Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky

Is the portrayal of Zecora racist?


Rarity Paige Belle

Recommended Posts

Some would say the episode Zecora was first introduced was "suggestive" in the manner in how they went about portraying her. Honestly though, look at it through the eyes of the ponies not through the eyes of someone that digs into conflicts and deems them racist or not based on the stereotype of society. (What I mean is, let's just take the show for what they intended it to be toward the ponies, not what people make it out to be. Even if the creators implied some kind of darker side to this, just take it how it is, not how you want it to be.)
 

If we look at this situation through the eyes of Ponyville's set standards and evaluated the situation the way the ponies would instead of how we as people evaluate similar things in our everyday lives, we'd see this conflict differently. How? Well, I'll explain.
 

To the ponies, (or how it was made to be in the show) they had never seen anything like a zebra before and the way she was acting definitely put a damper on their opinions. Obviously all this should be very simple to understand considering that is what that episode's lesson was about, but I reiterated it just in case someone didn't catch it.
Also to the Ponyville citizens, the possible risk that Zecora was into some type of magic that was supposedly of the "dark" category may have put a damper on some things as well. They just were afraid of what they didn't know. I mean come on, everyone is a product of their environment until they expand their realization of certain things. So can you blame the Ponyville citizens for acting the way they did? Maybe (depending on your opinion) But on another hand, it was just to protect themselves, but honestly they did over-react.

Now obviously after either watching this said episode or reading what it was about, you'd know the moral of the story was to not judge a book by it's cover, but sometimes I'd say it's okay to. Now what do I mean by that? I'd really lean towards treating everyone equally until proven otherwise. So yeah, in a way the ponies heavily over-reacted towards Zecora when they just should have played it out as it was just another pony. I can understand both sides of the story, but is it racist? Not at all. There is no way the ponies were judging anything by race or species in this episode. Now, how could you say the show intended for it to be "racist" when the characters can't even generalize the situation as a discriminatory whatsoever? 

 

The episode was what it was. The ponies were afraid of something they didn't know/understand so they hid. Just because it was a zebra that did "black magic" doesn't mean a thing because you know darn good and well the ponies didn't even know how she talked or acted other than what they saw. So is "racism" a possibility? Not at all. I mean come on, they don't even have racial classification in Ponyville... Just species and mythical creatures. 
 

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, I think they are either misinformed or rushing to judgement. Throwing around the term racist is not something you should take lightly at all. Racism carries a lot of connotations, and calling someone a racist because they think a stereotype, even if it's positive, is racist does not warrant calling them a racist at all. In fact, to me it's kind of dangerous to throw around that term. I'd like to save it for the people who are actually racists and not a poster who honestly just wanted to talk about how they thought a particular character was a racist stereotype.

Thank you for commenting on that. One of the hardest labels to throw off is being pegged a racist. Even if it's unfairly attributed.

 

It's important to point out that there are divergent views of how to qualify racism (Political, operative, and clinical). I suspect some are couching their terms in a political view of race ... which ... well ... not good in my opinion. Defining what is and isn't racist from ANY State agenda is at best limiting. At worst ... well ... the United States, Germany, USSR, and on are examples of a bad world view influencing race and the definition there of.

 

The OP did not come across as racist, by the operative and clinical definition.

 

Imagine others complexly ... individually.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zecora racist?

 

post-26336-0-18377000-1406203806.gif

 

 

Honestly, I think people are overly sensitive and make way too big a deal out of this kind of thing.  Everything is racist and sexist if you pick at it enough.  This is just silly in my opinion.  It's not like she's depicted in an insulting manner.  She just has some rich African culture.  'smatter with that?

 

I love her.  She's awesome.  I mean, she's Yoda.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, playing devil's advocate here ... people keep mentioning 'African Culture'. Which one? Which African culture? It is a huge continent with the longest history and is probably among the least studied regions of the world (at least in US Public Schools). 

 

If someone said US culture ... I would wonder, "Which region?" Why is Africa treated any differently. If I were to say the names Mpande, Biko, Yohannes IV, or ... Aesop ... would you know their stories and origins are as different as Washington was to Henry Ford.    

 

Just some food for thought.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Um, no?

 

The connotation of racist is negative. However, Zecora has always been portrayed in a positive way.

 

Zecora is simply another species, who is from far away. So she acts different.

 

If we're talking about being racist against black people, I really don't understand why. Have you ever met any black people who speak in rhymes and live in a forest? Neither have I.

 

Zecora is made to show diversity in the show, nothing more. She's a very cool character.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course not! What pray tell is offensive about a clear headed, interesting, eccentric, exotic and mysterious character like Zecora? If anything I would love an expansion on her character. Go watch some old loony toons cartoons if you want to see real animated racism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The OP perhaps needs to look up the term "racist" in the dictionary because Zecora's depiction is about as far from that as you can possibly get. She was introduced in an episode where the lesson was to not judge a book by its cover which is what pretty much everypony except for Applebloom did and Twilight even did it literally. All of the ponies panicked and scared themselves by jumping to conclusions with all of this ridiculous rumor mongering about Zecora boiling ponies up into soups among other things so the episode really showcases the sheer irrationality and stupidity of racism. Zecora has a few traits that are a bit stereotypical but they are all POSITIVE stereotypes. Zecora as a character was intended as a positive message about accepting others and as a nice bonus adds a bit of culture to the show which is a good thing.

  • Brohoof 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(edited)

Representing a cultural difference = racist now? Why isn't it racist that Ponyville is designed like an 1800s British colony? Or that Manehattan has architecture and commerce like large US cities such as New York and Seattle?

 

Trying too hard to be virtuous and righteous just makes you look stupid, you know.

Edited by Discordian
  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What do you guys think? I personally think it is, to be honest!

Depicting a character to be from a different culture makes that character racist? I think you're really grasping at straws with that. Zecora is depicted as highly intelligent, caring, and with a talent for rhyming. What is racist about that? People are getting so carried away with being PC, that they're starting to point at everything and say it's racist.

  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(edited)

To answer this question, another must be asked:

 

Does Zecora's portrayal in any way paint African culture in a negative light, or otherwise attempt to dehumanize African peoples?

 

Answer: No.

 

Ergo, the answer to the initial query is also "no".

 

256139_stock-photo-mystery-solved---magn

Edited by Lowline Thrash
  • Brohoof 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think so. I mean she's one of the smartest characters on the show. She's portrayed as different, but keep in mind she's not from Equestria at all, she comes from an entirely different culture.

 

It would be different if she was raised in Canterlot and had no contact with her heritage, yet still acted like that, as that would imply that that's all Zebra are capable of being. However, that is not the case and thus far, she's been nothing short of a wise shaman.

 

So no, I don't see any reason to be offended by her.

  • Brohoof 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(edited)

You maybe, just maybe, could think of it if Zecora would be the only one who is sometimes underlined with talking drums and stuff. Oh look, here comes the exotic bushman. Why do you often do this, if not to make her look kinda weird?

 

But you also hear a banjo with Applejack or a piano with Rarity for example. So there's really no  racism here under the surface.

Edited by Gary S.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Join the herd!

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...