Superman's planet is racially diverse — finally

In Action Comics #286 they showed Superman's Kryptonian Jewish uncle.

I think his name was Dreid-El.   :)

This has been a Dr. Zook post:  "Just enough truth to be believable."

Dave, I agree - why should it be embarassing that most of Krypton's "people of color" are disproportionately plentiful on an island? has he forgotten that our own different races are still mostly disproportionately plentiful to the areas of their origins? asia is mostly asians, africa is mostly africans...what's so embarassing about that?

Honestly, I think this kind of racial hypersensitivity is a NEGATIVE thing.

You equate jewish to a race you mention black then jewish.  Jewish is a religion and that is all it is! Black is a race. You would have been more correct if you had equated jewish to catholic, luthern, or etc..

I am SO SICK of all this POLITICALLY CORRECT crap being shoved down everyone's throat all the time and am very disappointed to see that the it ever=increasingly pervades ALL ASPECTS of our life - even storybook fantasy comics......ENOUGH is ENOUGH - we are there

non-white Kryptonians were clearly shown.

Other-than-white Kryptonians and their lands were introduced over 30-years ago.

This is just another "feel good about Obama" story written by someone too young to know any better.

I agree.  I'm tired of all this political correctness.  I am NOT a racist, I treat everybody equally, and I don't care if my friend is black or white.  But Krypton is Krypton, and in the original story Kryptonians were "white".  Why does anyone want to get bent out of shape about that?  Would this guy be complaining if Kryptonians were originally black?  I doubt it.  That would be just fine.

The story was surely influenced by culture at the time, as all stories are.  But science fiction has also been one genre that has broken barriers more than any other.  For example, Start Strek featured the first interracial kiss.  And there was real diversity.  But Star Trek featured earth people.  Some aliens were blue... others were nothing like us.  The world is diverse enough without these stupid revisions of traditional classics.

David

Totally with you on this Dave. Racial diversity, political correctness are of earth origin. Leave the damn Kryptonians alone and show some respect for THEIR culture!!

This falls into the same trash-bin as a black Santa Claus. 

I vaguely remember reading that Krypton BLEW UP!!! Now, after all these years, we find out it was a story fabricated by the left-wing media!

Pretty sensational stuff, blowing up the entire planet, yet, not blowing up the entire planet. Boy, I hope our media never finds out how to pull that off!

Oh boy!! Let's all get ready for light green Martians.

I applaud comic books becoming racially diverse in the past. Luke Cage, Blade, Apache Chief, Samurai.....but to retroactively change the comics is just lame. What's next, they draw a space ship from the south of Krypton with fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror?

What I find sad, and equally funny, is that the people here think that it's the fault of Blacks and Asians that the people who create/draw the Superman comics decided to include people of other ethnicities.  I guess no one realizes that most black people (I can't speak for Asians as I'm not one) DID NOT CARE.  Myself included. 

Firstly, grown folks--it's a fraking CARTOON.  I love it how the people out here are arguing about a cartoon--that has characters that have never existed.  It's a sad commentary on what is important to folks isn't it?  It's not Obama's fault that the creator did it--Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the like have nothing to do with it.  Please don't be disrespectful just because you're hiding behind a computer screen.  Ignorance online is the same as ignorance in person--pointless. 

There's nothing in the story that indicates the creator has "white guilt" or anything.  And I believe the story states that there were blacks there already...so why didn't anyone get mad at that ages ago?

Racial stereotyping and trying argue race with regards to comic book?  Seriously people...wow.  Sad, just sad.  There's a place for everything and writing hateful, silly, and quite frankly things that are below you--this isn't the forum for it.  Why is there such a knee jerk reaction from one group about something like this?  So because there's a Black or Asian crime fighter on the page, the comic is doomed?  I guess when they started adding women some of you cried about that too eh?

I hope that everyone goes back to their sandboxes and think about their comments.  If you live your life mad cause some GUY decides that Superman's planet needs some color--well you obviously live in a box that needs a bigger hole so you can get out of it.

