WHAT’S UP WITH LUKE CAGE?:How a fictitious Character with Character became the Latest Example of How Racial Privilege Influences Racial Misconceptions

I grew up reading comic books in the 70’s along with many of my classmates. When Luke Cage hit the stands in 1972, I was excited to see a superhero that was Black like me. Sure, former Captain America partner the Falcon came out in 1969, but didn’t have his own comic book. He was featured in Cap’s. Sure, the Black Panther came out with his own comic book in 1966, but he was from the fictitious nation of Wakanda, making him African, but not African-American. When I read the Luke Cage comic books, like many other Black kids, I knew that I was reading something that was relatable and special to me. Sure, the writing was a bit corny at times ("Sweet Christmas"), but they were mostly written by White males who had no real connection to Black culture or Harlem, Luke Cage’s stomping grounds. Still, the character “spoke” to me. At this time, I was also reading Batman, Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers, but for the first time in my entire life, I was engaged in a form of entertainment and media that featured a race and culture that was a reflection of me.

That feeling of being connected to Luke Cage, even though he’s a fictitious character, spoke volumes about what was happening in our society back then, as well as now. Today, we read about a police shooting of a Black male almost weekly. Though the majority of peace officers out there are doing a good job and exercise appropriate restraint and judgement, it’s finally becoming obvious that Black boys, girls, men and women end up in the crosshairs of far too many guns at the hands of over anxious peace officers. What many of us find so appealing about the character of Luke Cage is that he’s “bullet proof”, has super strength that he’s reluctant to use, and he wears a “hoodie”.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Let me put it this way; this is a hoodie wearing Black man who was framed and incarcerated, then mistreated in prison by corrupt peace officers that tried to kill him and ended up accidentally giving him superpowers instead. This is a Black man who managed to escape from bondage, who can't be killed by gunfire, who isn’t about violence, drugs, gangs, criminal behavior, abusing women, getting high, becoming rich, looking “fly”, being controlling, or seeking revenge for what he been through.

All he really wants is .......... peace.

I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but the fact that Cage is often seen wearing a hoodie when the bullets start to fly immediately reminds me of the tragic story of Trayvon Martin who was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012. The image of a non-aggressive Black man standing unscathed in a hail of gunfire is an unbelievably powerful message for the Black community. It symbolizes the idea that no matter what, we will survive, we will stand tall, we will not be ignored and we will stand for justice while remaining unapologetically Black. At least, that’s how I see it. By all means, feel free to make your own personal assessments.

Moving past this powerful message, I’m still nostalgic about comics, so I watched all 13 episodes of Luke Cage in 2 days. (I know that’s overkill, but in my defense, I was editing a literature review and needed something to play in the background to keep me awake when I started to become bored. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it). I was impressed with the series and soon found out that my reaction was also shared by most viewers of the show. “Luke Cage” also received numerous reviews that spoke highly of the series including the Business Insider, the Hollywood Reporter, Rotten Tomatoes, Mashable, Screenrant, Oxygen-Very Real, the Grio, the New York Times, and The Wrap.com.

Despite the show’s popularity and its focus on being authentic and culturally relevant, there have been a few comments on social media forums that have expressed reservations about the show. Many commented on how they thought that the TV show was racist because it focused too much on Blacks and didn’t have enough White people (or other races and cultures) represented in the show. Other’s wanted to know why the characters in the show “talk about being Black all the time”. After reading some of these comments, my initial thoughts hit me as if I were actually talking to these naysayers personally from my living room sofa;

“You do realize that this is fictitious show about a super hero born during the cinematic era of Blaxploitation, who just happens to be Black, is from and lives in Harlem. How can anything about the character of Luke Cage not symbolize Black culture?”

Then I realized what this was really about. Luke Cage is fictitious, but what he represents and the story expressed in the TV series are quite real. I saw this as a teachable moment, but at the time, I was the only one in my living room with this epiphany so I did a little research and reviewed some of my previous research on topics related to the negativity expressed about Luke Cage and the accusations regarding racism and diversity. 

Black people talk a lot about being Black because so much of what happens to multitudes of Black folks is based on being Black. Mostly, it's a reference to RACIAL DISPROPORTIONALITY.

