āSimilarities to previous Keith(s) canonically named Koganeā
VLD Keith is an adaptation of a previously existing story/character. Thatās why those similarities exist, not because of ācoincidenceā. They changed several other existing charactersā races from previous Voltron continuities, even while retaining similarities in personality/storylines from those continuities (ex: Allura) so itās not like it would be outlandish to do it to one more character.
āThereās no reason to assume his (Keithās) dad is whiteā
āAssume that Keith is by default white until proven POC?ā
Iām āassumingā this the same way that Iām assuming that Iverson is black or that Leifsdottir is white. VLDās canonical characters of color are always undeniably not white, in terms of their appearance and/or names (Lance+Veronica, Hunk, Shiro, Rizavi, Kinkade, Iverson, Allura+her parents-I know Allura is ātechnically an alienā but official sources have called her black before so Iām including her). Thereās no reason to believe that the VLD team intended Keithās dad to be a person of color but for no apparent reason decided to treat him totally differently from all their other characters of color, not even dropping a hint of him not being white.
The same reasoning applies to Keith. Since Krolia is a purple alien, discussions of Keithās racial/ethnic background have to center around his dad as heās the only one Keith couldāve gotten that background from.
āIf people want to see Keith as representation for an Asian American, who tf are you to tell them no?ā
Yeah, hereās the thing. Representation is not about what we want, or headcanons. Itās about hard canon that is supported by the text. If what representation meant was āwhat do fans want this character to be?ā, by that logic all sports anime would be totally overflowing with gay representation (lmao). By that logic Klance would be gay/bi representation (for Keith and Lance respectively) based solely on popularity among fans, even though the ship never came close to being canon and thereās no proof that either of them likes guys.
As an example, Pidge counts as female representation. Thatās something everyone can agree on; she flat out says āIām a girlā and both in the show and in real life sheās always referred to as one. But if someone insisted that Pidge also counts as black+multiracial representation because their headcanon is that sheās Colleenās daughter from a previous marriage to a black man before she married Sam Holt, theyād rightfully be laughed out of the fandom. Because that crackpot theory has absolutely no basis in the reality of the show-even if no official sources ever actually confirmed or denied it. If fans want to headcanon Keith as having a certain ethnic/racial background, idc, come up with as many ideas as you want and who cares if the show supports them. If people want to think of Keith as an Asian-American, thatās cool! But the issue of representation is centered around canon, and there have been 0 indicators, in the show and in real life from official sources, that Keith is a person of color.
As for āwho the fuck I amā, Iām an Asian-American blogger who is fucking exhausted with content creators (not VLD-exclusive by any means) begrudgingly tossing me scraps when I ask to sit at the same table as their white fans. In regards to this character specifically, Iām a fan whoās very tired of other fans crediting content creators for giving me something that I never received. And more generally, Iām someone whoās really sick of people twisting what the word ārepresentationā means, to claim that something merely having the possibility of existing counts as having actually represented it. When I talk about the idea of Keith as Asian-American representation, Iām talking about how I, and much more importantly young Asian-American kids watching VLD, can see Keith as one of us-as a character who represents the idea that people like us specifically can be heroes, deserving of friendship and happiness, instead of just jokes/villains/various racist stereotypes. Keith is not that character in canon.
To ease the worry you expressed in your notes, about āantis forgetting Asian Americans existā, I am happy to clarify that I, an Asian-American (and apparently an āantiā, whatever tf that means) have not suddenly forgotten that my family and I, and the larger community weāre part of, exist. Assuming that you also care about representation, and are not just bringing it up to argue with people whose criticisms you disagree with: thanks for your concern, always nice to meet a genuine ally.
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