Well as it refers to The creators of superman being Jewish, they did name the characters with very Hebraic names, i.e Kal-el. Jewish and Hebraic Ideals are peppered through out the series. Quite simply the publishers are a little more open minde and realized that they could diversify a fictitious place like Krypton seeing as there was just as much around them versus being PC. No one ever said that the comic was portraying an all white utopia. But the creators quite possibly pandered to the status quo which excluded segments of its population to a seen but not heard status. So they had no benefit of including anyone of color in the early editions. I do not believe that the comic would have been as BIG a success if it had MORE diversity during its early years. Could it have survived or even beentaken seriously by you if the lead character was BLACK? So, let's us be more mature and understand the entertainment, legend and myth associated with this great comic and not allow our shallow immaturity to lead the way. 

Hate to break the bad news to you dave, but technically white people "developed" from Black people. As they moved further away from the equator, the poeple with less melanin were able to sythesize vitamin E better due to lack of sunlight. So, using the example of Homosapian diversity here, Kryptons should have been every bit as diverse and without the predjudice. That would have truly been a beautiful place  

Since I don't know its ecosystem I can't say that there should be a variety of kryptonian humanoids.

They do seem to go back and forth on that--sometimes it's a purely ice planet, other times it's more temperate like Earth. Not sure which one they're going with at the moment, though.

Why the hell would they have developed melanin in the first place?  It seems just as likely they would be blue and green as white and black and asian looking. 

Besides once the population hits global interbreeding after a few centuries it would likely all be blended anyway.

Not necessarily. While it's true that any planet will have hot and cold areas it's also possible that the only land on the planet is in the temperate climate areas, in which case people would be mostly the same color.

The only way all Kryptonians would be "White" is if there was a Kryptonian Hitler who managed to kill all the other Races.

There have been several Kryptonian tyrants and a 1000-year long Genetics war that has defined the population.

krystal-804264 is correct. A planet with all its Land Mass in the same Latitude just might have a homogenous Race.

But there is a little more to it. The vegetation is a vital element in how much exposure to the Sun creatures will experience, and how much they need to adjust their skin color to compensate.

An interesting fact is Polar Bears have BLACK SKIN. The Sun is extreme in the harsh Polar Region.

Skin Color has little to do with Temperature. The Temperature, however, has a lot to do with how much Vegetation there is.

I'm not familiar with Krytonian History, but if what ARCHON-PRIME says is correct, Genocide could easily have reduced the variety of Races.

Hi SuperWho,

I don't think I agree.  An enlightened race wouldn't look at skin color one way or the other, as either an advantage or as an impediment.  

I also think a monochrome earth would be incredibly boring.  Even if it could be achieved (after centuries of fighting the Beige/Ochre Wars over what shade of tan was "correct"), what would be the next difference to be abolished (eye color, height, the length of your nose, etc.)?   

Ben's dad,

I vote for the next difference to be abolished is the inability of the "common" man to know when the media and our politicians are feeding us a line of BS.

When Races live together they do breed together.

America is a very diverse country. We also have Laws to protect Minorities. It is sad, and inaccurate, when we are criticized as being Racist. We are the most enlightened country in the World.

Iceland and Japan have no Racial Tensions. They are also nearly 100% homogenous. So they do not get criticized.

This isn't about humankind this is about Kryptonians.

Hey, it's a COMIC BOOK people!  It's supposed to be entertainment, originally designed for kids!

So, light up a bit.  It's supposed to be fun, not some terribly significant sociological phenomenon.
                                        

This has been a Dr. Zook post:  "Just enough truth to be believable."

Friend of the Dead: Thank you.

No reputable biologist, anthropologist, or other scientist believes humankind is divided into 'races.'

How can you be so wrong?  Have you never met someone different than you or are you so brainwashed that you can't see differences in people?  Yes, we are all the human race but there are differences in ethnic make up that group certian people together as "blacks", "asians", "whites", and so on.  There are different physical and cognitive features that have been shaped by years of biology in different climates along narrow genetic breeding lines.  It does not hurt anyone to be "black" or "white", get over your PC brainwashing.

Red you are right on the money

There are dozens of diseases that affect only one ethnicity, I read an article the other day stating that there are certain drugs now that only work well for certain ones as well (mens health I believe)

All men being equal does not mean they are all the same.  To assume there are not wildly ranging evolutionary changes is naive at best.

Buzz-- I do feel we should be more inclusive in our histories, actually-- but i don't see it as an issue of "political correctness" (see my post below for some thoughts on that topic), rather a way to develop a fuller understanding of what actually occurred and how we define ourselves now.

