Dear My New Black Friend,
Growing up, my favorite superhero was Captain America. Who did you look up to while growing up? Other than Green Lantern—he was a cool dude, am I right?
Stay Black, Todd
Dear Todd,
You know who I had to look up when I was growing up? Misty Night. Who’s that? Exactly: No one knows who Misty Night is. Actually, I don’t know any mainstream black superheroes. I know what you’re thinking. “What about the Black Panther?” That’s not a superhero, that’s an animal! You can see a black panther at the zoo. Can you drive down to the National Zoo to see Superman? No. And they don’t have black panthers at the National Zoo, but that’s not the point. And don’t give me that Obama-Man crap! Obama is not a superhero; he’s the president! No one was putting Roosevelt in a cape and expecting him to walk.
Say what you want, but honestly white superheroes have it easy. You can dress like a bat and stand in people’s houses in the middle of the night, and everybody wants to be you for Halloween. Hell, we have a holiday where a fat man in red goes down people’s chimney leaving kids presents, and nobody inquires for a background check. But a black superhero? Shit, Shaft got ticketed for jaywalking during 9/11.
In short, I too liked Captain America.
Thank you for your question.
I had about five reactions to this post, which led me from being completely speechless to laughing out loud.
I was laughing out loud too and still am