why are people so afraid of representation?
i recently saw a rooftop trio vid that i loved so much! the animation was incredible and i had to smash every button on my screen. but ohh dude when i got to that comment section? 😒😒my blood pressure went up i swear
the creator drew aizawa and oboro (as he is in canon!) tan and the comments were full of baseless accusations of blackwashing and people offended that someone drew their favourite characters with a different skin tone.
every time i draw the rooftop trio, i get similar comments so you can only imagine my frustrations. i have a lot to say about these claims.
first off the accusation of black-washing? black-washing isn't a thing and is an odd thing to comment. is every tan or dark skinned character automatically labeled black? the creator didn't specify headcannoning oboro or aizawa as black and even if they did, so what? what is so bad about drawing fictional FICTIONAL characters black or other races? if the character's racial background is integral to their story, it's pretty straightforward that you shouldn't change it. but if nothing about their character would change, who really cares? i know i don't
also i just don't get what is so crazy about drawing fictional characters with different skin tones. here's a fun exercise. (In the context of my designs, i headcannon oboro to be filipino-japanese and aizawa to be a quarter black.) how many mixed POC asian characters are there in my hero? like what, one? (Rock Lock's kid) what about in a broader sphere. how many mixed POC asian actors, singers, celebrities or etc can you name off the top of your head? now how many white celebrities can you name? the difference is insane. headcannons like headcannoning a character to be mixed or another race when it doesn't affect their character or personality doesn't do anyone harm. it makes it so people who don't have the privilege of seeing themselves so openly represented a stage! a chance to be seen. call me crazy but i don't think that's so bad
