Some people are upset that Korra is technically black

[Dove_of_Dawn]

Dark_Lady_Jade

Dove_of_Dawn

Dark_Lady_Jade

Dove_of_Dawn

Dark_Lady_Jade

Korra, if she was living in our world, would be Inuit.

The only time the connection is made to her and blackness is when racist people whine "But Korra's not black!". stare

Wait..I'm confused. You're racist if you say someone isn't black? Why doesn't that go the other way around? Isn't it racism if you're claiming she is black as well?

Also, I support the fact that she's Watertribe. Ain't one of our races, none of them are, so how dare we try to assign race colors from our world to theirs? Are we really that tired of defining people of our world by color? Doubt it, I see it every damn day.

It's racist because of the anti-black sentiment behind it.

"Okay, okay. Korra's skin is brown. But OMG DON'T YOU DARE EVEN HINT THAT SHE COULD BE INTERPRETED AS BLACK!!! scream " There's an attitude that people have, including PoC who aren't black, of 'anything but black'.

Also, the 'well it's not our world' reasoning doesn't fly, because the people and cultures in this series were inspired by and based on actual people and cultures of color, so to say it 'doesn't matter' is erasing and dismissive.

You do realize,that though that sentiment is 99% of the time, occasionally it's not? Assuming that it is anti-black sentiment can cause hurt feelings all around. By saying she's not black, doesn't mean that she's white (or some other color), it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be awesome for her to be black, it's simply saying (perhaps) that the person does not see it. I personally don't. I've never met any Inuit, so I can't say there are no black Inuits, but that's all I can see her as. I have nothing against those that do see her as black, more power to them, but I'm not one of them. Does that make me racist?

The 'it's not our world' thing does stand on shaky legs, granted, but how can we put our labels into a place that isn't real, and isn't ours? They may have similar stigmas, but not the same. We may never know.

neutral

Okay, now take a GOOD look at what you typed. First sentence, you basically said that ALL the times anti-black racism happens doesn't matter because of the 1% chance that it's not happening (which is wrong, btw, because there's ALWAYS anti-black sentiment). Also, it's rude of you to tell me that calling out anti-black sentiment hurts feelings. That's more erasing and silencing. What, my feelings don't matter?

By people rabidly saying Korra's not black it sends the message that her having brown skin is okay AS LONG AS she's NOT interpreted by anyone as being black. That's anti-black sentiment. The whole 'maybe the person didn't see it' is BS because even when there ARE black characters (I'm talking about blatantly, obviously identified as being black/of African descent), they get insanely whitewashed and interpreted as not black anyway.

OP stated earlier that there are black Inuits, because there are, just as there are black Native/Indigenous people. But as always, the black members of the groups are always erased and ignored (and only the lightest members of the groups being chosen to represent the groups), so who's to say Korra COULDN'T be black? That's the point OP was making. Yes, Korra would be Inuit based on the culture of the Water Tribes, but she could be a black Inuit, too. It's not impossible.

Not being able to interpret Korra as black is not racist, but playing ignorant and dismissive IS, and such arguments usually get stare in discussions. Just a tip for you for the future (another tip, NEVER ask if you're a racist, not even hypothetically).

We can apply real-world dynamics to fictional places because they are inspired by people and places in the real world, that's why. It's as simple as that. Why do you think people, especially PoC, get upset when characters get whitewashed? Why do you think people get upset when PoC are non-existant in fantasy settings?

It's easy to say something doesn't matter or that you don't see all the problems of an issue when it's not affecting you.

I don't have time to reply to all of this as I'd like, as I must leave for work soon, but I did want to clear something up that I misconstrued. I did not mean to insinuate that it anti-black sentiment is okay. I was trying to say that saying that everyone who says it believes it. -sighs- This got so out of hand on my part. Anyway, I'd love to stay and argue longer, but I do have work to do, perhaps when I return home.

[Nieomy]

Get over it.

[Ellehk]

Melancholy Wish

Ellehk

Hm.. I always thought she'd be considered Native American or Native Alaskan. Not that it matters either way to me, she's still awesome no matter what. :3

Korra I think we can safely assume isn't Indian. And by American standards she would be black based on looks.

She doesn't look Black to me. She actually does look more Native Alaskan to me than Black. Her facial features don't look Black at all, in my opinion. Just because she has darker skin doesn't mean she's Black.

But like I said, it doesn't really matter what her race is. And really.. she's not Black or Native American or anything like that. She's Water Tribe.
I highly doubt that the races in the Avatar world are the same as the ones in the real world.

[Ellehk]

Private Lessons

Ellehk

Hm.. I always thought she'd be considered Native American or Native Alaskan. Not that it matters either way to me, she's still awesome no matter what. :3

This.

(/shrugs) Just what she came off to me as.

Same here. I mean, not that it REALLY matters what the characters' races are, but I never even considered Korra or any of the other members of the Water Tribe as Black.

[red-tala9]

people fliped s**t about rue from hunger games being black even though it was in the book

[Lonely Herald]

Whether she's black or Eskimo aside, I wasn't even aware this was a big deal.

Because it shouldn't be. o_o

[Aetherwing]

Is there gonna be a cartoon without the characters being prejudiced?

OP: We can't just assume she's black. Yes, her skin maybe dark, but Asians have dark skins too. Not to mention Native Americans, Eskimos, so on and so forth. So, no jumping conclusions okay?

[Soviet Titties V]

xx Cookie-Boots xx

False Dichotomy

xx Cookie-Boots xx

Korra's not black. o_0 She's a PoC, but by no means black.
Ah well, racists gonna racist.
Also, isn't Eskimo a racist term?

No, "eskimo" is like using the term hispanic. It's not very precise, but it does refer to an ethnicity.

There are so many archaic racist terms that I honestly just don't know anymore. gonk

What's even funnier is that human races don't even exist.

[le Trichs]

I did not know this. I thought she was just...I dunno. Just tan for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Why the ******** would people stress out over something like this? emotion_facepalm

[Internet Goblin]

Makorra

I did not know this. I thought she was just...I dunno. Just tan for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Why the ******** would people stress out over something like this? emotion_facepalm

This.
I mean, sure, I could see people of color getting upset when somebody bashes her for being colored or intentionally colors her white because she's "prettier that way", but I've seen people who just use a lighter color palette overall being bashed for white washing. emotion_facepalm

[Tenshi no Kanashimi]

I don't think there are any African Americans in Avatar... I don't ever recall seeing any that is. The water tribe are obviously all based on the Inuit people, so they're all dark skinned. Just because Korra is a little bit darker than some of them doesn't mean she is black.

It's a shame though really. They need to add more diversity to cartoons. Especially to the main casts.

[Chibi Halo]

Hatori Miharu

TL;DR Characters from the show are based off Asian or Inuit cultures! So Korra and other water benders are probably based off the Inuit.

Except for that little middle of the Earth Kingdom abnormality known as the Foggy Swamp Tribe, who would be more Asian with a strong dash of Louisiana Bayou because while they are Waterbenders they're not of the Inuit decent that's for certain. The lighter skin tone is a the major indication according to the ATLA Wikia. xp

[Princess Lionheart]

She isn't black though? She is more native American colored.

[marshmallowcreampie]

The Water Tribe citizens are meant to resemble real-life Inuit people. Last time I checked, the Inuit weren't considered black.

Though if we're talking about actors for a live-action movie, I'd much rather have a black chick play Korra than a white chick. At least the skin tone would be right.

[Baby Blue Doll]

Oh my God, who the hell cares, about Korra's skin color. Jesus. Can we enjoy an Avatar show without racism?