BID Mailbag: Political Correctness

Originally published December 31, 1993, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1050

Continuing on our sojourn through the BID mailbag, we come to a missive from Hector in New York. I’ve taken the liberty of editing it for length, although I emphasize that the editing does nothing to change any meanings or statements:

The main reason I’m writing this letter to you is to discuss your But I Digress column in CBG #1044. I’d like to say that I am not a politically correct maven, but I am a champion of fair play. I am also me. However, as a Hispanic I’m sick and tired of the comic book industry doing character assassinations of Hispanic life and Hispanics in general. Again, for the past five years the industry makes us Hispanics out to be gang members. It’s like, as per the industry, we come out of our mother’s womb with a switchblade knife in one hand and a leather jacket in another. But I know that we Hispanics are more than that and that the captains of the comic book industry know that too.

How do I know they know? Easy. Because 99.9% of our elected officials that come from Hispanic American community are not ex-anything. But yet through the magic of a four-color comic book every non-Hispanic reading a comic book that stereotypes Hispanics will assume that every Hispanic and especially elected officials had to do something bad like join a gang before they could do something good like getting elected to the House of Representatives. Simply because they all act like that like the stereotype of the ex-gang member. And to me that’s not kosher because in real life it’s simply not true. But to continue to publish stories in issue after issue depicting all Hispanics as gang members goes beyond stereotypes and becomes racism.

Unfortunately for us minorities, folks who are the basis for the stereotypes do exist in our communities. And I understand you, Peter, you just write them as you see them. Okay, that’s well and good. Unfortunately through the medium of comic books minority characters and the ethnic group they come from get identified with the stereotype instead of who we really are. The white majority therefore then believes the stereotype instead of the norm and that’s wrong. Why? Because more times than not there’s no counterbalance to show for example that, hey, most Jews are not money grubbers or media control freaks or that blacks don’t commit the most crime in the nation or that most gang members are not Hispanics. The editors, the writers, the artists know this to be true, yet when they go for the minority character in comic books they go for the stereotype. Why? I mean, come on. This ain’t 1938, after all. It’s 1993. I mean, most people know a little about some other ethnic groups and they know of someone from the minorities who doesn’t fit the stereotype. So why go for stereotypes. It’s got to be racism.

Peter, the reason why gays, Jews, Hispanics and the Japanese took you to task is simple. You can’t do stereotypes even though they be a .1% of a true reflection of what you see. Why? Because you are labeled a racist because of the sins committed by your peers and perhaps, unknowingly, by you…

I was the Hispanic who took you to task over Spider-Man 2099. First off, let me say also that Spider-Man 2099 #10 was a tour de force issue. Miguel’s mother was so lifelike that at one point I thought she was real. A very good issue. However, a couple of weeks before Marvel had released the infamous Captain America Annual #12 which introduced Battlin’ Bantam, Marvel’s second Puerto Rican hero. In the book Cap is depicted as a great white B’wana who comes to Miami to teach the Rican kid how to be a superhero. First, Bantam is inspired to become a hero by looking in a chicken coop and decides to model himself after a Bantam Rooster to fight crime. No super hero from the Golden Age to the present had a poorer origin than Bantam. And his outfit (with no pun intended) was for the birds!

His very next mission after bringing his friend’s murderer to justice was to battle a gang of wayward Home Boys (dressed in hooded sweatshirt, baseball cap, sweatpants, sneakers) in a San Juan that resembles Washington Heights more than San Juan, P.R. Also, Peter, do you realize what would happen to you if you went ditty boppin’ around in Puerto Rico’s climate dressed as a homeboy? You would die from the heat!

Once again, your peers in the industry made me question why in Spider-Man 2099 #10 you depicted Miguel O’Hara’s mother in a negative manner. You did it for dramatic effect to make your story better. But to me, because your peers in Captain America Annual #12 had gone for the stereotype instead of doing research, it made me feel that Miguel’s mother was also another stereotype as well. The reason why Irish-American fans didn’t protest Mr. O’Hara’s depiction is because somewhere in that multitude of white heroes there are some who seem more Irish than others. There’s a counterbalance which shows Irish Americans in a better light. But sadly, for most blacks, Hispanics, Jews, gays, Native Americans and Orientals, there is no counterbalance; just the negative in comic books.

What gets me is that you are not getting it. And it amazes me that it’s so! Why? Because you yourself are a member of a minority (you are Jewish) and because of that alone you should be more sensitive on why minority folks feel the way they do. Also, as a member of a minority who’s been the chief victim of stereotypes, why are you trying to justify the use of stereotypes in your stories (or at least that’s how it appears to me). And why in that very same issue of CBG you seem to me to be espousing that racist excuse that to do minority characters in comic books is one big pain in the rear and this is due to minorities asking to be treated as the WASPS are treated.

All we are asking, Peter, is for fair play. Isn’t that the American way? Plus, how can a liberal democrat since the age of 18 not understand that when the media keeps up drumming negativism against a group of people, that end result is racism.

Come on, Peter. I know you to be intelligent and compassionate and a good person. So why are you so down on folks who all they are asking for is to be treated in comic books just like the WASPS and I humbly believe that today in the 90s in the comic book medium in the good old USA, Jews, Hispanics, blacks, Orientals, Native Americans, gays, etc. are not getting equal treatment to me.

