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I was working today, doing caricatures at a busy park, and a boy about 10 years old asked if he could be a superhero. I said sure (after clearing the $15 price jump from black and white face to color face and body with his parent), and asked him which one. He thought about it, looking increasingly dejected rather than the excitement I was used to seeing, and when I asked him if he was having trouble picking one, he asked me which ones he was allowed to be. I was a little confused, and said “Well, I’m not very good at drawing Thor, because I haven’t got the hang of his complicated armor fast yet, but we can go with Spidey or –”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Ok, you’re right, you can’t really see his face, so how about Superm–”
“There’s one in Thor, I think.”
“One what, kiddo?”
“One I’m allowed to be. I can only think of one black one. Except Nick Fury, but he’s not a superhero, he’s their pimp, and he’s mean.”
I felt like I’d been punched, but his mother was busy trying to get his three year old sister to sit something resembling still for another artist, so I leaned in very close and made the strongest eye contact I could. “You know what else? You’re ten. You’re about five feet tall, your arms are this big around, you’ve got no superpowers, and you can’t even drive for more than half your life over again. But when we’re pretending, none of that stuff matters, and it’s okay for kids to be as big as the Hulk. So black doesn’t matter either, and you can tell me who you want to pretend to be.”
“What about…” A deep breath, a nervous glance at his mother, as if he’s gonna say a dirty swear, his voice dropped to a whisper, his eyes darting, but grinning ear to ear. “Captain America?”
“You got it, Cap. Which costume?”
Tagged: THIS is why we need representation in media, breaks my fucking heart, captain america, poc, racism, this matters.
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Andy's racist "Nick Fury is the Avenger's pimp!" story
(Anonymous) 2016-04-19 02:59 am (UTC)(link)Colored Children May Not Play Here
I was working today, doing caricatures at a busy park, and a boy about 10 years old asked if he could be a superhero. I said sure (after clearing the $15 price jump from black and white face to color face and body with his parent), and asked him which one. He thought about it, looking increasingly dejected rather than the excitement I was used to seeing, and when I asked him if he was having trouble picking one, he asked me which ones he was allowed to be. I was a little confused, and said “Well, I’m not very good at drawing Thor, because I haven’t got the hang of his complicated armor fast yet, but we can go with Spidey or –”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Ok, you’re right, you can’t really see his face, so how about Superm–”
“There’s one in Thor, I think.”
“One what, kiddo?”
“One I’m allowed to be. I can only think of one black one. Except Nick Fury, but he’s not a superhero, he’s their pimp, and he’s mean.”
I felt like I’d been punched, but his mother was busy trying to get his three year old sister to sit something resembling still for another artist, so I leaned in very close and made the strongest eye contact I could. “You know what else? You’re ten. You’re about five feet tall, your arms are this big around, you’ve got no superpowers, and you can’t even drive for more than half your life over again. But when we’re pretending, none of that stuff matters, and it’s okay for kids to be as big as the Hulk. So black doesn’t matter either, and you can tell me who you want to pretend to be.”
“What about…” A deep breath, a nervous glance at his mother, as if he’s gonna say a dirty swear, his voice dropped to a whisper, his eyes darting, but grinning ear to ear. “Captain America?”
“You got it, Cap. Which costume?”
Tagged: THIS is why we need representation in media, breaks my fucking heart, captain america, poc, racism, this matters.