Negotiating new racism: ‘It’s not racist or sexist. It’s just the way it is’

The White racial frame

Whiteness is an enduring construct of privilege and power, which systematically shapes and maintains racial inequality, resulting in a hierarchal system of oppression toward people of color (Feagin and Elias, 2013). Systematic racism has required generations of people reproducing racist institutions and the White racial framings that encourage them (Feagin, 2013). In all eras of American history, manifestations of racism contain the ideological underpinning that justifies racial inequality to the White race.

According to Feagin (2006), the White racial frame is a broad concept encompassing racist practices, imagery, and discourse throughout US society shaped by and for the primary benefit of the White race. Early colonial efforts in the exploitation of Native and African people provided a foundation for White dominance to develop. Powerful Whites began spreading ideologies of racial inferiority; between the White race and other racial groups, leading writers, thinkers, and scientists to circulate anti-Black and pro-slavery views throughout early forms of popular media in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. For instance, Thomas Jefferson wrote ‘Blacks have produced no important thinkers, musicians or intellectuals and only improve these qualities when there is a mixture with whites (Feagin, 2013: 63)’. Viewing people of color as uncivilized, less than human, without intellect, and animalistic further convinced many Whites to regard interracial relationships, intimate, or otherwise, as a threat to White purity and virtuousness. During the late 19th century, issues of ‘blood purity’ became a leading facilitator in legalizing segregation between White and Black Americans (Feagin, 2013). This thinking bolstered negative framings of Black men as a danger to White women and stereotypes of Black women as having heightened sexual proclivities.

The ideological philosophies preserving White superiority and Black inferiority persisted throughout the 20th century in the form of Jim Crow laws. Although slavery was outlawed, ‘separate but equal’ realities of segregation were legalized. Moreover, strategies preventing Black Americans from voting or owning land worked to sustain White dominance. These laws personified a system of racial segregation strategically preventing Whites and Blacks from intermingling throughout legal, political, and social settings in American society (Bonilla-Silva, 2017; Feagin 2013).

New racism

The grip that White racial framing holds over society underscores the gross reality that America’s racist beginnings are regularly unacknowledged (Bonilla-Silva, 2017; Feagin 2014). Issues of White racism remain unnoticed or ignored and therefore forgotten among most Whites. Feagin (2013: 17) emphasizes ‘the collective memory of racism also involves a collective forgetting’ and underscores research finding older White Americans recalling the Jim Crow era as a time of peace and equality between races. To some, the end of Jim Crow represented the end of racism. However, suppressing and ignoring the effects of slavery continue to affect present day racial realities. Race scholars argue this thinking has only produced an emerging ‘New Racism’ since the late 1960s (Bonilla-Silva, 2015). New racism necessitates subtle, more clandestine strategies that continue to preserve White dominance in society; in other words, undercover forms of racism are replacing traditional and explicit forms.

Today, new racisms are continued expressions of White racial framing which challenge the idea of a ‘post-civil’ rights, ‘post-racial’ US society (Bonilla-Silva, 2017). Although overt and legal discrimination may be less prevalent today than in the past, there remain stark inequalities in nearly every indicator of quality of life between White Americans and people of color (Brewster et al., 2015; Merolla, 2017). Simply put, Black Americans do not receive equal opportunities to succeed in society; they are more likely to pay more for housing, live in poorer conditions, and are less likely to own or live in areas with access to public transportation or employment opportunities (Bonilla-Silva, 2017; Hanson and Hawley, 2014; Patillo, 2003; Sampson and Sharkey, 2008). And, although modern society may have experienced evolving shifts in racial matters, these shifts persist in Jim Crow-like patterns, which continue to frame certain racial realities. Moreover, racial inequalities extend to media representations, which not only reflect but also help construct realities.

White racial framing in the media

As the 21st century becomes an increasingly digital era, new racisms like White racial framing rely more heavily on the manipulation of ideas through mainstream media (Feagin, 2014; Hughey, 2009; Littlefield, 2008). White men have long dominated behind and in front of the screen and as a result, mainstream media sources are prime targets for contextualizing women and people of color in subordinate ways (Chin et al., 2008; Feagin, 2014; Fuller, 2010). Strategies of White dominance are often exercised through the policing of cultural and social markers that indicate an ‘authentic belonging’ (Hughey, 2013: 77). Belonging is communicated through the ways people are represented in media contexts. For instance, studies (Browne et al., 2015; Hughey and Daniels, 2013; Rivadeneyra, 2011) have found mainstream news media often portray narratives who stereotype ‘othered groups’. Immigrants and people of color are frequently depicted as criminals, which reinforce and perpetuate exclusionary attitudes toward people who are not White or American born.

White racial framings also extend to representations within cinematic contexts (Hughey, 2009, 2010). For example, unintentional tropes like ‘the magical negro’ are depicted within movies like The Legend of Bagger Vance or The Green Mile. The ‘magical negro’ character is known to ameliorate a White character’s broken struggle toward a changed path of redemption. Although progressive ideas are intended, these films paradoxically reproduce a racial hierarchy while highlighting racial inequality. Similarly, Hughey (2010) found films such as Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers also contain problematic messaging. Specifically, these films depict lead White characters as ‘saviors’ to deviant, at-risk, non-White youth. While analyzing ‘White savior’ film reviews, Hughey (2010) found the research site operated as an interpretive space for reviewers to generate and reproduce White dominance.

White racial framings explicate a racial hierarchy palpable not only throughout cinematic content but also how framings are normalizing perceptions of White dominance. Pop culture consumers often negotiate White racial framings as the standard race to construct identity from (Jacobson, 2015). While understudied, few scholars (Fanon, 1952; Feagin, 2013; Hughey, 2010; Jacobson, 2015) exploring the effects of hegemonic whiteness and audience perceptions similarly find consumers share a collective understanding of White dominance and often imply people of color are different from and inferior to the White race. Furthermore, Jacobson (2015) indicates participants assume low socioeconomic status explains why more Black and Latino women appear in hip hop videos compared to White women. These findings underscore the social consequences of White racial framings, and how they are transmitted and internalized regularly throughout pop culture media. Feagin (2013: 92) refers to this kind of response as ‘social alexithymia’, or ‘the inability of whites to understand where African Americans and other Americans of color are coming from and what their experiences are like’. The failure of Whites to acknowledge racism as a common problem is an ongoing reality throughout American society today.

The White racial frame has indoctrinated society throughout all eras of history up to and including modern society. Evolving representations of race are demonstrating new, more subtle forms of racism. Historically, comics and film exhibit ways, which reflect overt racism and sexism of the past. The recent surge in Marvel superhero films is a pop culture phenomenon that has been highly criticized for a lack of equal character representation on screen. White men are still considered as the primary consumer, creator, and central character throughout the genre, neglecting women and characters of color or casting them as the perpetual sidekick or hypersexualized love interest (Wolf-Meyer, 2003). Today, Marvel comic book films are slated for release through 2028, however, these adaptations continue depicting representations that do not matchup to its changing demographics (Keyes, 2014). Women and people of color are more likely to go to the movies, are purchasing comic books more than ever before, and are just as likely to attend comic conventions (Comichron, 2016). However, male characters outnumber women 9–1 at both Marvel and DC franchises and an estimated 79% of comic creators are White (Hickey, 2014).

Analyzing how interpretations of White racial framings are being received and reproduced contributes to a larger understanding of new racism and its utility throughout the manipulation of media messaging. Comic book culture embodies traditional American ideals and their newly adapted films are emerging cultural projects which, this research claims, are depicting new racisms through a perpetual White racial frame. This study contributes to the expanding body of research on how White racial framings transcend cinematic imagery and content to subtle manifestations within discourse among the audience. This vantage point allows social scientists to understand how the audience is adopting these framings beyond content; how they are perceived, challenged, or reproduced.

