African Americans and DBZ

[petronka101]

I don't feel this thread is meant to be offensive or racially insensitive in any way. You can re-phrase the same question to any other group and it wouldn't be offensive. Why Europeans like dbz so much? Why Americans like dbz so much?. Why latinos like dbz so much?. It’s a fair comment IMO.

In any case, I think it's more a matter of dragon ball just transcending race and nationality in general: whites, blacks, asians, latinos, indians. People tend to notice it more when talking about dragon ball because other things like music are more segmented.

In dragon ball, you tend to see the characters through your own race which is why most white people see the Saiyans as white, why most black people see Piccolo as black, etc. It's really a tribute to the dragon ball franchise to have such a diverse fan base. It can be analyzed in a respectful manner without offending anyone.

[DarkPrince_92]

The appeal for DBZ back when it came on was big ass muscle bound dudes knocking each other into mountains and blowing things up. It's the same reason Black People, including myself, love GTA as well. The Mayhem is addicting.

[Kendamu]

It seems that some members are reading into the initial question and adding racist undertones that aren't actually there. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging that other races exist and that people of those races might have their own subcultures. Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging that said subcultures might be more drawn to DBZ than others. By calling simple acknowledgement "racism" you're severely limiting our ability to understand one another and are just causing further separation.

On that note, why does it seem as if creative people so much more into Dragonball than athletic people?

[VegettoEX]

On that note, why does it seem as if creative people so much more into Dragonball than athletic people?

I'm not entirely sure that's the case. I've seen plenty of other dudes at the gym with the occasional Dragon Ball shirt.

That being said, I think the former is more likely to get together and TALK ABOUT the series than the latter is, and/or it's just such a self-selective group of common-fans that you don't notice the other. You're the only one who rides both camps! Maybe all the sports jocks are all talking about it together, too, and wondering where all the super nerds are!

[TheAldella]

On that note, why does it seem as if creative people so much more into Dragonball than athletic people?

I'm not entirely sure that's the case. I've seen plenty of other dudes at the gym with the occasional Dragon Ball shirt.

That being said, I think the former is more likely to get together and TALK ABOUT the series than the latter is, and/or it's just such a self-selective group of common-fans that you don't notice the other. You're the only one who rides both camps! Maybe all the sports jocks are all talking about it together, too, and wondering where all the super nerds are!

I thought you said farmer. I'll be disengaging my relationship with this topic now.

[Gaffer Tape]

Sigh. I have to say it is really frustrating to come into this topic only to find so many people decrying "racism" and "inappropriate". While I feel everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, and there is no way to objectively define such terms for every person, this actually does make me slightly angry. Everyone else has gone into detail as to why this is a legitimate topic for sociological study and discourse, so I won't go into that. But while I think those that are quick to take offense have their hearts in the right place, such over the top political correctness ends up doing more harm than good. How do we successfully combat ignorance? Through education. What's a primary method of becoming educated? Asking questions. How do we stop people from asking questions? By making them afraid to do so due to the rampant application of negative judgment. So instead of looking at hot-button terms to get all indignant over, how about we look at the context. And never, never, never shame people for asking questions.

[SupremeSSJ]

Black people in general (myself included) just seem to love shounen anime, I live in London and most black people I know love or at least like anime.
As for why...I'll get back to you on that

Same here LOL just about all my friends and their friends watched DBZ, anime in general.

[Herms]

On that note, why does it seem as if creative people so much more into Dragonball than athletic people?

You say that as if "athletic" and "creative" were mutually exclusive.

[Kendamu]

On that note, why does it seem as if creative people so much more into Dragonball than athletic people?

You say that as if "athletic" and "creative" were mutually exclusive.

Yeah, haha! I know. I thought that it would be kind of funny to address it that way since a lot of people (like VegettoEX) know that I'm both athletic and creative. I'm the flaw in my own argument!

EDIT:On the note above about the groups being separate, athletic people I know who like DBZ don't really talk about it much beyond, "Oh yeah! I like it," and occasionally making a reference to or a joke about it while training or eating.

[TripleRach]

Well, you're talking about blacks like they are animals.