* DISPROPORTIONATE unemployment rates

* DISPROPORTIONATE hiring practices

* DISPROPORTIONATE pay rates and salaries compared to non-Blacks

* DISPROPORTIONATE interest rates for necessities such as cars and home loans

* DISPROPORTIONATE deaths due to police shootings

* DISPROPORTIONATE stop and frisk policies and practices

* DISPROPORTIONATE applications and options for medical services

* DISPROPORTIONATE practices and sentencing within the criminal justice system

* DISPROPORTIONATE numbers of military vets of color in foreign war zones

* DISPROPORTIONATE assumptions about most or all Blacks as thugs, killers, rapists & drug users and dope dealers

So when so much of one's life and society itself is influenced by race and racism, then race becomes a normal and common aspect of these types of conversations; which is why so many Blacks ALSO talk about things that help us cope with racial disproportionality ........... such as ........

1. RACIAL PRIDE
2. WORK ETHIC
3. RELIGIOUS FAITH
4. FAMILY
5. COMMUNITY
6. COOPERATION
7. FORGIVENESS
8. MORALITY
9. HUMANITY
10. EDUCATION
11. BLACK LIVES MATTER
12. HISTORY
13. RESILIENCE
14. SELF RESPECT
15. RESPECT FOR OTHERS
16. STRENGTH
17. COURAGE
18. DEDICATION
19. PATIENCE
20. HONOR
21. HERITAGE
22. LEGACY
23. EXCELLENCE
24. ................................................................................ and LOVE

When most of White society talks about love, education, history or heritage just as most cultures do, they don't have to talk about being White because the society we live in is a predominantly White society, and as such "White culture" is inherently implied when referring to almost anything in American society. When I buy band-aids, there are no "Black" or "Latino" colored band aids, they're just plain old band-aids, that happen to be "flesh tone"; just not my tone. There are other examples, but hopefully, my point has been made. Essentially, unless one specifies or clarifies that something is "Black", "Latino", "Asian", or "Native American" ...it's generally assumed to be "Eurocentric" with almost no afterthought.

TV is changing and becoming more integrated and inclusive, but there was a time when shows like "The O.C.","Beverly Hills 90210", "Dynasty", "Friends", "Glee", Melrose Place", "Sex and the City", "the Brady Bunch", "Entourage", "Full House", "Downton Abbey", "Happy Days", "Will and Grace", "Seinfeld", "Gilmore Girls" and "Baywatch" were simply called "TV shows" by most people, but in Black society, many of us, regardless of the popularity of the show, called them "White" TV shows because of their lack of racial and cultural diversity. This wasn't a slur or insult. It was merely a distinction that, when used, immediately and succinctly, pointed out the lack of Black culture and representation within the writing of the show itself.

For the most part, Blacks didn't denigrate these TV shows because they were "White" oriented. In fact, Blacks have watched and loved TV shows that didn't represent or acknowledge us since before "I Love Lucy" because the bottom line is IF THE SHOW IS INTERESTING AND/ OR GOOD, WE'LL WATCH IT, PERIOD.

There were/ are many "White" oriented TV shows that Blacks loved because of the quality of the show, despite its lack of cultural or racial diversity, such as .... "The X-Files" (because the supernatural is always interesting), "The Sopranos" (which was unapologetically and often stereotypically Italian, which is also White), "I love Lucy" (which was the first interracial relationship on TV with a Cuban star played by Desi Arnaz, who was Latino), "The Mary Tyler Moore show" (which spearheaded the independent single woman on TV after Marlo Thomas' 1960's era "That Girl") , "Murphy Brown" (Which further challenged the status quo for stereotypical views of women) , "Moonlighting" (just because it was light hearted and funny), "24" (because it kept you on the edge of your seat), "Married with Children" (because they lampooned everything that was taboo on TV and made it hilarious), and "Dallas" (because JR was our favorite person to hate on TV; and who doesn't love watching a good villain on TV)?

Despite the popularity of these shows...NONE of them were culturally or racially diverse. In fact, they were predominantly White in culture, and perspective, almost to the exclusion of practically any other race or culture. BUT IT APPEARS THAT NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT; at least not often enough or loud enough for it to become an issue!

