This is mainly directed at the DC fandom especially writers and honestly, it applies to a lot of fandom spaces that do the same thing.
Iâve been noticing something for a while now, and I recently saw @prettylittleky call it âblack reader baiting.â I love that term, but I also want to add another: POC character erasure.
To me, that means when someone writes for a show, fandom, or game and consistently leaves out characters of color like they just donât exist. A good example is Mel Medarda from Arcane, who already gets a ridiculous amount of hate. And the reason Iâm even writing this is because of Duke Thomas from DC Comics a literal member of the Batfamily.
You can also look at Cassandra Cain, or honestly any POC character. I see it over and over again: people will write Batfamily fics and include everyone everyone except Duke or Cassandra. And sometimes even Damian Wayne gets left out or written in a way that feels offensive.
And the excuses are always the same:
âI didnât have time to write them.â
âI just didnât include them.â
Or something equally weak.
But somehow, they have time to include characters like Stephanie Brown who isnât even consistently written as part of the core Batfamily in those same stories. Thatâs where it starts to feel intentional, or at the very least, careless in a way that isnât harmless.
As a Black woman and just as someone who genuinely loves these characters itâs frustrating. And Iâve stayed quiet before because the response is always the same:
âWhy complain? Just write it yourself.â
That response is backhanded. Writing your own stories shouldnât be the only solution to exclusion. If youâre choosing to write in a fandom with a diverse cast, then you should be capable of writing that diversity or at least acknowledging it. Otherwise, what are you really doing?
Itâs especially weird when writers will have white characters âact Blackâ using AAVE, calling someone âma,â borrowing from Black culture but wonât include actual Black characters in the story. Iâve seen it happen with characters like Jason Todd or Dick Grayson again and again. You can adopt the culture, but you canât include the people?
That doesnât sit right.
At the end of the day, this is simple:
Stop erasing POC characters from your narratives.
Being Black, being a reader, and being a woman already comes with enough barriers. Thereâs no reason fandom spaces places that are supposed to be creative and inclusive should keep reinforcing that same exclusion.
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