I don’t understand why the Code Geass fandom is so fucking racist. You all do realise that this was a show about the far-reaching impact of colonialism and manipulation of PoC by white people?
The Black Knights didn’t deserve an iota of the hatred they get. They were literally just an oppressed people misled by white saviour Lelouch who rose up against his manipulations in fury. Admittedly, they turned to another white saviour Schneizel, but they were planning to act independently from him. Their consistent portrayal as incompetent fools who can’t work without a Lelouch or a Schneizel to lead them only perpetuates these racist undertones.
The fury of the Japanese people against Suzaku is more than justified. He’s a fucking class traitor. He allied with the colonists ‘in hopes of creating a better world’: idealistic bullshit that made him feel better about rolling over so the Brits would scratch his belly. I loved him at the start of the show, but he’s a perfect example of how someone can start out kind and earnest and gentle and end up making so many bad choices and acting horribly. Suzaku became selfish at the end of the show, so selfish that I could barely stomach watching him on screen. The fandom hates him because he betrayed your white fave. But he’s terrible because he rolled over and accepted colonialism, even becoming an active agent of it.
Kallen benefits from the oppression of the Japanese people, whether she likes it or not. What makes her an interesting character is her choice to reject that benefit and to ally with her heritage. I feel like her white-passing privilege is what makes her support Zero so staunchly, but her choosing the Black Knights over him was the right decision.
Ougi had every right to be furious at Lelouch’s manipulation. In typical white saviour fashion, our dear princeling used the Black Knights as a pawn - and don’t even start about “he was doing it for Nunnally!” Usage is usage, and Lelouch used an oppressed class.
Cornelia li Britannia is the epitome of white feminism. Feminism when it applies to white women in power who will do anything to oppress PoC.
Let's not even get into how fucked up it was that Lelouch conquered the world. I understand he did it for his idealised version of good, but... It just doesn't sit right with me.
The show tries to make you feel sorry for a bunch of white imperialists while concealing what they've done. The Britannian monarchical system itself is so... single-minded. Not even the greatest of rulers can fix the inherent flaws with a monarchy unless they step down for democratic government. Nunnally may be kind and gentle, but in the end she too benefits from a centric power system.
In conclusion: the Black Knights and the Japanese are the true victims of the oppression in Code Geass. Not Suzaku the damn coon, not Cornelia the coloniser, not Nunnally the ‘poow wittwe white pwincess’, and not His Majesty the White Saviour himself.