• Was "Melrose Place" or "the Gilmore Girls" too White for TV?
• Was "Ugly Betty" or "George Lopez" too Hispanic for TV?
• Was "Curb your Enthusiasm" or "Rhoda" too Jewish for TV?
• Was "Murphy Brown" or "the Good Wife" too feminist for TV?

For whatever reason, these just aren't questions that typically come up. But what does come up fairly often is how Blacks are often portrayed in some stereotypical role, even in some of the most acclaimed TV shows with Black stars, such as ... "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air", "Martin", "Good Times", "Sanford and Son", "A Different World", "My Wife And Kids", "Everybody Hates Chris", "The Bernie Mac Show", "Living Single", "The Cosby Show", "Blackish", "Amen", "Jamie Foxx", "Julia", "That's my Mama", "Moesha", "Webster", "Meet the Browns", "Family Matters", "Different Strokes", "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper", "the Hughleys", "Benson", "Gimme a Break", "Roc", "the Jeffersons", "Sparks", "Malcolm and Eddie", "Wanda at Large", "the Wayans Brothers", and "the Parkers" Admittedly, some of these shows were spectacular, while others were just... "okay".

And I'm not suggesting that this phenomenon only occurs with Black TV shows. I'm sure that Freddie Prince Sr. took a lot of flak portraying a friendly Puerto Rican in "Chico and the Man", and the TV show "Fresh off the Boat" has caused many Asians to pause. It just seems that whenever we get closer to a realistic portrayal of the heritage and culture of a person of color or "minority", non-people of color come out in droves to share their discomfort with it. Let's put this into perspective. What this seems to imply is that most people are more comfortable with an inaccurate characterization of Black people than a realistic portrayal. "We" like our Black characters to be cute (Webster) or sexy (Scandal), or evil (half the cast of "The Wire"), or funny (just pick any Black sitcom....we have more than enough to chose from).

Though you could find countless Black comedies on TV, it was much harder to find a Black drama series that wasn't a cop show, as most were very short lived, even when the story and the writing were sound. It wasn't unusual to see notable actors in starring roles in many of these series, yet most didn't even last a season. Shows such as "Gabriel's Fire" (1990), "Frank's Place" (1987), "Linc's" (1998-2000), "Lincoln Heights" (2006-2010), the Soap Opera "Generations" (1989-1991), "Soul Food" (2000-2004), "Gideon Oliver" (1989), "The Lazarus Syndrome" (1979), "South Central" (1994) and "Harris and Company" (1979) typically tried to share a "slice" of Black life only to end up falling short either in quality, viewers or both. Still, even with all of these shows I've listed in this post, I've never heard of anyone claiming that any of these shows were “too Black” or that the characters were always talking about the condition and realities of being Black. Maybe part of the reason was that some of these characters were underdeveloped and may not have been accurate or better yet, FULLY developed representations of REAL Black people and REAL Black life. Indeed, many of these characters were what well intentioned White writers created who were unfamiliar with Black culture. This was essentially how they thought Black people and Black life was like.

Now....as we inch closer to depicting the racial and cultural realities and nuances of American society, we have shows such as "Luke Cage" that are a refreshing change of pace in its focus on Black culture, especially with a perspective that is mostly POSITIVE. Keep in mind that this show probably wouldn't have gotten picked up by networks like ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX because it's "too Black"; and might not have gotten picked up by Netflix if it wasn't part of the popular and ever growing Marvel Cinematic world of super heroes. It seems as if the only time it's okay to express what it really means to be Black on TV is when the story is about slavery or civil rights....or as the single Black character on a primetime show that either epitomizes a racial stereotype, or is so devoid of Blackness that the only thing Black about the character is their skin.

What does it say about our society when a web based TV show about a fictitious Black comic book super hero from a Black neighborhood, experiencing common issues that happen to Blacks, and talking about them among other Blacks, who share their Black experiences, is berated for being too Black?

ARE WE, AS A NATION, OUT OF OUR COTTON PICKIN' MINDS?

(Pun intended).