Theme I: early comic book fans: all White, all men, no problem

Historically, comic books have been dominated by a White, male audience. Now, in an era of increased attention paid to diversity and equal representation on screen, people are talking about the lack of racial and gender diversity in Marvel movies. The following post speaks to this point and addresses the role of race in comics:

For the vast majority of comic book history, it’s been white guys writing and drawing white characters. When they did create a character of color, their race was the defining characteristic (like, a Native American character who was a shaman, a Black character with ‘Black’ in his codename). (RCD)

Similarly, this fan claims there are limited leading roles for women in comics because, historically, males have been more interested in the genre explaining why women are not an important target audience:

When I was growing up, no girls were interested in reading comic books and thought superhero’s and comic books were stupid. Obviously, there were always some girls out there that did like them, but it was few and far between. You can say that it’s because they were never the target audience, but why target an audience that traditionally isn’t interested in the genre? (MAS)

While comic books have been quicker to modify characters, films have been slower to differentiate the narratives. This topic served as the backdrop for forum discussion across threads and set up an ‘on-screen’ expectation for fans. For example, this forum participant takes issue with the lack of race and gender portrayals within Marvel films, claiming progressive narrative changes are cast to the side for the production of White, male lead films:

… We’ve had 7 solo films (all starring white males), with two more (also starring white males) coming in 2016. We’ve gotten two team films, both of which were overwhelmingly white and male) and another one where most of the focus was on the white guy. (MAS)

Alternatively, this forum participant defends why a majority of superhero roles are filled by White males and suggests people are overthinking race and gender portrayals:

People are over thinking it again. Comic books were mainly written and drawn by white men and read mostly by white boys. These stories have become very popular among both sexes and all races. But will mostly have white male heroes as their leads. Now, since it has become popular among other sexes/races they might decide to make their own heroes that better represent them. If these stories are popular enough they will be made into films. It is not racist or sexist. It’s just the way it is. (MAS)

Some forum participants want to see characters played by people who look like the character originally created in the comic book. Many fans want nothing to change and crave consistency by keeping characters White and male:

I grew up reading about these characters and want as close as possible to that look in the movies. I want the blonde characters to be played by actors with blonde hair (no, I don’t care if its natural or not). If the real-life representation does not resemble the comic books we grew up reading, then it isn’t the same character. (RCD)

Conversely, the following forum participant holds a limited perspective on diversity asserting that diversity did not used to matter, therefore, there was no need to think about it:

I never saw the issue of ethnicity as a kid/teen in comic films or thought about it much. If a character did not have the same skin color (white) as me it never meant I couldn’t relate, or that I wanted to see said character looking like me. I liked them regardless. The current diversity issue just never crossed my mind back then, they were all diverse from the get go to me. (RCD)

Participant discussion within this section centers around fans describing the original comic book fan base and historical circumstances, which ultimately set the tone for research analysis. With an increasingly diverse fan base, and the ongoing neglect of women and characters of color cast in leading roles; findings indicate it is common for fans to seek rational explanations for why characters are, or are not changing, even at the cost of sounding racist or sexist.

Theme II: historical continuity; character bending and disrupting the origin story

Fans rationalizing why Marvel films are failing to equally represent leading characters are frequently framing explanations around historical circumstance. This reasoning also insists historical continuity necessitates the maintenance of old (White, male) characters:

But yeah, it’s mostly a historical thing. A and B-list characters happen to be for the most part white males, and obviously, the studios are going to introduce those characters first. But we’re getting there. And actually, relatively soon. (MAS)

Historical circumstances have normalized certain character roles, like superheroes being predominately White and male. With evolving narrative arcs on screen, some forum participants are dedicated to character origin stories and condemn the comic book fan base, which sets a troubling course for certain demographics often excluded within mainstream narratives:

