this way he'd be more of a DARK Knight, don't you agree?

why did they make him white?

* puts popcorn in the microwave and drags over a chair*

Uhhhhh...........

*slowly backs away from thread*

@jonny_anonymous: That, too.

Batman was created in 1939.

Black Panther should have been white.....BOOM!! see I can do it to

How many millionaire industrialist black families where there in the 1930s? Also, the title "Dark" equates to being black in your world? That's kinda racist dude.

that's not the question, and skin color doesn't equal the amount of money you gain, you'r the one being kinda racist

Batman was created in 1939 when Africans were still second-tier to Caucasians, civil rights movement hadn't started, and segregation was huge in the USA.

@wolverine08 said:

lol do you post this picture on every strange thread?

no he's not, he's being realistic. In the 1930's the colour of your skin absolutely determined the amount of money you made

wasn't it only in the south? and I don't think BillFinger was racist, yes?

@batmannflash:

Yup.

@ultrastarkiller: I'm getting infinite replies by you, are you editing it? :DDD

I would argue that Americans by and large to this day are still racist via many subliminal messages. OVert racism is taboo now, but there are many underlying forms of racism. And I am talking about today. Back then overt racism was not taboo, and it definitely wasn't only in the south. You forget racism was so bad, jewish, irish, and italian immigrants weren't even considered white. So was he racist? We don't know. Most likely but can't really speak for it. But his early work was it racist at all, it definitely had some underlying tones of racism, but nothing overt simply because he didn't really incorporate any black people in his stories. Batman was a white guy saving white people.

Now the real question is would it matter if Batman was not white? I personally wouldn't care. To be honest even if they casted the new Batman as a black guy, imagine Idris Elba playing Bruce Wayne (awesome right?), I personally would not care. Whats important is keeping the character of Bruce Wayne and Batman intact in any incarnation.

Lol no.

First of all, I'm not saying that is the question that's me questioning whether a black Batman back in those times is realistic. You do realize he was created in the 1930s right?

Second, I'm not white and I can definitely agree with that statement that skin color doesn't equal amount of money because my family happens to be moderately wealthy.

And finally, all I'm saying is that wasn't the case back in the 1930s doesn't matter which part of the country you lived in there just weren't many industrialist black men. So it's racist to know that blacks were lower class citizens at this time? Ignoring our country's racist past does not make us any less racist.

Love it.

It was everywhere but the racism varied in different cities. He wasn't necessarily racist but he knew Africans were considered lower-class citizens in the USA.

As an African-American female (yes, we read comics too) im glad most people here see question as ridiculous. As for the racist statements I see on here, up your dosage and try to be more like the hero you say you love.

Even if finger and Kane weren't racist a lot of the country was, and he probably wouldn't have sold as well. But yes this kinda is a stupid question

let's try to reach godwin point

It is true, in the 1930s, there were not many, if any at all, billionaire black families, it's not racism, it's a fact.

@masterdetective: this is fantastic

Even if by the grace of God, or whoever our various viners believe in, he had been a non white character, the editor would have told them to make him white or find a new job. If the editor said f-ck it and let's see what happens, people would not have bought the sh-t. A billionaire has never and will never be relatable, especially back then. To be fair, I'm not sure how people find Batman relatable at all, seeing that the only relatable thing about him is a lack of superpowers and being white, but that's a whole different debate.. Now tell white america that their champion of justice is not only not a white man, he is wealthy, articulate and formidable from a physical standpoint. It's doubtful that anyone would want to buy that and I'm referencing the older Batman. If i add that he's a prodigy in basically everything he touches and a ninja with gadgets that would put most sci fi franchises to shame, people would sh-t themselves. I will say this though, being a "black" man in a white man's world and fighting to uphold laws and protect people who would just as quickly demonize and judge him would have made for some potentially interesting writing and conflict. Then i remember it's a white guy writing the book and probably hasn't met a black person once so he'd just base it on what he hears or thinks. This would not work back then and sadly it wouldn't work today either.

Bad troll bait is bad

Stan Lee's Batman is black IMO, and it doesn't matter if he's black or white because he's above color, he's above man, he's a symbol, a creature, an outsider but not a man constricted to a city, a nation or a race, that's what he is and that's how he'll look into you not by your color but by what crime you've committed.

Yes because there were so many ultra rich black folks in the US in the 1930s when he was first created.

It's like watching a trainwreck, except watching a trainwreck has some legitimate horror, this is just hilarious.

No, not out of any sense of racism, but because there's so much stupidity in this thread you could fill a congress room with it.

You mean the one from " Just Imagine Stan Lee created the DC Universe?" I still need to read that one.

I'm black. Hell no. Batman should stay white

Yeah that one.

@batshrine: Is the Idris Elba casting really fair tho cause that dude can do anything, he even managed to get people to almost instantly forgive him for taking part in Ghost Rider 2.

@rustyroy: Neat. Like I said I still need to read that series, it sounded pretty fun.

racist thread. Im just waiting for it to be locked

So, anyone want to take bets on how long it takes for this thread to get ridiculously off the rails?

You cant say something like "why cant Luke Cage be white? It would make him a much better character!" That would be racist but apparently this isnt? I hate double standards.

@masterdetective: but then his parents couldn't have been rich. they wouldn't have been walking out of that fancy expensive theater that night. they wouldn't have been shot.

Batman wouldn't have been created.

@decoyelite: Yeah it was fun, I really liked the WW and GL one(although I think it was more like the Alan Scott version)

what an amazing argument

@viperking: exactly. close the thread now. question resolved.

There was heavy racial discrimination in the 1930's.