Like they are different, and we need to understand them.

I understand your point here, but that's a little harsh. Acknowledging a group of people and wanting to know more about them isn't necessarily negative, as long as we don't start getting into heavy stereotyping. I think there have been similar topics in the past discussing female fans, and I don't recall anything too offensive happening then.

If anyone is personally offended by this topic, they're welcome to say so, but thus far the subject seems innocent enough.

[SSJ YUSUKE]

Has anyone else noticed the huge amount of African American DBZ fans? Hell, the only time I hear someone talking about DBZ IRL is from an African American's mouth, and if you wear a DBZ shirt, only African Americans seem to compliment you on it.

Does anyone know why DBZ was such a big hit with African Americans?

(Note: I have nothing against African Americans.)

Look at the question that was intialy asked, do you see nothing problamtic about the way it was asked?
Thatdbzguy was not looking for some sociological explanation as to why african ameicans have a strong affinity to dragoball, instead he said ,"I see lots of African Americans who like Dragonball, this means that all African Americans like dragonball".
That is the problem with this question, thatdbzguy's intial premise is based on stereotypes, he sees African Americans who like dragonball thus he assumes all African Americans like Dragonball.

Well, you're talking about blacks like they are animals.

Like they are different, and we need to understand them.

I understand your point here, but that's a little harsh. Acknowledging a group of people and wanting to know more about them isn't necessarily negative, as long as we don't start getting into heavy stereotyping. I think there have been similar topics in the past discussing female fans, and I don't recall anything too offensive happening then.

If anyone is personally offended by this topic, they're welcome to say so, but thus far the subject seems innocent enough.

.
The intial premise of the question was based on a stereotype.
Gender does not bring up the same negative connotations as race, trying to single out a group of people based purely on the colour of their skin is crude and can be offensive.
Not everyone actaully thinks that race is an actual thing it is a social construct which has come to have a very negative effect on humanity over the past 300 years, there is nothing natural about race and there is a big movement to try and get rid of race in the academic community.
However being an Anthropology major I can say from a sociological point of view the question does have some merit, however the premise is flawed as it is based on a heavy stereotype, which hurts the idea that this is an innocent question.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

Thatdbzguy was not looking for some sociological explanation as to why african ameicans have a strong affinity to dragoball, instead he said ,"I see lots of African Americans who like Dragonball, this means that all African Americans like dragonball".

That is the problem with this question, thatdbzguy's intial premise is based on stereotypes, he sees African Americans who like dragonball thus he assumes all African Americans like Dragonball.

No, he didn't. "Those of African descent are the only ones who I hear talking about or reacting to Dragon Ball" is in no way a total generalization.

[Polyphase Avatron]

I don't know if this would count as a racist observation, but most of the white DBZ fans I've met IRL would be categorized as what are commonly called... er... white kids who try to act black and adopt black culture. The word associated with them is kind of offensive so I won't say it.

[TripleRach]

Look at the question that was intialy asked, do you see nothing problamtic about the way it was asked?

Yes, I do in fact have issues with it. Even a simple stereotype like "black people like DBZ" is problematic. But there hasn't been any blatant negativity or hatred in this thread, so I prefer to give our community the benefit of the doubt and assume it's just naive curiosity. A lot of posters do seem genuinely interested in discussion about the social and cultural aspects of it.

Gender does not bring up the same negative connotations as race, trying to single out a group of people based purely on the colour of their skin is crude and can be offensive.
Not everyone actaully thinks that race is an actual thing it is a social construct which has come to have a very negative effect on humanity over the past 300 years, there is nothing natural about race and there is a big movement to try and get rid of race in the academic community.

Well, it's true that gender is a much different issue than race. And while I do wish we lived in a world where skin color didn't matter anymore, modern society is still full of labels like that, so it's difficult to move past it entirely.

But as Gaffer Tape said, if people can't ask questions (even controversial ones), we'll never be able to learn more and grow beyond issues like this. I know we have an intelligent community here, so I don't want to stifle the discussion, as long as everyone tries to be respectful of each other.

[SSJ YUSUKE]

Look at the question that was intialy asked, do you see nothing problamtic about the way it was asked?