I think the issue is that the ‘foundations’ and the ‘traditional attitudes’ regarding comics are rooted in sexism. Girls weren’t as outwardly interested in comics 30 years ago because the genre was marketed towards boys since being heroic was directly linked to masculinity. (MAS)

Forum discussion largely centers around the concept of bending characters and debates why and how Marvel is changing superhero’s race or gender on screen. Character bending can be understood through the whitewashing of characters. Whitewashing is defined as casting a White character in place of the original character of color. The following forum participant argues against whitewashing and racebending characters:

When a black character is made white you are erasing representation for a group of people who have been historically (and more important are still currently) marginalized. When you make a white character black you are … not doing that. White characters are well represented throughout media, they are normalized and thought of as the default human. You don’t really hear about white kids asking, ‘Dad why doesn’t Spider-Man look like me?’ (RCD)

Replying to the previous quotation, the next fan argues against racebending by conveying a response that is defensive and almost protective of ‘whiteness’:

I reject this notion that somehow a white character is the ‘default’ mode and can be changed without ‘losing’ any tenets of the character. (RCD)

Bending characters also cause disruption to the continuity of historical occurrences and origin story. As such, fans criticize these potential inaccuracies. For instance, the following forum participant challenges racebending and the inevitability of a changing origin story, which is illustrative to how important accuracy is for the fans:

If you wanted Peter Parker to be Mexican or Mexican-American for example. First off that’s an odd name. Probably should change but let’s leave it. Now Peter should be Catholic, not something he is known for but from now on it should be important to his upbringing. Now was Peter born in New York or Mexico? Let’s say New York. But what about his parents? Grandparents? (RCD)

Similar to race bending is genderbending, except the character is portrayed as the opposite sex than originally created. As aforementioned in the introduction, Marvel recently released a film, in which the actress, Tilda Swinton, a White woman, was cast as a character originally written as a Tibetan male in the comic book, Doctor Strange. Forum discussion occurred before the release of the movie and as such, the following forum participant posts about the ‘possibility’ of genderbending the character, the Ancient One:

… Also, no one seemed to care that they may have potentially cast Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange as a character that’s always been an Asian male. I’m sure that the many longtime fans of The Ancient One will be rioting in the streets if Swinton is cast. (RCD)

Although the character is whitewashed from Tibetan roots, it is important to understand the rarity of casting a woman in the lead action role. And while Marvel is blurring the lines of bending, fans attempt to explain certain aspects of character bending. For example, the following post comes to a chilling conclusion about how Asian cultures are portrayed:

Asians are pretty much reserved for roles as perpetual foreigners, martial artists and nerds. And with the increase whitewashing of famed Asian characters that fill those roles, it seems Asians aren’t even given as many stereotypical roles these days. (RGM)

Fans express desire for increased diversity and equal representation on screen, yet they remain skeptical to the motives behind bending. Moreover, fan discussion emphasizes the power dynamics that enable Hollywood and film studios to ‘force diversity’ by racebending or genderbending:

So, force diversity on people who don’t feel they need it or don’t want it and at the same time make wholesale changes to characters that people have loved for almost a century just to appease a minority of people who do want diversity in comic book movies. That will work. (RCD)

Likewise, the following forum participant mentions that racebending can be tokenistic, if changing the race of a character is to placate a minority audience:

I’m all for diversity but not when it’s your sole purpose, not when it becomes more important than making a good movie or a good adaptation. (RCD)

These fans claim that by simply changing an existing character’s gender or race represents a forged attempt at appearing diverse, therefore some criticize racebending:

Race-bending is just a lazy way of adding diversity in my book. (RCD)

Forum discussion also showed a strong fan commitment to maintaining certain ‘legacy’ characters, which are original, unchanged, and iconic; like DC’s Superman and Batman or Marvel’s Spiderman and Captain America. Changes to Spiderman’s narrative arc has occurred within comic books, however, there is much hesitation to do so on screen. Some fans are willing to accept certain aspects of whitewashing or racebending; changing the race is allowed under conditions that ‘legacy’ characters remain untouched:

Racebending is something I’m fine with unless we’re talking legacy characters, because at that point you’re letting existing minority properties go to waste. (RGM)

Analyses portray a complicated, overlapping relationship between fans, comic books, and cinema adaptations. Forum participants are dedicated to maintaining continuity in Marvel’s superhero origin stories; as narratives are changing the race of legacy characters in comic books, fans feel differently with cinema adaptations.

