Joking aside, why would something as seemingly trivial as Spider-Man being replaced by a multiracial version get the attention of the likes of Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck? After all these are just comic books, right? Fantastical stories of super heros made to entertain children while showing off the best of what humanity can offer during times of adversity. How could anyone find fault with their content? Turns out this is a growing issue in the culture war being waged by the radical right. Read on after the break.
In a recent issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man was killed by the Green Goblin and a new hero would take his place. That new hero happens to be Miles Morales, a half-black half-latino New Yorker; admittedly quite different from the generically white Peter Parker. The writers for Spider-Man decided to go this route to better represent the world as it is today; we are a nation of diverse and mixed backgrounds and races after all. But there are some that see this as a threat. They aren't upset that a traditionally white character is now multiracial, in fact this isn't even the first time Spider-Man has been portrayed by a multiracial character. Miguel O'Hara, a latino-Irish man, dawned the Spider Suit in the seried Spider-Man 2099. Spider-Man 2099 was set in the future and even on another planet, but there was no complaint then, no, the issue lies in that Ultimate Spider-Man is based on the world and USA as it is today. Our nation and world is becoming smaller and more diverse and that is deemed as a threat by the radical right.
It is racism at its finest. Glenn Beck practically spells it out for anyone not poisoned by hate. He actually blames the First Lady, likening it to some grand conspiracy to rewrite American history and we all know how much Beck loves his conspiracies. But why does the fringe Right feel the need to have a culture war. Minorities certainly haven't been a threat to white priveledge in this country, in fact in the past years the gap in the average wealth between whites and blacks has grown. Sure, there is a black president, but an ineffective Congress and weak Democtratic party has crippled his office. As far as I can tell all the special interests and big businesses are still run by white CEOs. So if it isn't a fear of losing wealth, political or economic power, then what? Unfortunately it's an appeal to the lowest common denominator of the white, voting population.
I'll give the politicians and pundits the benefit of the doubt that they dont actually believe the vitriol they spout, but their supporters do. And unfortunately the Republicans, who had made a living off the hate that exists in this country while seldom embracing it, allowed the cultural divides to stress to the point where the Tea Party. Now the right is being held hostage by a monster of its own creation; no Republican can win without Tea Party support, but in order to keep that support no negotiations can happen with Democrats. Some might say that its worked well for them, most big and notable legislation has been written the Republican way, but only because of a weak DNC. And being a party of "No" has serious consequences such as the delay in the raising of the debt ceiling.
Raising the debt ceiling is a common thing, presidents do it all the time and multiple times. It should never have gotten to a point of almost defaulting and now the US's debt rating has dropped for the first time ever from AAA to AA+. “The downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenge,” said Standard & Poor. Look at that wording, our nations ability to pass legislation, deal, negotiate, work as a unit is being described as "weakened". It all comes back to hate. A hate that cannot even tolerate a mere comic book changing to a black hero. Hate has poisoned the well. A full blown Culture War on the back of the first black president, a permanent mark on all future black politicians, and a "weakened" United States. I hope it was worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment