Actually Old News or Old Observations
Years ago, more years than I would like to count, I was a big comic book fan. Read and collected all sorts of comic magazines. At that time my favorites were X-Men and Daredevil with an occasional Batman thrown into the mix. By the way whatever happen to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents? Those were fun comics. Anyway I digress.
Around the time DC started to distribute a new line of comics, The Milestone Comic Line. The line received attention as the majority of its creators and editors were minorities, i.e., Black or Asian. The majority of the books were centered around heroes/heroines who were minorities. Icon and Rocket black male and female, Static black male, Blood Syndicate, ethnically diverse group of super human gang bangers, Hardware, black super smart scientist with powerful armor.
What really excited me was the fact that the books were wonderfully written and drawn. It was clear that the production staff put a great deal of energy, heart and talent into these remarkable tales. I was so turned on by these comics that I purchased extra issues to give to family and friends so they could, hopefully, be touched by the magic that was going on in these pages.
I was a regular customer at a particular comic book shop, which will remain nameless. I had several interesting conversations with several of the staff members. I also got along great with one of the assistant managers of the place. One day, about several to eight months after the beginning of the Milestone experiment I was in the comic shop talking to my friend, the assistant manager, about the Milestone Line. I asked how were sales of the books. He got a sullen look on his face. He told me that the line did not sell well at all. The first one of two issues sold well, in part due to the professional collectors getting their copies to put in air tight vaults for that one future day of potential high sale value. The assistant manager gave free issues of “Icon and Rocket” and “Static” to many of his regular customers and implored them to check the issues out and see what they think. He noticed that most of his regulars did not add any of the Milestone Line to their pull list of comics.
The regulars would arrange to have the latest issues of new comics pulled from the shelf and kept behind the desk in their names. That way they would never have to worry about missing any of the issues because of them selling out because they got to the store late. I had a pull list myself and after reading the first issues of the Milestone line I had them placed on my list.
Curiosity got the better of the assistant manager so he started asking several of his regulars what did they think of the line and if they would purchase and/or recommend the line to others. The overwhelming response to the line was negative. General comments were, “the comics were okay but no big deal,” “just a big gimmick not worth buying,” “art is okay but the stories are not anything special,” “just average, nothing to write home about.”
Mr. Assistant Manager was taken back by the comments as he felt that the books were exceptional, at the least as good as many of the mainstream comics that were being published at that time. He also stated that the race of the hero’s was worked into the fabric of the story and did put an interesting twist on the traditional super heros’ tales and that it was done in and Intelligent and interesting. Originally he found it hard to understand why his customers were not grooving on the Milestone comics. The only explanation that he could think of was that his customers could not get behind the line due to the heroes being minorities. As a side he mentioned how most of his black customers had no problem adding the comics to their pull lists. In his view it was the prejudice of his white customers that prevented them from realizing and enjoying the Milestone Line for what it was a collection of really good comic books.
What is the lesson in this? White people in America find it difficult to accept and examine their racial altitudes and beliefs. Black people don’t seem to have those issues. In the instance of this comic book shop once the Milestone Line was cancelled, the black customers still continued to buy their usual run of X-Men, Batman, Superman etc. In corporate America and government circles I always have to chuckle when diversity workshops are scheduled and racial sensitivity training seminars are organized. When I attend these sessions, or talk to friends of mine who have attended, both black, white and asian, it is interesting that minorities are statistically over representative in terms of the total population of the work site or institutional local. As if somehow are racial attitudes and prejudices prevent us from making rational decisions about people and their role in society and the work place.
The truth is most minorities cannot be racist in America. It is, at this present time, an economic and political impossibility. Prejudice is about attitudes, even beliefs. One may prefer blonds to brunettes, tall people to short people but racism is systematic oppression based on the perceived difference between groups of people based on race. Discriminatory thoughts are translated into to action and structures with the intent of denying rights and privileges to an oppressed group. In American society today black people, as a collected group does not possess the political or economic power to denied white Americans’ access to quality housing, jobs, education etc. Yet white people, through their support and belief in institutions that foster discrimination help maintain a social structure that Limits black achievement or progress. In any major city check the population statistics as to where the majority of the black population lives and where the white population resides. Then compare the number and quality of hospitals between the two communities. Then research the mean and the average income of said communities. Compare infant mortality rates between the two groups as well as average life expectancy. You might also look at percentage of home ownership in the respective populations.
I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point. So yes there has been remarkable improvement in the lives of black Americans since the end of slavery. But these improvements have not happened because of the love of the dominant society. These improvements have come about in spite of the majority. Yet the barriers to full racial equality are still present and are hard to fight. But the struggle continues since true equality will benefit all Americans, not just the Black Americans.
