There's been a lot of negativity in the media lately concerning the race of Captain America, the race of the newest hero of the Star Wars series, and even the casting choices for the Human Torch. I ask myself the question, "Does race really matter?" And why is there an attack on skin color?

Back in the beginning, comic book writers lived in a world where segregation existed and you were more likely to see an African American living at a lower standard and treated much differently than their white counterparts. Comic book writers and editors were straight white men who created characters that they could relate to, basically straight white male or white female characters. Honestly, this wasn't their fault- it was just a reflection on the times that they were living in and their lack of understanding of other cultures. I mean if you think about it, the first black superhero (Falcon) starts off as a drug dealing, woman-beating pimp who eventually discovers he has superpowers. It really shows that the extent of knowledge of other cultures that these writers had was limited to stereotypes.

Today we live in a much different world, or at least I'd like to think so. We live in a diverse world where women can be CEO’s and black men police officers or billionaires. We are no longer completely subject to stereotypes or misconceptions at least as far as we are portrayed in entertainment. It is because of this that we as a society shouldn't become upset when the race of a character is changed. Why does it bother so many people? Is it somehow less true to the character if the Human Torch is black? Does changing the race of a character mean he can't have the same background and origin as his white counterpart?

The answer to these questions is a resounding NO. The reason that producers and directors often change the race of characters is to make them more diverse and relatable to a wider audience. It's not because there's some anti-white agenda, it simply means that there are a ton of white superheroes and white protagonists and very few Black, Latino and Asian ones.

Now when I say "We should be open to changing races", I know that there's someone out there who's going to say, “Fine, well then let's make Jon Stewart’s Green Lantern white.” That's very different. There is no need to change the skin color of a character to white, because there is already a ton of white heroes people can relate too. Think about it this way. When little kids read comics they tend to gravity towards characters that are like them and look like them. If all the characters are white, that leaves a large chunk of kids without relatable heroes. Now, I'm not saying that you can't relate to characters that aren't your same skin color, or the same sex. I'm saying that it's good for kids to see people who look like them. It helps to remind them that anybody can be a hero. No matter your skin color or sex you can make a difference. An example of this is the new “Pan” movie where they change the race of princess Tiger Lily from Native American to white. This decision disgusted many people and makes people feel like they're trying to whitewash Hollywood.

I say these things because we need to have this conversation, I feel like there is an attack on making super heroes more diverse from the fandom community. I find it shocking how disgusted people can get at the idea of a character's race changing. It almost feels like they're saying that that character is too good to be black or that hero could never be a woman. We need more diverse protagonists and even antagonists because we live in a more diverse world now than ever, and the media we love and care about should reflect and embrace change for the better.