Changing Image of Blacks in Comics

In 1966, Marvel introduced Black Panther, the first African-American superhero dedicated to upholding justice and equality for all.

African-American comic book characters have become more prevalent since then.

Whether it’s Storm from “The X-Men,” Nick Fury from “The Avengers,” or Spawn from Image Comics, black characters have gone from being a marginalized minority to becoming significant players in every major comic company’s currently running series.

“Changing Image of Blacks in Comics,” an exhibition by comic book historian Dr. William H. Foster III, attempts to encapsulate nearly 50 years of African-American characters in comics.

Perceiving a lack of widespread knowledge about black comic book heroes, Foster created the project in the mid-1990s. Housed in Denver’s Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library throughout February, the exhibition details the rise and struggle of African-Americans to get fair and equal representation in the medium.

“Changing Image of Blacks in Comics,” an exhibition by comic book historian Dr. William H. Foster III, attempts to encapsulate nearly 50 years of African-American characters in comics. (Photo: Courtesy of Dr. William H. Foster III by Hadiya Evans)

“People will gain a better knowledge of the many different comics with black characters that appeared since the early 1940s,” Foster says of the exhibition. “I hope everyone who visits the exhibit will begin their own journey of exploration into this valuable part of American history.”

The growth of black comic book characters stems back to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Real-life heroic figures like Malcolm X and Rosa Parks inspired the comics industry to bring more ethnic variety to their pages.

Yet despite the growing prevalence of African-American heroes in comics, they have yet to make a big splash on the big screen.

We’ve already seen several cinematic comic book adaptations featuring black characters in non-starring roles, such as War Machine in the three “Iron Man” movies.

Yet at a time when superhero movies are enjoying big box office success, the fact that we’ve yet to see an African-American character take center stage says there is still ground to be gained.

One or two interesting projects are currently in the works to redress the balance.

Don Cheadle has been tapped to star as War Machine -- originally a supporting superhero in Marvel Comics’ “Iron Man” series -- in a standalone “War Machine” film. Marvel is also actively developing a “Black Panther” movie.

But there still remains a question as to whether either of these characters will appeal to mass-market movie audiences to the same degree they have in comics.

Some comic industry professionals claim that a multicultural sensibility is still missing from comics in general, thanks to a paucity of black writers in the industry. This lack might be keeping a high-profile African-American superhero from making the same successful leap onto the big screen.

“The comic industry certainly owns no sort of exclusivity when it comes to the lack of opportunity or attention afforded black writers in entertainment,” Joseph Hughes, editor-in-chief of the comic book commentary website Comics Alliance, says. “Characters like Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man are some of the most recognizable and endearing this country has ever produced, and to continually have their stories told by members of the same increasingly shrinking demographic borders on irresponsible.”

An absence of black writing talent isn’t the only issue keeping African-American heroes from multiplex audiences. Finding a way to create and market enough minority characters so that they don’t have to represent an entire race is another challenge facing the industry.

“If you do a black character or a female character or an Asian character, then they aren't just that character," Dwayne McDuffie, a former editor at Marvel Comics and the founder of Milestone Media, a publishing company dedicated to balancing out minorities’ representation in comics, says. "They represent that race or that sex, and they can't be interesting because everything they do has to represent an entire block of people”

In charting how African-American superheroes have grown from being temporary sidekicks to full-fledged, complex heroes, the “Changing Image of Blacks in Comics” exhibition points towards a future in which film audiences might champion a black superhero.

By Alexander Lumans Alexander Lumans is a writer, college instructor, and teacher at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Naugatuck Valley Community College 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, CT 06708 (203) 575-8040

Discrimination, Racial Bias, and Telomere Length in African-American Men

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A new University of Maryland-led study reveals that racism may impact aging at the cellular level. Researchers found signs of accelerated aging in African American men who reported high levels of racial discrimination and who had internalized anti-Black attitudes. Findings from the study, which is the first to link racism-related factors and biological aging, are published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Racial disparities in health are well-documented, with African Americans having shorter life expectancy, and a greater likelihood of suffering from aging-related illnesses at younger ages compared to whites. Accelerated aging at the biological level may be one mechanism linking racism and disease risk.

“We examined a biomarker of systemic aging, known as leukocyte telomere length,” explained Dr. David H. Chae, assistant professor of epidemiology at UMD's School of Public Health and the study’s lead investigator. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased risk of premature death and chronic disease such as diabetes, dementia, stroke and heart disease. Discrimination, Racial Bias, and Telomere Length in African-American Men. Racism May Accelerate Aging in African American Men. “We found that the African American men who experienced greater racial discrimination and who displayed a stronger bias against their own racial group had the shortest telomeres of those studied,” Chae explained.

Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA capping the ends of chromosomes. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased risk of premature death and chronic disease such as diabetes, dementia, stroke and heart disease.

Telomeres are repetitive sequences of DNA capping the ends of chromosomes, which shorten progressively over time – at a rate of approximately 50-100 base pairs annually. Telomere length is variable, shortening more rapidly under conditions of high psychosocial and physiological stress. “Telomere length may be a better indicator of biological age, which can give us insight into variations in the cumulative ‘wear and tear’ of the organism net of chronological age,” said Chae. Among African American men with stronger anti-black attitudes, investigators found that average telomere length was 140 base pairs shorter in those reporting high vs. low levels of racial discrimination; this difference may equate to 1.4 to 2.8 years chronologically.

Participants in the study were 92 African American men between 30-50 years of age. Investigators asked them about their experiences of discrimination in different domains, including work and housing, as well as in getting service at stores or restaurants, from the police, and in other public settings. They also measured racial bias using the Black-White Implicit Association Test. This test gauges unconscious attitudes and beliefs about race groups that people may be unaware of or unwilling to report.

Even after adjusting for participants’ chronological age, socioeconomic factors, and health-related characteristics, investigators found that the combination of high racial discrimination and anti-black bias was associated with shorter telomeres. On the other hand, the data revealed that racial discrimination had little relationship with telomere length among those holding pro-black attitudes. “African American men who have more positive views of their racial group may be buffered from the negative impact of racial discrimination,” explained Chae. “In contrast, those who have internalized an anti-black bias may be less able to cope with racist experiences, which may result in greater stress and shorter telomeres.”

The findings from this study are timely in light of regular media reports of racism facing African American men. “Stop-and-frisk policies, and other forms of criminal profiling such as ‘driving or shopping while black’ are inherently stressful and have a real impact on the health of African Americans,” said Chae. Researchers found that racial discrimination by police was most commonly reported by participants in the study, followed by discrimination in employment. In addition, African American men are more routinely treated with less courtesy or respect, and experience other daily hassles related to racism.

Chae indicated the need for additional research to replicate findings, including larger studies that follow participants over time. “Despite the limitations of our study, we contribute to a growing body of research showing that social toxins disproportionately impacting African American men are harmful to health,” Chae explained. “Our findings suggest that racism literally makes people old.”

“Discrimination, Racial Bias, and Telomere Length in African-American Men” was written by David H. Chae (University of Maryland, College Park); Amani M. Nuru-Jeter ( University of California, Berkeley); Nancy E. Adler, Jue Lin, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, and Elissa S. Epel ( University of California, San Francisco); and Gene H. Brody (Emory University) and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging, the University of California, and Emory University.

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