How DC Comics Has Failed to Support Black Voices

Perhaps it could help to create a diversity label where they explore diversity within their characters. This can be more than ethnically background but also cultural. It would bring two dimensional character into more rounded, fleshed out characters. This would require a diverse writing group (this means on multiple fronts) who are excited to explore this with in their characters and for DC to market it. It would be interesting. That does fall on DC to invest into that and actually see it through the hard times and good.

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Saying Kyle Rayner is ā€œcheatingā€ though,like JK Rowling saying this or that character was gay years after the fact.

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Itā€™s essential if you are a Hepburn fan. Something about romantic comedies from that time period seem endearing to me. I donā€™t know lol. Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man is definitely a sore spot thoughā€¦fortunately, he doesnā€™t have too much screen time.

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Are you in college right now? I studied engineering back in the day! There was even a Minorities in Engineering club too at my university.

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I want DC to formally respond to this. Superhero comics should represent the good in the world we want to see. DC pride book club is the biggest club on here and there are only 7 characters in the pride articleā€¦ and if they can drop a pride article why canā€™t they acknowledge the protests and injustice going on?

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Yep. Just finished my first year. It was kinda a rough first year because I had to work from home for half the semester due to the outbreak, but I loved the time I spent there. Thereā€™s a ton of diversity at my school, so I have tons of options. I havenā€™t joined any clubs yet, but itā€™s definitely something Iā€™m planning to check out next year. Honestly, I did not think that diversity would actually change a line of thinking so much, but it really did have an affect on the way I learned.

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Yeah Iā€™ve always been amazed that theyā€™ve never done anything with Bumblebee. She seems like a neat concept.

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I asked Applejack about this on office hours. Her answer was really strong, made me feel really good about DCā€™s behind the scenes work

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Iā€™m not entirely sure if my learning was changed due to diversity. I think most of my engineering professors were Asian or white, math was a toss up, and electives from other Humanities were too. I think I only graduated because I studied with friends and via YouTube though lol. Some of my teachers justā€¦oof.

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Nope. Sure ainā€™t!

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Glad to see this thread!

Iā€™ve always gotten the feeling from DC that they (as a company, not the individual artists and writers) simply donā€™t want to talk about race. They seem to prefer to vaguely mention solidarity and quickly change the subject. Every now and again we do get amazing books such as Naomi and (the I hope not cancelled!) Far Sector. These books donā€™t just showcase a black protagonist for sales but feel inclusive. They donā€™t just feel like a white writers idea of a black person, but a black personā€™s lived experience. I could count on one hand the number of times Iā€™ve seen a black women go to bed with a scarf on (in any media) and two of those occurrences were in the previously mentioned books. Itā€™s little details like that, seemingly insignificant but immensely important, that make black readers feel seen* and not pandered to. Major kudos to Jamal Campbell on his art for both books!

Those kinds of inclusive works are what I want to be able to hand to my daughter one day. Books with characters she doesnā€™t need to do mental backflips to relate to.

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Black Lives Matter. The moderation team unilaterally agrees.
The moderation team is a collection of 6 humans from all over the country. We are not representing DC Universe or DC Entertainment or Warner Media or AT&T. We are representing ourselves, we are representing the ways we are speaking about these issues with our friends and family, we are representing the way we cheer you all on as you passionately, maturely, and intelligently discuss these issues in the place we are responsible for keeping that way.

If there are more nuances that branch off from this discussion that pertain to DC stories and characters, start that conversation. Weā€™ll help you keep them on track. We will combine redundant conversations, as they create split discussions about the same topics, and deprive a greater conversation from evolving.

This is the reflection I made on the matter that @Nathan.Payson was referring to, which is, once again, the words of a human being living in the heart of Los Angeles.

For now, the moderators will be staying vigilant in their assignments to oversee the bigger picture and facilitate important discussions. Take advantage of our support, start or continue hard conversations, stay on topic, and keep it DC-focused.

I believe there are also conversations going on in Iceberg Lounge you can check in on to share resources and talk about meaningful action that impacts the systemic issues. If we can work together to look at the rotted heart of the matter, the changes will resonate out across every piece of reality as we know it, including the comic book industry.

Start at the center. Stay focused. We can do this.

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I like Vixen way more than PG.

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Iā€™m not saying you donā€™t like her more,Iā€™m just saying who does DC promote?

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I do wonder if the amount of submissions they get from around those demographics. I worked in tech and both blacks and Hispanics were seriously underrepresented. But, when looking at ā€œmeet and greetā€ events, there was not that type of demographic in attendance. Now is this in part do to racial inequality in the industry. Absolutely, but is it also do in part to either lack of interest or lack of education, especially because of the financial costs.

Itā€™s also a momentum thing. We are starting to see and know about writers and artists of color, LBGTQ and other underrepresented groups. That will hopefully inspire a next generation(s) to try and work in these areas.

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Words to live by. :fist:t3:

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Definitely should have been ahead of the game here. green lantern jhon Stewart had issues with this back in the 70s on Dennis o Neil and Neal Adams. great character in justice league cartoon heā€™s gone nowhere and also heā€™s also veteran marine could taget more PTSD issues soldiers have.

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Right. Itā€™s unfortunate. Most tech guys I know were from families that could afford PCs and education. Thatā€™s definitely a limiting factor.

Iā€™m just suggesting it would be nice to see something closer to what you might see walking down the street being represented in comics. You know what I mean?

These stories are set in a version of our world. More often than not in the United States. I feel either represent the demographics, or set the stories on the planet Forgzlubt-12 Ā©.

Itā€™s just a shame that Iā€™m seeing ethnicity represented more fairly in crowd scenes, but we still have few minority characters taking the spotlight. Itā€™s obvious creators get it. At least some artists.

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Perhaps DC should consider reducing the number of monthly titles starring their white male cishet characters in order to make room for more diverse characters. I donā€™t think that replacing Batman with Batwing will do anything other than cause backlash, but what if the monthly series Batman were the only one (outside of one or two Black Label books) that was headlined by Bruce Wayne? Meanwhile, Bruce could play a supporting role in a Detective Comics run headlined by Luke Fox. Do something similar with Kong Kenan in Action Comics. If people arenā€™t busy buying 800 Batman and Superman titles each month, they might have more money to spread around to other characters.

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Yes, it is an unfortunate situation. I hope that as access to tech has gotten cheaper, that will help. I also think the tech sector has to ā€œget over itselfā€ and itā€™s degree bias. All the requirements for 95+% of computer engineering and programming jobs could be done at the community college level. Just straight up trade schools and/or apprenticeship programs would be even better.

I was lucky and got into tech in the 80ā€™s, when degrees werenā€™t as big a deal. I started as the lowest of the low, but worked my way up. It was ā€œcan you get this done on schedule and do it right.ā€ People should be given opportunities and be acknowledged and promoted by nature of their ability to do the job. Not because of the piece of paper they have.

Also, firmly instituting the H1B program would help. You are only supposed to bring in H1B visas if you can show, youā€™ve done your due diligence and there is no one in the country that can do that job. The tech sector doesnā€™t do that because the rules arenā€™t enforced.

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