It isn't this type of story-- the main theme of the article is a look at the history of the inclusion of different racial characters in a pop culture text, not that we "should' do this or that (though the writer's perspective is fairly clear). It is the feeling that "it shouldn't be done" that the "anti-PC" rhetoric promotes, as well as the "if we ignore it maybe we'll get better' feeling that you've expressed above that cause most of the problems. For all the advancements since the end of WWII, the sores are not healed yet-- division and prejudice are still an element of the American cultural psyche, and will be until we make the effort to deal with them without recriminations from any perspective.

Thank you WmRAllen for actually writing something intelligent!

You're welcome-- I try...

(Just noticed a bunch 'o misspellings. Oy...)

Right on Clark!  And what about the gay Kryptonians?  LOL!  :)

I mean, we MUST be fully inclusive, to be fully politically correct, mustn't we?

What about "mentally challenged"  Kryptonians?  What happens when a fully grown Kryptonian with the IQ of a 4 year old kid arrives on Earth with super powers and he wants what he wants?  Are you going to be able to reason with him?

This has been a Dr. Zook post:  "Just enough truth to be believable."

All to often in the DC Universe Superman and Batman are compared.  Batman seems more realistic not because he a human being instead of an alien, but because each of us could identify with him.  If you think about it, Superman was an orphan as well.  I think this entire story arc will allow Superman to develop some internal conflict and angst.  Does he choose to side with his friends and adoptive planet, or does he side with those he thought lost to him forever?  More over, is he really a Superman if there is 100,000 like him? Is there enough kryptonite to control a populace of Kryptonians without the earthbound values of a Clark Kent?  Remember, "With great power comes great responsibility."  Is this a lesson that Kryptonians can grasp, or is this a lesson only a struggling human can teach?  Superman is not super because of just his power, but because of his capacity to love humanity because of their flaws and his continual effor to protect them.  Black, white, red, brown, blue or green, I think the issues should center around the fact that you now have 100,000 beings with Supermans powers, without the temperment and instruction of Martha and Jonathan Kent.

Is there enough kryptonite to control a populace of Kryptonians without the earthbound values of a Clark Kent? 

Since there was a recent arc where Superman and Batman went to destroy as much Kryptonite as they could, I'll say "no" to that one. :O

And I definately agree--should make for an interesting story, something that ole' Supes hasn't had for a while. :D

Didn't a lot of them get jobs in the auto industry?

Yes.  But one is the President-elect.  Barack Obama-El

You're aware that the reactionary attitude towards "political correctness" is itself a form of identity politics, right? A way for white, middle-class folks to unify and assert their group consciousness-- to develop a place where they can belong in the face of what seems a persecutorial society?

You realize that not everybody that hates political correctness is white?

...What?

*headdesk*

That's right! PC bashing is a way for whites to ignore the difficult issue of race.

Not exactly, the problem is much of the established verbage used by "PC" people tries to deflect the issue. Why should I say African-Americans instead of black, negro (latin for black), or dark-skinned people when referencing thier skin color? They are not in-fact African-Americans unless they were naturalized after moving here from there.

Frankly they should not be so worried about thier differences (isn't the problem in the first place). It might be arguing semantics but it still feels like being "PC" is skirting the issue which is the problem I have with it, I prefer hard facts to dogma. If a person takes issue with the way I say something, then they should be willing to discuss it in polite conversation.

A person can be respectful and tolerant to people who look different without being told how they should talk or how they should be culturally sensitive.

As for what WMR was saying, is that the people who rail (bash it) against "PC", do so because they essentially feel like they're becoming a minority in this country where immigration results in larger population disparities in traditionally "white" areas.

I say "PC" just sugar coats things.

Exeder wrote:

As for what WMR was saying, is that the people who rail (bash it) against "PC", do so because they essentially feel like they're becoming a minority in this country where immigration results in larger population disparities in traditionally "white" areas.

True, in some ways-- but remember that the "areas" are not necessarily geographical, but cultural and economic-- and it isn't an "immigration" problem as much as it is an "either/or" view of society-- somehow, the feeling developed that including women, ethnic and gender-role minorities fully in society meant that the majority had to be diminished in some way.

There is some validity to that, if you (consciously or unconsciously) refer to the hegemonic place of older Western mores (the Euro-centric "Western Civ" view of the world, for instance) in America-- but letting others into the pool doesn't mean that you can't swim there as well...

