Current Events > Did no one notice that Dilbert didn't have a black character for 30 years?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Should have been a clue.

I mean, a lot of comic strips don't have Black characters in them.

Should have at least noticed he was racist when he added a black character solely to make a racist and transphobic joke

I thought Dilbert's office had employees who were Black. Like, I seem to have vague memories of a character who was at least shaded in darker than the other characters. Though, with comic strips being black and white on every day except Sunday, that might have just been there to imply a tan. Or maybe the character was Indian. Dilbert had an Indian character, right?

Scott Adams has proven himself to be a racist shit-head in recent years, but this really bares all. Is Dilbert still running? If so, any and all publications should cut ties with him. Watch the strip continue on in some far right-wing "news" paper and nowhere else.

<_<

I remember an article a couple years ago detailing about the odd reveal of the comic's first black character. So I thought people knew this.

FortuneCookie posted...

I thought Dilbert's office had employees who were Black. Like, I seem to have vague memories of a character who was at least shaded in darker than the other characters. Though, with comic strips being black and white on every day except Sunday, that might have just been there to imply a tan. Or maybe the character was Indian. Dilbert had an Indian character, right?

Yeah, that character is Indian.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/5/1/AAZq5IAAEN-7.jpg
>_>

Used to be that being racist - at least post 1980 - was shameful. Now some people wear the badge with a smile.

brestugo posted...

Used to be that being racist - at least post 1980 - was shameful. Now some people wear the badge with a smile.

That's what happens when a politician runs a successful campaign on thinly veiled racism.

k1zzl3_82 posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/5/1/AAZq5IAAEN-7.jpg
>_>

That would actually be a decent joke if it came from someone different. I can easily picture Michael Scott doing something like this.

Did Calvin & Hobbes ever have a black character? Does Garfield?

Background_Guy posted...

Did Calvin & Hobbes ever have a black character? Does Garfield?

Odie is black

k1zzl3_82 posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/5/1/AAZq5IAAEN-7.jpg
>_>

tbf that's kind of a funny dig at the idea that all black people are "urban" and don't pursue higher interests

and yeah, Asok is Indian.

I think there have been some one-off black characters, but nobody who's part of the main cast

I think the stylized nature of the character designs and newspaper comics largely being printed in black and white can help mask some of the lack of diversity. Like you see these weird blobby people and it's just seperate enough to think of them kind of seperate from race. And not having a black character actually hides the fact because you don't have any diversity to draw attention to the fact you don't have diversity.

Then you couple this with the fact that the exposure to Dilbert is extremely brief. It's like 3 panels every 24 hours. You aren't exactly interacting with the material long enough to analyze it. You might have largely forgotten yesterday's strip by the time you read today's

Any Asian characters? Native American characters? etc.

brestugo posted...

Used to be that being racist - at least post 1980 - was shameful. Now some people wear the badge with a smile.

Which is what happens when you do the whole "well people are entitled to their opinion" schtick. It's not an opinion as to which people are human beings worthy of rights. There was a time that people were afraid to be so open with their racism because it would get their ass kicked. I would suggest we take whatever actions might be necessary to return things to that.

an even easier way to tell scott adams is a bigot is all the bigoted things hes been saying for like two decades now. idk why people are so surprised. the only thing remarkable about the latest incident is that he sounds like even more of a weedy idiot than usual

UncleJunior posted...

Any Asian characters? Native American characters? etc.

no you gotta read snoopy for that

Honestly thought the "i identify as white" thing was a rare instance of it being kind of funny since the joke wasn't that he was white, but that his identification foiled an ignorant manager's idea of "diversity hire".

Archer did the diversity hire gag better though. Though it helped that Archer is actually fucking hilarious

Compsognathus posted...

I think the stylized nature of the character designs and newspaper comics largely being printed in black and white can help mask some of the lack of diversity. Like you see these weird blobby people and it's just seperate enough to think of them kind of seperate from race. And not having a black character actually hides the fact because you don't have any diversity to draw attention to the fact you don't have diversity.

Then you couple this with the fact that the exposure to Dilbert is extremely brief. It's like 3 panels every 24 hours. You aren't exactly interacting with the material long enough to analyze it. You might have largely forgotten yesterday's strip by the time you read today's

I mean it kind of makes sense except Charles Schultz introduced Franklin into Peanuts back in '68 when someone asked "Hey where are the minorities?" to him.

And the fact Dilbert did have Asok, a person of color, in the strip.

Kastrada posted...

I mean it kind of makes sense except Charles Schultz introduced Franklin into Peanuts back in '68 when someone asked "Hey where are the minorities?" to him.

And the fact Dilbert did have Asok, a person of color, in the strip.

Yes, but the difference Scott Adams is absolutely 100% racist. That man is batshit insane. I'm just saying there were a handful of aspects of the newspaper comic medium that let it go fairly unnoticed for awhile.

I only like the strips with the evil cat.

Kastrada posted...

I mean it kind of makes sense except Charles Schultz introduced Franklin into Peanuts back in '68 when someone asked "Hey where are the minorities?" to him.

I hear he also asked for advice to not make the character offensive or stereotypical.

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

I hear he also asked for advice to not make the character offensive or stereotypical.

Yeah, he got a letter from a teacher after MLK's murder who urged more black representation, and corresponded with her on how to best present Franklin. The best way he went about was introducing him as just another kid, and not even making his race a topic.

Kastrada posted...

I mean it kind of makes sense except Charles Schultz introduced Franklin into Peanuts back in '68 when someone asked "Hey where are the minorities?" to him.

And the fact Dilbert did have Asok, a person of color, in the strip.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dilbert-cartoonist-scott-adams-tells-white-people-to-get-the-fuck-away-from-black-people

You probably don't want to be defending the guy after the week he's had.

Finding out that the creator of Dilbert is an outspoken racist was a shock to me.

Compsognathus posted...

Yes, but the difference Scott Adams is absolutely 100% racist. That man is batshit insane. I'm just saying there were a handful of aspects of the newspaper comic medium that let it go fairly unnoticed for awhile.

DrizztLink posted...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/dilbert-cartoonist-scott-adams-tells-white-people-to-get-the-fuck-away-from-black-people

You probably don't want to be defending the guy after the week he's had.

You both are misunderstanding what I am saying.

I was saying it's a prime example of Adams not liking black people prior to his rant.

You mentioned how he could skate by on it being difficult for newspapers to have black characters, even though Schultz did it years ago, so it's not really an excuse Adams can have.

I mentioned Asok because it shows that characters of color wouldn't and haven't been an issue in comic strips, even in Adams own work. So it's more of an indictment of his views.

I didn't say it was difficult or an excuse to not have black characters. People obviously can and have had black characters in newspaper comics for decades. I was more explaining how a newspaper comic can go on for 30 years without a notable black character without people really noticing.