white comic fans only ever accept diversity when its on their terms.
people are quick to accept cassandra cain because she’s mute and knows martial arts, and those are both popular “asian” stereotypes that fit into their overall perception of asian women. they struggle with characters like duke thomas, however, because he’s black, not violent, not poor, not subserviant and unable to fit into a black stereotype. so they push him aside and jump at the chance of making tim asian and jason black, because their characteristics reinforce harmful racial stereotypes society knows all too well. aka- tim’s “softness” and genius. jason’s violence, anger, irredeemable, untrustworthy characteristics, and constant clashes with the law. why is it that bruce is never portrayed as black, despite the fact he also displays these characteristics? why is tim never portrayed as dark skinned, or from south asia or the middle east? is that because characters from the middle east/western asia are only ever allowed to be portrayed as villains brandishing daggers and swords? (damian, talia, ra’s al ghul).
people are quick to accept characters who regularly break the law or have done so in the past as non white, because it fits into their existing perceived image of anyone who isn’t white. if you don’t believe me, here’s a list.
batman characters frequently portrayed/headcanoned as “white”
- nightwing/dick grayson (despite the fact that in most versions of canon, he isn’t- but because he’s happy/smiley/good/at the centre of the family, he couldn’t possibly be non white! that wouldn’t fit with people’s image of him, his self worth and his characteristics, you see!)
batgirl/oracle/barbara gordon (because she HAS to be ginger and blue eyed, right? despite the fact that she’s a fictional character?)
huntress/helena bertinelli (people love to cling to the white version of her despite the fact that she hasn’t been white in comics for a good ten years or so)
alfred pennyworth (but, as a character who primarily serves/gives advice to a predominantly white cast of characters- not to mention having served the waynes, a white family, for decades) it would be very dodgy to portray solely alfred as non white and therefore i’ll let this slide).
jim gordon (shout out to the lego batman movie for changing this and barbara tho!!)
robin/damian wayne- AS A CLONE OF BRUCE! LEGIT! PEOPLE (INCLUDING LITERAL DC) ARE STILL DRAWING HIM AS A CLONE OF BRUCE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HINTS OF MIXED HERITAGE WHATSOEVER! WHAT THE FUCK!
characters frequently portrayed/headcanoned as “non white”
robin/red robin/tim drake- must be east asian, light-skinned, as he’s a tech genius and a gentle little babbiee!!!
red hood/jason todd- must be latino or black. comes from a low class, dirty background, loves violence, never destined for anything good, could never be pure or do good, gets beaten up by people a lot, always on the wrong side of the law
robin/spoiler/batgirl/stephanie brown- comes from a rough, troubled, abusive household, therefore must be a hard-done by black woman who’s always pushed down and surpassed by her male/white peers???
catwoman/selina kyle- must be black or latina. steals. a sexual tease. can never decide what she wants or stick to anything. (i know that selina has been black and Latina in canon multiple times and in media, too, so this one gets a little difficult- but some people tend to only portray her this way when it suits them or when she’s being naughty catwoman and not the white, dutiful, wife that is a consistent, trusted and loved member of the batfamily.)
characters who are ignored (despite the fact that they are positive representations of non-white, non-christian characters that people push on the people above without recognising/including them???)
robin/the signal/duke thomas
batgirl/black bat/orphan/cassandra cain
i’m not saying everyone is doing this for the wrong reasons. i’m not saying it’s not okay to headcanon characters however you want, when you want. i just think it’s important, especially if you’re not the race you’re headcanoning someone as, to carefully examine why you’re headcanoning them that way, if you portraying them in this way sidelines/ignores canonical characters of the same racial background, and if your reasonings for headcanoning them this way aligns with harmful racial stereotypes or assumptions.
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