In terms of the linguistics of the movement, anything dealing with ideas necessarily means dealing with both the denotative and connotative aspects of words-- most specifically the connotative ones, which are generally implicit (unconscious). "Black" and "negro", to use your examples, both denote a color, but "black" in historic English usage can also mean "evil",  and "negro" calls up the historical usages and diminutives that were current during the periods of chattel slavery and institutionalized discrimination (even if there has been some attempt to "claim" the word or it's diminutive as a badge of identity in modern, urban society).

On the other hand, there is a certain feeling that it's an issue of respect to use whichever term the group uses to self-identify-- and if politically the group uses "African American", then that should be the term. However, that can be problematic even for  those who hold to "pc"-style values-- personally, I'm more apt to refer to the pro-life side of that argument as "anti-abortion", for example, since the political uses of their terms do not fit with my particular biases. Inconsistent, I realize, but in many ways it's our inconsistencies that make us human.

"African American" is also a loaded political term in another way-- unlike "Irish American" or "Polish American", the term calls up a continent, not a specific ethnicity, in direct reference to the fact that the Atlantic slave trade and chattel system in this country split the Africans from their history and ethnic background, leaving them with a generalized identity rather than a specific one.

Tim, do you actually think or believe that the African-American community complained about there being no Black Kryptonians?  PLEASE!!!  The article never alluded to that.  I can pretty much guarantee that the few Blacks who follow the Superman story (few compared to the amount of African-Americans) did not complain one bit...if they even noticed it.  Trust me, the change had nothing to do with them.  Believe it or not, they actually could care less. 

Whoever changed it did so because of white guilt, political correctness - something idiotic that had nothing to do with African-Americans who are too busy trying to make sure their pants are hanging halfway off their ass to give a damn about the world and what is actually going on in it, including worrying about Superman and the planet of the Kryptonians! 

Oh, the Egyptians did NOT enslave the Israelites.  Another story from another "comic book!" 

Whoa. First of all, This comment sounds rather personal. There is no need to attack the African American community.  I don't know where you got the idea that African Americans act as though we are the only group in the history of the world to ever have the history we have. Could it be from the media -- the stories you read and what you see on television? Or maybe it is from the few, and I mean very few, African Americans you constantly see or read about the news? They certainly don't speak for the entire black community. African Americans are well aware of the histories of other cultures. Every culture in every continent had some form of slavery or human injustice. And some of it still goes on today.

Secondly, if you think about it, it is majorily white people that "keep on dragging out, harping on, and playing up our differences." Many times because they want everyone to know they are not racist and they want to seem super-inclusive. As a prime example, this article was written by a white man for a white-owned company. I agree with a previous poster who said this kind of behavior just opens up old wounds. Most black people are too busy focusing on the present and the future to be worried about mistakes of the past. We want to make sure they don't happen again, but we aren't going around persecuting today's white people for things some of their ancestors did. So stop getting mad at us for articles and stories like this. Get mad at the people who write them.

Thirdly, you mentioned that your "Choctaw ancestors suffered arguably more than the African Americans." Black Americans are a melting pot of cultures. I don't believe I have to explain why that is. It is common knowledge. Most of us have black/African, white/European, and Native American ancestors. I don't know much about my ancestors, but I do know that one of my great-grandmothers was half white and half black, one was half Cherokee and half black, and my maternal grandmother's great-grandfather was half Irish and half black. So I'll say a good 70 percent of the time, when you talk about your history, you are talking about ours, too.

And lastly, Superman is just a comic book. It reflected the era in which it was written and as the time changes, it is understandable that the comic book will, too. So what if there were no black people on the fictional planet of Krypton. It's not like the book was written that way out of malice or hatred for people of color. It's just how it was back then. If the writers want to include people of color on Krypton in the new versions of the comic book, fine -- whatever. It is not that deep of an issue.

"To the NAACP - Superman isn't real, neither is Krypton; therefore it does not fall under the jurisdiction of Federal mandates for Affirmative Action. Why does everything have to be turned into racism?  and why is it only on other 'race' that keeps bringing this up? "

Again, black people (the NAACP included) did not bring this issue up. Stop blaming us. It's Superman for goodness sake! Who cares!

