The Basic Reason White People Hate Black Representation In Onscreen Sci-Fi And Fantasy

Not even speculative narratives are exempt from racism

Three Black Wizards | AI-Image created by author using Midjourney

“I hope they don’t make (insert TV/Film title here )WOKE!”

“If you go WOKE you go broke!”

Sentiments like the ones above explode online whenever a new onscreen sci-fi or fantasy (SFF) project is announced — or to explain why a speculative film or TV series fails.

Black people are not supposed to be represented onscreen in significant roles. Not unless it is in Black trauma porn, civil-rights historical docu-dramas, minstrel comedies, or slave narratives. If we are cast in major roles in sci-fi or fantasy projects, those projects are immediately labeled “WOKE!” and accused of having an “agenda” by white people.

I’m not going to go into how white people have co-opted the term WOKE from the online Black community. Journalist Aja Romano has written an excellent Vox piece on the history of the term. Definitely check it out.

What I am going to do is answer the fundamental question of why it bothers white people so much to see Black people have significant roles in speculative genres.

The answer isn’t just that it is racism. It is also that white people want their…