Forum participants also appear unfamiliar with their meanings between culture and race. For instance, the following fan post extends this understanding and asserts that, to whitewash race, is to debase other cultures. Although this fan is against whitewashing, they are also conflating the meanings between race and culture:

(Whitewashing) is not about the color of people’s skin, it’s about so many beautiful cultures. Cultures that you are whitewashing by changing the race of a superhero. (MAS)

This research recognizes the nuances and sensitivities between race and culture, however, fans unknowingly homogenize the two, which reflects a limited understanding. The next forum participant does something similar here:

You can’t force those different cultures into white characters already established culture. (RCD)

Maintaining the precedence of a character’s origin story and historical continuity is very important to forum participants and perhaps to the larger comic fan following. Sometimes that involves preserving the original White, predominately male characters. While Marvel fans are a devoted camp, it is important to consider the long history of US society disenfranchising women and people of color, and by extension similar imagery is reflective throughout mainstream projects like comic books and films. Moreover, these representations become more problematic when fans are challenging to maintain origin stories that portray women and characters of color in subordinate positions, as a token, or in stereotyped roles.

Theme III: stereotypes and sidekicks

Analysis suggests there is less of a presence regarding gender compared to topics involving race throughout fan discussion. However, it is worth addressing forum discussion concerning gender portrayal, as fans either fulfill the male gaze or debate the sexualization of the female body. For example, the following forum participant posts about the comparison between Gal Gadot, the actress cast as the current Wonder Woman, compared to Linda Carter, TV’s Wonder Woman of the 1970s:

Actually, most of the grumbling about Gadot was that she didn’t look anything like Wonder Woman. She doesn’t really have the physique, although she looks a fair bit better when she’s in the armor. (RGM)

Character emphasis between genders is disjointed and highly misrepresented as the next forum participant suggests,

Right now, when a man is popular they dress him up real nice and have him pose on the cover of a mag and talk about how awesome he is at what he’s doing work wise. If it’s a woman? Dress her down to near nothing to show off her body and then talk about how hot she is or what she was wearing, with a little bit of talk about what they might be doing in their work and, of course, if she’s having a baby. (MAS)

Here is a forum participant’s response to the previous post:

And who are the majority of people reading these articles? Women. (MAS)

Another important aspect of forum discussion is the lack of attention given to women characters of color. This reflects a limited to nonexistent understanding of intersectional feminism and representation. If a woman receives a leading role, it is usually a White woman. For example, while Superman has more than 12 movies, Wonder Woman finally got her own origin story as DC recently released a cinema adaptation of Wonder Woman in the Summer of 2017. Although cinematically progressive, critics point out the strikingly limited characters of color throughout the movie. More specifically, the movie omitted part of the continuity to Wonder Woman’s back story; her half-sister Nubia, who is African American.

Consequences of bending characters directly diminish women and characters of color. Several fans accuse the ‘original’ comic book fan base as setting the precedent for cultural frustration. The next post points out the casual use of stereotypes born out of historical continuity:

I agree marvel needs to improve their diversity with Asian and Asian American people in particular. Preferably without names like the flying chopsticks or samurai man. (RGM)

The following forum participant argues against the previous post and defends stereotyped roles because Asian film studios do it, therefore it cannot be racist:

Can we actually say that’s racist, when those are major aspects of Asian cinema and animation? I mean, yes, it’s a stereotype but one that the Asians themselves have no problem reinforcing, and it’s not one that’s particularly offensive. Kung Fu powers to them is pretty much like what our superheroes are to us. Would we really complain if there was a super-powered American in a Japanese anime that wore brightly colored clothes, a cape and underwear over his pants? (RCD)

Corresponding with the literature, this thinking allows US culture to take on aspects of other cultures by reworking the narrative for White men. Not only does this perspective illustrate an ethnocentric viewpoint, excusing these behaviors further perpetuates White racial framings.