Yes, I do in fact have issues with it. Even a simple stereotype like "black people like DBZ" is problematic. But there hasn't been any blatant negativity or hatred in this thread, so I prefer to give our community the benefit of the doubt and assume it's just naive curiosity. A lot of posters do seem genuinely interested in discussion about the social and cultural aspects of it.

Gender does not bring up the same negative connotations as race, trying to single out a group of people based purely on the colour of their skin is crude and can be offensive.
Not everyone actaully thinks that race is an actual thing it is a social construct which has come to have a very negative effect on humanity over the past 300 years, there is nothing natural about race and there is a big movement to try and get rid of race in the academic community.

Well, it's true that gender is a much different issue than race. And while I do wish we lived in a world where skin color didn't matter anymore, modern society is still full of labels like that, so it's difficult to move past it entirely.

But as Gaffer Tape said, if people can't ask questions (even controversial ones), we'll never be able to learn more and grow beyond issues like this. I know we have an intelligent community here, so I don't want to stifle the discussion, as long as everyone tries to be respectful of each other.

I have no problem with what you say and I can agree and understand your points, however question like this tend to turn into this:

I don't know if this would count as a racist observation, but most of the white DBZ fans I've met IRL would be categorized as what are commonly called... er... white kids who try to act black and adopt black culture. The word associated with them is kind of offensive so I won't say it.

Any kind of stereotyping is bad and a badly worded question like thatdbzguy's can lead to terrible answers like this which just enforce negative stereotypes.

Anyway this is a Dragonball related forum, one of the reasons I like coming on here is because in real life I have to deal with these issues of race in my academic work and this forum gives me a nice break from it.

[Gaffer Tape]

Gender does not bring up the same negative connotations as race, trying to single out a group of people based purely on the colour of their skin is crude and can be offensive.
Not everyone actaully thinks that race is an actual thing it is a social construct

Gender is a social construct too, and, believe me, while I have a very strong personal stake in wishing we could break down those barriers and not be defined or separated by them, the fact of the matter is that they exist, and, for the purposes of media, exist as demographics. Well, sociologically speaking, so does race. Trust me, I get what you're saying. No group should be defined or limited by their stereotypes. But we do have to be willing to admit that, at least to a certain extent, they exist. And that, whether it's ideal or not, certain generalizations can be things that tie a group together.

So, actually, I don't really see it as any different than asking why girls like Dragon Ball. And you even say it yourself that it's the "connotations" that make it seem negative, not anything tangible. Do girls like Dragon Ball for the same reasons as boys, or are there other elements that appeal to their mindset? Or both? Probably both. Do black people like Dragon Ball for the same reasons that white people do or Japanese people do or any other race does? Or are there elements that seem to appeal specifically to their cultural ideals? Or both? Probably both. Probably a whole lot of answers. Let's find out! Sounds interesting! Seems we've already had several fans of color weigh in as to what they personally like about it, and their personal observations as to what other people of color find appealing in it. Maybe the original poster didn't word it the best way, but is that really that important as long as the intent is not hateful?

[Nanotchi]

I have a black friend who's really enjoyed DBZ since elementary school.. I remember he used to draw stuff similar to that Black Goku site. Of course back then all we watched was the Funimation dub, so when I started watching the Japanese version, I wondered if he liked the show because of funimation's changes.

However.. When I met him again for the first time in a long while a few weeks ago.. Surprise surprise, he had Dan Dan as his ringtone.. He became a fan of the Japanese version! And yes, he'd watched all three series in Japanese! Wow!

So, with African American groups, perhaps they relate to the story more then anything?

[TheAldella]

Didn't The RZA write a book on this stuff or something?

[Gaffer Tape]

I don't know what the RZA is, so... I don't know.

[supersaiyan3]

Didn't The RZA write a book on this stuff or something?

I also wanted to highlight this article. I always find it interesting when DBZ is mentioned in pop culture, and it seems like it's usually in hip hop.

http://thedaoofdragonball.com/blog/phil ... black-men/

Yeah I posted it earlier. It's not about this specifically, but he mentions it at least