In The Walking Dead issues 28 and 29, Michonne becomes the Governor's "brown sugar" "plaything," but not without upsetting many readers who are sensitive to the issue of the dehumanization of black women by white men.
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| The Walking Dead, #28 |
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| The Walking Dead, #29 |
This issue was incredibly difficult to read, and I am not the only reader who felt this way. I would like to share some excerpts from a long letter to the author Robert Kirkman, written by a reader named Sundjata Abubakari and published at the end of issue #32. I think the letter is well written and Abubakari makes valid points that I wish to write about in further posts. (The texts in bold are Kirkman's comments)
"As a man of African descent, I was quite disturbed and appalled by the image of a strong, powerful black woman stripped of her power and humanity by being raped and brutally beaten by a white man not once, but twice in the same issue.
As a man of white people descent, I was quite disturbed when that white dude cut off that other white dudes hand in the previous issue. But this book isn't meant to make people HAPPY--carry on.
I must say that I am way past tired of this sick, pathological white man's portrayal of black women as some kind of chocolate rape fantasy in film (Pam Grier and Halle Berry anyone?) and specifically in comics [. . .].
I can't be held responsible for how black women have been treated in comics in general. This is a harsh world and harsh things happen to ALL the people in this book. I'm sorry it was the black woman who got raped but I'm ONLY interested in "could or would that happen in such a situation" and if the answer is yes, I don't feel like I did anything wrong.
I understand the idea of dramatic effect in storytelling, but goddamn it, did Michonne have to be tied up spread eagle, raped and tortured? Did a strong black woman have to be broken down to the lowest of the low? Is it a case of art imitating life in the sense that if black people are too strong they not only have to be stopped but destroyed? Would you have put any of the white female characters in the book through the same ordeal? I don't think you would have. You never see strong white female characters in comics being dehumanized like that [. . .].
I assure you this was not an effort to "destroy" a strong black female.
I know that the comic book industry is an ivory tower that is and always has been ruled by white men of varying ages, sensibilities and prejudices. And those prejudices have often showed themselves in the stereotypical and racist depictions of people of color, specifically African people, and, case in point, African women [. . .]. Whether you did this unconsciously, subconsciously or very consciously I don't know, but you did it and my conscience won't allow me to sit still and not address this [. . .].
You're more than entitled to be pissed off and to tell me your[sp] pissed off. But when a white male is raped, I hope you're just as upset. And when a white woman has something bad happen to her... and when anything generally rotten happens to any character in this book... I expect an email.
I'll spare you a lengthy diatribe about how the rape of African women by white men was part of the dehumanization process during slavery, but I will say that I know several African American readers of the Walking Dead and they too have expressed their disgust at the portrayal of a black woman getting raped by a white man. Some have told me that they're not going to read the book anymore. The black female readers that I know have especially expressed their disgust. Even though we all know that Michonne is going to get some medieval-on-your-ass payback on that no-good, Dick Dastardly-looking cracker, it won't begin to make up for her humanity being robbed like that. The image of Michonne's bloody, swollen face is still difficult for me to look at. And I don't want to hear any of that "but the rape was off panel" shit either.
[. . .] NOBODY is safe in this book. NOBODY. If I kill a Jewish person am I going to hear from Jewish people? Rodriguez is the first Hispanic character in the book. Does he have to be safe so that race remains represented? I CAN'T THINK like that or the stories will suffer.
Please cut me some slack here."
This is the end of the letter.
Sources:
Kirkman, Robert. The Walking Dead. #28-#29, #32. Berkeley, CA: Image Comics, Inc., 2006.
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