Around the time DC started to distribute a new line of comics, The Milestone Comic Line. The line received attention as the majority of its creators and editors were minorities, i.e., Black or Asian. The majority of the books were centered around heroes/heroines who were minorities. Icon and Rocket black male and female, Static black male, Blood Syndicate, ethnically diverse group of super human gang bangers, Hardware, black super smart scientist with powerful armor.
What really excited me was the fact that the books were wonderfully written and drawn. It was clear that the production staff put a great deal of energy, heart and talent into these remarkable tales. I was so turned on by these comics that I purchased extra issues to give to family and friends so they could, hopefully, be touched by the magic that was going on in these pages.
I was a regular customer at a particular comic book shop, which will remain nameless. I had several interesting conversations with several of the staff members. I also got along great with one of the assistant managers of the place. One day, about several to eight months after the beginning of the Milestone experiment I was in the comic shop talking to my friend, the assistant manager, about the Milestone Line. I asked how were sales of the books. He got a sullen look on his face. He told me that the line did not sell well at all. The first one of two issues sold well, in part due to the professional collectors getting their copies to put in air tight vaults for that one future day of potential high sale value. The assistant manager gave free issues of “Icon and Rocket” and “Static” to many of his regular customers and implored them to check the issues out and see what they think. He noticed that most of his regulars did not add any of the Milestone Line to their pull list of comics.
The regulars would arrange to have the latest issues of new comics pulled from the shelf and kept behind the desk in their names. That way they would never have to worry about missing any of the issues because of them selling out because they got to the store late. I had a pull list myself and after reading the first issues of the Milestone line I had them placed on my list.
Curiosity got the better of the assistant manager so he started asking several of his regulars what did they think of the line and if they would purchase and/or recommend the line to others. The overwhelming response to the line was negative. General comments were, “the comics were okay but no big deal,” “just a big gimmick not worth buying,” “art is okay but the stories are not anything special,” “just average, nothing to write home about.”
Mr. Assistant Manager was taken back by the comments as he felt that the books were exceptional, at the least as good as many of the mainstream comics that were being published at that time. He also stated that the race of the hero’s was worked into the fabric of the story and did put an interesting twist on the traditional super heros’ tales and that it was done in and Intelligent and interesting. Originally he found it hard to understand why his customers were not grooving on the Milestone comics. The only explanation that he could think of was that his customers could not get behind the line due to the heroes being minorities. As a side he mentioned how most of his black customers had no problem adding the comics to their pull lists. In his view it was the prejudice of his white customers that prevented them from realizing and enjoying the Milestone Line for what it was a collection of really good comic books.
What is the lesson in this? White people in America find it difficult to accept and examine their racial altitudes and beliefs. Black people don’t seem to have those issues. In the instance of this comic book shop once the Milestone Line was cancelled, the black customers still continued to buy their usual run of X-Men, Batman, Superman etc. In corporate America and government circles I always have to chuckle when diversity workshops are scheduled and racial sensitivity training seminars are organized. When I attend these sessions, or talk to friends of mine who have attended, both black, white and asian, it is interesting that minorities are statistically over representative in terms of the total population of the work site or institutional local. As if somehow are racial attitudes and prejudices prevent us from making rational decisions about people and their role in society and the work place.
The truth is most minorities cannot be racist in America. It is, at this present time, an economic and political impossibility. Prejudice is about attitudes, even beliefs. One may prefer blonds to brunettes, tall people to short people but racism is systematic oppression based on the perceived difference between groups of people based on race. Discriminatory thoughts are translated into to action and structures with the intent of denying rights and privileges to an oppressed group. In American society today black people, as a collected group does not possess the political or economic power to denied white Americans’ access to quality housing, jobs, education etc. Yet white people, through their support and belief in institutions that foster discrimination help maintain a social structure that Limits black achievement or progress. In any major city check the population statistics as to where the majority of the black population lives and where the white population resides. Then compare the number and quality of hospitals between the two communities. Then research the mean and the average income of said communities. Compare infant mortality rates between the two groups as well as average life expectancy. You might also look at percentage of home ownership in the respective populations.
I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point. So yes there has been remarkable improvement in the lives of black Americans since the end of slavery. But these improvements have not happened because of the love of the dominant society. These improvements have come about in spite of the majority. Yet the barriers to full racial equality are still present and are hard to fight. But the struggle continues since true equality will benefit all Americans, not just the Black Americans.
posted by Michael E. Johnson | 7:35 PM
|
1 Comments