Forum discourse also indicates White, male characters are more likely to be in leading roles, which leaves supporting roles, that is, the perpetual sidekick, for women and characters of color. The following forum participant commends the storyline and narrative exposure for Avenger movie sidekicks; War Machine, who fights next to Iron Man, and Falcon, who stands by Captain America’s side. Both are characters of color and sidekicks to White leading male ‘legacy’ characters,

I do think the MCU films did a good job of making War Machine and Falcon more than sidekicks. (RCD)

The frequency of characters of color in sidekick roles is a common topic among forum participants, prompting fans to claim that characters of color become popular because of their White peer counterparts. The next quote refers to White endorsement contributing to a character of color’s popularity:

Luke Cage is a much easier sell because his best friend is Iron Fist and his wife is Jessica Jones, both white. (RGM)

Luke Cage, the Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones are three characters in the Marvel universe, which recently received independent television series on Netflix. The series overlap and reference each character as the Marvel universe often does within film and television superhero projects. Luke Cage is a character spun out of the seventies ‘blaxploitation’ genre of film and television. In the Marvel comic, his character becomes best friends with the Iron Fist, marries Jessica Jones, and together they form a superhero team. While Luke Cage’s back story is that of a wrongly convicted ex-convict, in contrast the Iron Fist is an upper class, White, American who primarily engages in Chinese culture. Moreover, Marvel portrays Jessica Jones as a thin, White, middle-class, American woman. Origin stories are essential throughout discussion as fans debate character explanations by suggesting film studios are culpable due to their power to manipulate the value of stereotyped roles.

Theme IV: profit motives

Findings show fans provide explanations for bending by not only relying on the continuity of historical foundations and character origin stories but they also use economic explanations. For instance, the financial investment in story narrative and character development is often controlled by the people who run the franchise and respective studio production teams. As such, the following forum participant argues against racebending White characters for two reasons; first, the character needs to be in its original, relatable form and, second, altering characters to have color are not lucrative narratives:

Changing the races of otherwise established white characters won’t do anything but make them lose money. Not because people are racist but because most people are like me and seeing a character not looking like the character they know in such a drastic way is a negative. (MAS)

Forum discussion also explains certain characters are cast according to anticipated financial success. Similarly, this forum participant explains the role of money in connection to racebending,

People don’t want to invest in minority characters because they aren’t household names like Spiderman, Captain America, X-Men etc. That’s the reason why people then go to the option of changing a character, whose race isn’t important, into a minority. (RGM)

Spiderman, Captain America, and the X-Men are all popular Marvel universe superhero characters. Spiderman is also known as Peter Parker, a White middle-class kid who obtains powers after having been bitten by a radioactive spider on a school field trip. Captain America is originally known as Steve Rogers, portrayed as a bullied, frail type drafted into the army during the 1940s. After consuming an experimental serum for the military, he is enhanced with a taller, muscular build, armed with invincibility. The X-Men is a popular Marvel series comprising many superhero (sometimes antihero) characters who are mutant-humans and face their own discrimination from humanity. These back stories are iconic and as a result, fans often argue to preserve the origins. Any threat in changing a character’s origin on screen depends on casting decisions, which affect narrative stability and subsequent popularity. These decisions are typically motivated by profit and connected to shaping character narratives through screen writing. The continuity of origin stories subsequently influences fan attitudes and explanations for character bending:

It may feel painfully slow at times, but we are talking about Hollywood blockbusters here. They take time to make, and they also have to take care that each one fits properly into the overall story of the MCU in order to avoid killing their cash cow. (MAS)

Furthermore, many forum participants refer to casting characters of color in leading roles as too risky for Hollywood:

Hollywood isn’t gonna budge on this until someone takes the risk and puts out a big budget minority led superhero movie that does well. So, in the long run stopping racebending does nothing to help the problem. (RCD)

Fans frequently referred to profit value as an explanation for a lack of diversity. For example, fans have normalized superhero movies that include leading women as regular disappointments at the box office. However, this understanding is popularly framed around the economic and historical circumstances of the original White, male comic book fan base:

The female audience has been growing and now the Studios are starting feel more comfortable with making them, it’s becoming less of a risk financially. Movie studios don’t want to make movies if they aren’t going to make huge profits. And they will always use the most popular, valuable characters first. That’s why it’s taken so long to get more female led movies. (MAS)

Like the previous post, some fans attempt to rationalize other fan complaints by using the persistent theme of historical logic or the changing composition of the comic fan base:

I’m not saying there isn’t sexism involved, obviously, there is, but the demand wasn’t always that high. Now it is, and now you can see the slew of female led shows and movies really starting to take off. Studios realize now that there is money to be made and they will act accordingly’. (MAS)

Understanding profit as the central goal for cinema projects, forum participants often connect this to why character bending is occurring. Discussion influenced by the culture’s collective memory insists comics and their respective movies must maintain historical continuity. Claiming White male lead films are more lucrative is regularly used to support explanations of bending and for fans who wish to retain White, male characters in leading roles.

Theme V: unique fans

Beyond criticizing Marvel for bending characters by referencing historical continuity or origin story disruption, there are fans who attempt to explain why Marvel is slower to diversify. These fans offer a more informed analysis and are critical of fans who wish for Marvel to maintain White, male character leads:

The fact is that the largely white male cast of ‘superherodom’ and the centrality of the white male superhero figures is a result, directly or indirectly of racism. Are we going to perpetuate that racism under the banner of status quo and just say ‘well, this is the way it just happens to be’ even though it’s not a coincidence at all? Or are we actually going to write stories for the current generation where the idea of ‘separate but equal’ becomes more and more ridiculous in our together but unequal world? (RGM)

Some fans post with open-minded viewpoints. These fans perceive whitewashing more negatively compared to racebending characters. Furthermore, they dispute historical continuity as a rational explanation for whitewashing. For instance, this fan argues for change and criticizes those who seek historical continuity for characters:

Continuity is changing all the time. How many times have your favorite characters died and come back to life? Gone evil? Suddenly found some long-lost family member/clone? Using tradition as a reason not to change something when the source material is *comic books* (especially Marvel or DC). (RCD)

Analogously, this forum participant claims fans who support historical continuity are unaware or ignorant:

… they probably don’t see what they are saying about keeping a character white and ignoring minority actors for a part because it’s based on a work from the 60s, that is problematic. (RCD)

The next quotation advises there is more harm in whitewashing a character of color rather than altering a White character’s race, therefore racebending is not a harmful tool for increasing on-screen diversity:

… there are plenty of other Caucasian superheroes out there that making one into a minority isn’t a big deal. (RGM)

Similarly, this participant suggests resolve by utilizing existing characters of color before bending characters:

I hope Marvel is smart enough to use the Black characters they have first, make them great and then if we need a more diverse cast, you can start race bending smaller characters. (RCD)

This last forum participant provides an insightful post highlighting that fans supporting historical continuity are not malicious but are instead unconscious to racial realities:

Pointing it out is just a way to try and draw attention to the issue, and if you’re addressing the problem that society as a whole has developed a bunch of minor behaviors that help create and maintain a racist status quo than that honestly seems like the best way to correct it. Because it’s something you take in unconsciously and don’t think about.