The power of the media and social networking has proven to be quite the force in the year of 2016. In recent events, America seems to be dividing itself up more than any presidential candidate ever could, all in response to a slew of social issues involving gender, religion, and as domestic issues go, most notably, race. You can’t login to Facebook or turn on the news without learning about the most recent police shooting or Black Lives Matter protest (peaceful or not). The cruelest fact of the matter is that these events have become normalized; we’re accustomed to hearing about them. In fact, we’re expecting them. With these appalling affairs occurring seemingly on a weekly basis, one would think society would have some idea of how to overcome these tragedies— some idea of how to do things differently to avoid another catastrophe. Alas, much of society refuses to change, even if for the better. Because much of society doesn’t see anything wrong. To much of society, the only real enemy is the changing world around them. To much of society, the world is moving far too forward far too fast. Which is why we need the X-Men.
In 1963, America faced the height of the Civil Rights Movement. On either side of racial progression were Malcolm X, who advocated for black supremacy and the continued separation of blacks and whites, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who on August 28th would deliver the famed “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was this same year that comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would release their newest title: "The X-Men" just one month after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech. Within the story, a team of mutant teenagers, led by Professor X, use their abnormal powers to defend humanity and the reputation of mutant-kind from the evil mutant supremacist, Magneto.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that the X-Men were created to be a direct parallel of the Civil Rights Movement (In fact, Magneto’s character was initially intended to bear the “Professor X” name, but Stan Lee feared the association to Malcolm X would be too obvious). In a world where society fears the ever-present unknown, the threat of power, and of course, people who look different, the X-Men try to prove to mankind that mutants are not to be feared, but accepted. In our world, some still live in constant fear of the ever-present unknown, the threat of power, and unfortunately and ridiculously, people who look different. What "The X-Men" comics stated, though, was not a stance on the issues themselves, rather a metaphor for what was going on. Many members of today’s white America see nothing wrong with the treatment of blacks in America; we’ve achieved complete equality. To the Black Lives Matter movement, however, the perception is not shared. This is where the movement draws criticism; to so many people, the only way of thinking is “All Lives Matter”; to which the usual response is to bring up police shootings, drug incarcerations, and poverty in general.
Mutants face constant discrimination. They are rejected as members of society and, in many cases, their own families. Because being a mutant means being a threat to the norm. Maybe if mutants just kept quiet, didn’t use their abilities, and didn’t make their mutation known, the world could get along fine; don’t ask, don’t tell. But is that really a balanced, equal society? If black Americans could just cooperate with police and stop committing crimes, the world would get along fine. The problem is, too many innocent black Americans have been killed for being black. Brutality against their race exists, no matter how hard black Americans try to avoid it, and no matter how little white America wants to accept.
In a world with mutants, there are bad ones. There are mutants like Magneto who seek to do harm to humanity in order to take its place as the dominant species, which can connect to the destructive side of the Black Lives Matter movement; in response to injustice from both humans and mutants, there are the X-Men, who can be connected to the peaceful protests of the movement. You can’t say just one thing or the other about the Black Lives Matter movement because it’s not an organization— it’s a hashtag. There are benevolent supporters and malevolent rioters. But fighting for racial equality is not something to be afraid of.
The point of this statement, thanks to a parallel to comic book superheroes, is to show that Black Lives Matter is not something you can factually say is either all good or all bad; to say they’re all good is to deny that property has been destroyed and the job of every police officer has become a lot harder these days. To say they’re all bad is to deny the good that peaceful, legal protest has done for race in history. And if you honestly believe that a civil rights movement is a wholly bad thing, you’re against the X-Men. And how uncool do you have to be to be against Wolverine?