It’s not the minority folks protesting stereotypes in comic books that is keeping super heroes lily white as in vanilla pudding, but it’s the racism of the captains of the comic book industry. The editors, the writers, the artists, etc., who use that as an excuse to stereotype minority characters and to limit their numbers. Also the Tio Canas (the Uncle Sugarcanes) who are brown on the outside but white in the inside. Who by their silence contribute to the status quo, like Esteban Maroto, Boris Vallejo, Reuben Diaz, George Perez, Alex Nino, Joe Quesada, etc., who believe green is mightier than rights and who forget who they are so long as there are bucks.

Back to me:

First off, Hector, I believe “Oriental” is considered something of a racist term. “Asian” is preferable. How easy, you see, it is to offend in the ’90s.

Second, I think you’ve wandered severely far afield from what I said in the first place. The concept of stereotypes did not factor all that heavily into my discussion of the problems I’ve run into with defenders of various interests. You seem to have twisted the entire column into a lengthy claim that portraying all minorities as stereotypes was a good thing.

That wasn’t what I said at all. What I did say was that when a writer portrays any minority, then the members of that minority promptly feel that they have a special interest in that character, and that character had dámņëd well better pass muster. For example, you can bet that every eye in the gay community will be watching Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks as a gay attorney. And despite the fact that it represents a quantum leap over Basic Instinct, there will most certainly be some who say that it still doesn’t fulfill a variety of criteria.

Or take yourself. Now you’re saying flattering things about Spider-Man 2099 #10, thanks to 20/20 hindsight and my preliminary response to your first letter. That does not change, however, your knee-jerk reaction which was to jump on me about Miguel’s mother, because she didn’t meet the standard of perfection that you felt an Hispanic woman should meet. She can’t have quirks. She can’t be weird. She can’t be weak. In short, she can’t be any of the things that I could portray a WASP being with no trepidation. Yet you say that all you are seeking is the right for Hispanics to be treated in the exact same way that WASPS are. Well, Hector, I gave you what you wanted and—just as I was trying to make clear—it wasn’t good enough.

Now if your response to that is that I haven’t created, for the sake of balance, an Hispanic woman who is “normal,” my response to that is that I can’t think of all that many WASPS I’ve created who are normal, either. All my characters are neurotic to some degree or other. Makes them interesting, I like to think.

Third, I admit that somehow I missed the Captain America annual to which you’re referring. So I’m not particularly inclined to defend it or attack it. However, I would be inclined to question—purely on the basis of your letter—your description of Cap acting like a “great white B’wana.” Cap, because of his age and experience, tends to come across as a bit patronizing from time to time (“Son, don’t you think you should put that gun down before I’m forced to hurt you?”). It sounds to me like Cap might just have been acting like himself, and you’re tossing in the ethnic terms because of the context.

I must concur that being inspired by roosters to become “The Battlin’ Bantam” sounds less than thrilling. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that he didn’t call himself “The Fightin’ Çøçk,” huh? Still, I take issue with your contention that no Golden Age hero had a poorer origin. Or have you really forgotten the Whizzer? Not only did he get his powers courtesy of a mongoose, but he then gave himself a name that sounds as if has a serious bladder problem.

As for the inaccurate portrayal of Puerto Rico, I wouldn’t be surprised. Happens all the time. That doesn’t excuse it. But it happens all the time. For example, I’ll never forget the issue of Incredible Hulk that introduced Sabra, and depicted a battle in downtown Tel Aviv that took place on dirt streets, with camels and guys in tents looking on.

Throughout your letter, Hector, you keep wondering whether I’m racist, and say that I’m supporting racist leanings and stereotypes. I’m not. Stereotypes are a shortcut. The only time a stereotype is of use is when you’re trying to twist it—such as my using the Japanese tourists, but having them be the only characters in the book who are so savvy that they know they’re in a comic book. I wanted non-Japanese readers to bring the books to Asian friends and ask them what the characters were saying, so they could all get a kick out of it.

However, Hector, what stunned me about such a seeker of equality as yourself was the closing paragraph of your letter. Because there, sir, you take a half dozen of the most talented and accomplished artists in this industry and attack them on the basis of race. You slam them, because they have not lived up to your expectations of what Hispanics are supposed to be and do—just as the portrayal of Hispanics in comics likewise don’t measure up.

I have had the pleasure and honor of working with three of the gentlemen on your hate list, and I find your characterization of them to be demeaning and indefensible. And that isn’t even taking into account that George, for example, not only added verisimilitude to the White Tiger, but suggested that Jennifer Jean Sachs of Sachs & Violens be changed to Juanita Jean and given a fiery Hispanic temperament. Or is being fiery an unacceptable stereotype, eh?

These artists accomplished exactly what you said you wanted to see. Through their skill and talent, they became equals—and, in some cases, almost peerless—in their chosen industry. They are thought of as artists first, with any ethnic background as purely secondary. That is your precious “American Way,” Hector. That is the way of the great melting pot, and yet, for that you excoriate them.

Racism comes in many places and many forms, Hector, and sometimes it even shows up in the last place you’d expect. Your mirror, for instance.

(Peter David, writer of stuff, wasn’t expecting some sort of Spanish Inquisition.)