Although the invasions failed, people of different races were left living there. Again, you can't be sure what race the dead people came from.

That isn't the real point, since I'm claiming a body loses some or all of its race when it decays. Let's try a thought experiment to bring home the bacon. Take a vial of blood from a blood bank. Is it Caucasian blood? Negro blood? Asian blood? How do you know? Based on what, exactly?

Scientists can't tell, because race fades into insignificance at the blood level. There aren't enough identifying characteristics. The same applies to pieces of skin or bone, even whole body parts. Heart transplant: Is it a white heart or black heart? A scientist couldn't tell you, I think.

In other words, race is something you perceive based on the sum of the parts. If you don't have all the parts, you lose the ability to categorize someone by race.

>> Man-Thing -- a man (Ted Sallis) who became a creature. Another default. If Ted was Irish or Greek, Man-Thing would be by default. <<

If you become a creature, you really lose your race. Take a prince who turns into a frog, for example. Does a Caucasian prince become a Caucasian frog and a Negro prince become a Negro frog? No, because nonhuman creatures don't have any race. There's no such thing as a Caucasian or Negro frog.

>> In the comic world, Demons are a race of beings unto themselves, as are the Deviants, Skrulls, Kree, Mole People (do they have a name?), etc. <<

Demons are often former humans. But I was thinking of any human skeleton, which Zarathos resembles. If Zarathos's shape is a human skeleton, what race of human skeleton is it?

My point was that human skeletons no longer have a race. They would've belonged to a race in life, but the emphasis is on the past tense. "Belonged" isn't "belong."

>> Casper and Spawn -- I'd throw them in with Man-Thing and Frankenstein's Monster. Same theory. <<

The theory is wrong. Race is a physical characteristic. It has nothing to do with the mind or soul. Without a body, race is meaningless. It no longer exists as a characteristic.

You could say Casper was a blond because the boy who died to become Casper was blond (at least in the movie, I think). But it's ridiculous to say that because Casper no longer has any hair. He was blond and he was white. He isn't any longer.

Same with Spawn. He was black in life. Not any more.

You're a THUNDERBOLTS reader. Mach-1 was white, is now black. Would you say he's still white, just like Frankie or the frog are still white? Why...because they were white once?

No, Mach-1 has changed race. Then why is it so hard to say a corpse loses its race? Mach-1 was white, is now black; Spawn was black, is now raceless. The idea of changing is the same, only Spawn has changed into a non-race.

Would you say an angel has a race? How about Adam Warlock? How about Jarella from HULK? The original Human Torch? Which of these do you consider human? Which are human without an identifiable race?

Speaking of greenies, how about the permanently green She-Hulk? Perhaps you'll say she was Caucasian, and I'll say Mach-1 was Caucasian also. What's the difference, if any? If She-Hulk is a green white woman, is Mach-1 a black white man? Hmm?

What about the Beast? Was white, is now a furball. Is he a caucasian furball? His features look more Negroid to me. What's the difference between a Caucasian and a Negro furball? His former race? Mach-1's former race is Caucasian, so is he still Caucasian?

(G)nat Gertler said Superman isn't white (another alleged flaw in something I said). Do you agree? What if we exposed him (Superman, not Gnat) to gold kryptonite and permanently removed his powers? Would he be white then? A scientist would have to say yes, because Supes would be indistinguishable from a human Caucasian on a molecular level. But if a nonpowered Clark Kent isn't white, then what makes a person white?

Returning to THUNDERBOLTS, what about Techno? Was white, is now a machine. A Caucasian machine? Never heard of it. If your answer is yes, what race is your toaster? Your refrigerator? Etc.

I trust I've made my point. Namely, that She-Hulk, Mach-1, and Techno went through a change that altered their race. So did Spawn. His situation is analogous to Techno's. He no longer belongs to any race.

>> I know what you're aiming at, though. I'm just busting balls... <<

Yeah, I figured. if Gnat saw my post, I bet he came up with the same rationalizations. Too bad I still have the winning hand.

The meta-issue in this argument is that my position is easily defensible. It's arguable, in other words, and I'm arguing it. For Gnat to imply I'm covering up Spawn's race in a dishonest immoral attempt to make my argument work is flatly asinine. As is Gnat himself.

I could've said only one minority character was on a major title, rather than none, and it wouldn't have affected my argument. None, one...numbers that small are irrelevant when minorities form more than 25% of the US population. Out of 1,000 comics, 250+ should feature minorities, not none or one.

Rob

Related links
Culture and Comics Need Multicultural Perspective (original version, with responses)
Rob's reply to (G)nat Gertler

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