Besides, how do you think Michelle Obama got where she is today? AFFIRMATIVE ACTION! There are just as many female and first-generation white students as there are students of color who get accepted into colleges and universities because of affirmative action. The same holds true for the workplace. EOF was born out of affirmative action. I didn't qualify for EOF in college because my parents made too much money and were college educated. But I knew plenty of white students who were on EOF!

But again, this is a non-issue. It's just Superman!

It's not "we" perse, as it is the writer who decided to include different colored Kryptonians in his iteration of the story. No one complained, no one picketed.  This writer thought that based on today's tolerances that it was about time to talk about the Kryptonians on the "dark side" (not to be confused with Darkseid) of the planet.  This writer is doing nothing more that what George Lucas did in Star Wars.  There weren't any black representation until Mace Windu (played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson) as earlier history after the initial movie. It's this thing we writers call "Creative License,"  which means that as the writer that particular universe is ours to mold.  If all of you who find offense with Black or Asian Kryptonians, write your own story in which genetic manipulation or centuries of inter-race-breeding eradicates or completely blends the races.  All I know is on this earth with 100,000 new Kryptonians without human compassion scares me a little.  Could you imagine?  Superman often states that he has to exercise great restraint so as not to "break" anything or anyone.  These new Kryptonians do have any such compunction.

It's funny I just had a similar conversation with a co-worker of mine. Regardless if you or your ancestors took part in or owned slaves, as white Americans, you, your parents and your grandparents benefited from the color of your skin. Just 50 years ago (yes in some of our life times) it was illegal for blacks to drink, dine or socialize in some of the same establishments as whites.  The subtle nuisances of who and how people benefited from slavery and or racism is predicated by the statement: Some white Americans benefited from the Great American failing that was slavery and ultimately racism whether wanted to or not.

It's funny, my Bigma (an affectionate term for my late grandmother) used to say people are like Christmas presents.  It's the wrappings that attract you, but it's the contents that keep you.  When a person first sees me, that can't see that I hold two bachelor degrees (journalism and computer science), that I am a veteran (USMC oorah!!!), a world traveller or that I speak two foreign languages (Japanese and French [Ebonics doesn't count]).  No all they see is 6'3" 275 lbs Black man with a size 15 shoe and very large hands.  People have often told me that upon first meeting me that they found me intimidating.  Even though I at one time killed for a living (see above), I am now a well adjusted human being with a wonderful sense of humor, who likes long walks on the beach and good music you can dance to....  oh wrong site.  I think you all get my point.  Each of us is different.  As we struggle to accept our differences we seek out those like us to commiserate.  Tribes begin to form and before you know it, it's us against them.  Just like in high school.

To make a note, in high school world history classes [and even some classes before that] it actually IS taught that the africans that were sold into slavery were sold by their own "people". But we were also taught that Africa is made up of many countries and tribes....many of those tribes did not consider each other "brothers", and did not see it as trading away their own [prisoners of war, etc.] Just because they were the same color, didn't mean they had to like each other.  Also, in Africa, slavery was a bit different in most places. African slaves could marry into the families they served, or could eventually buy their way out or things of that nature....they usually weren't abused like they were when they were brought over to the Americas....

I agree that alot of times the racism thing is played up and brought up way too often, and then people get into these heated discussions that lead nowhere.....unfortunately, many people don't know how to let it go.

And a last note.....its a comic. I mean, whoo hoo, they have diverse looking characters and that's nice and all, [and i admit i used to make jokes with my dad about racial differences in comics and the like] HOWEVER the article, and the fact that they decided to tell the story about 'colored' kryptonians is really not that big of a deal. I know plenty of people of color who would probably look at the comic, and be like, "oh look, there are more skin tones. ok then." and move on with their lives.

I'm not leaving this comment to be analyzed, or critisized, or to be told that I'm not an adult so I 'don't get it' or will 'understand when I'm older' or whatever might run through the heads of certain people as they read this.....it just started as a comment about a certain fact in history that I happen to know many are aware of...who knows why they don't "get blamed". I'm sure lots of little facts like that are glossed over or sugar coated in history or in discussions of history, regardless of race. If you're trying to win an argument, wouldn't you try to use the information you have as it would best benifit YOU, not the other party?

but that's just me.....sorry if I'm bothering anyone.