some people like to cause trouble

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

So i was researching various MLP related things when i came across an article stating MLP was racist. They claim that the worker ponies are always dark colored meaning they are the same as African Americans and the dark ponies are never rich or noble. 

 

[Zygen 6,066]

Thats the dumbest statement I've ever heard as an argument.. Even for racism...

 

Seriously I honestly think Raceism is just used as a big excuse alot of times.

Some people can be so.. ignorant.. :/.

 

I feel like its some type of troll article just put there to make people mad. Best just ignore that stuff, its all around anyways .

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

EHRMAHGHERD

He's right, conspiracies, and lies, and subliminal messages, QUICK, CALL BARACK OBAMA!

 

But it's a horrible theory, I'm guessing he's just a troll trying to earn some cheap laughs :vvv

[Rainbow Dash 1,472]

i cried for their stupidity. if there ever was racism i would expect it to be focused around Zecora since her character is influenced by alot of African culture

[Leafeon 2,702]

Seen this before. It was about how the black ponies are serving Celestia (The white pony) as slaves, right? I believe that's in Ballad of the Brony by Saberspark.

 

People are just silly. Dont take it too seriously.

[duidamasterXD 9,626]

I remember this. It pained me to see how stupid it was. Here's an article responding to it where Faust ripped them a new one .

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/

 

Take that critics!

Edited January 14, 2013 by DashForever

[Shanks 10,816]

Yeah I remember that "article" I was tempted to print it out for the extra toilet paper but didn't because even I have standards.

[NavelColt 22,878]

This thread appears to be related to the My Little Pony franchise and/or the Bronydom in general. Thus, it has been sentenced to Sugarcube Corner.

 

This is an automatically generated message, by the way.

[Veylon 255]

Does anyone not remember how surprised we were to see a black pegasus in Hurricane Fluttershy? While I certainly don't think anyone made the show deliberately racist, it's not like there's nothing to work with along those lines either. There's been a near-total absence of dark-colored ponies, none of the voice actors are black, Zecora is entirely based on tribal African stereotypes, the best pony everyone adores is white and the evil pony everyone fears is black. So if you want to find racism, there's plenty of low-hanging fruit.

[Syrchalis 40]

I would be liar if I say I was surprised. I didn't even notice Thunderlane was black. I really do believe people are trying to make references and stuff where are none and the whole racist thing is in a design aspect idiotic.

 

White characters seem more open, friendly and dark ones more mysterious and maybe even evil. That is how people are seeing it, not because of racism but because our brain works that way. The color red causes us to pay attention - it's an instinct. So any colorization is easily explained by character design. When you see Celestia for example you are supposed to have a certain feeling and her white and bright colors give you that. It wouldn't work with a dark color.

[Jessper 735]

Not surprising, it's the same line of reasoning the religinuts use when they claimed Twilli is Satan incarnated, trying to force kids into obedience and witchcraft. Someone also connected Lauren Faust with the Faust (from the story, the guy who made a deal with devil).

 

Conclusion: If you are fanatical enough and you want to find something, you will find it.

[Fluttermena 1,223]

Does anyone not remember how surprised we were to see a black pegasus in Hurricane Fluttershy? While I certainly don't think anyone made the show deliberately racist, it's not like there's nothing to work with along those lines either. There's been a near-total absence of dark-colored ponies, none of the voice actors are black, Zecora is entirely based on tribal African stereotypes, the best pony everyone adores is white and the evil pony everyone fears is black. So if you want to find racism, there's plenty of low-hanging fruit.

The lack of dark-colored ponies has nothing to do with race, it's because the ponies are mostly pastel-colored, so black ponies clash with the show's art style and look out of place. Notice how most dark-colored OCs are frowned upon because they look too flashy and have that Mary Sue feel to them. That is purely for aesthetic reasons rather than because of race.

Equating a pony's color with race doesn't really make any sense since they come in a ton of different colors, that would mean MLP has the most racially diverse cast of any show ever...

The only actual races are earth, unicorns,pegasi and alicorns, there are some racist implications in this case since alicorns seem to be the ruling race, but there are no equivalents to any real-world race.

As for Celestia and Nighmare Moon, thats a very old trope that has nothing to do with race either. Light and dark have always been associated with good and evil in lots and lots of stories, I don't see why it would suddenly be racist.

 

Both Zecora and Sapphire Shores (both voiced by black women incidentally) fit some stereotypes however, so there's really no justification for those characers. Sapphire shores especially is pretty obvious:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRu99sdehbg

 

 

Zecora has the traits of the "Magical Negro" and "Ethnic Magician" while Sapphire has the voice and mannerisms (though not the personality) of the "Sassy Black Woman".

 

Zecora is still best pony anyway.

[Twinhead B 482]

Does anyone not remember how surprised we were to see a black pegasus in Hurricane Fluttershy?

 

 

That's because black is a very jarring color in a scene fill with every other color in the book. In a show as colorful as My Little Pony, dark colors like black and some shades of purple, blue, and green stick out like a sore thumb. For a major character like Nightmare Moon or Crysalis, being a dark color draws the viewer's eye, and helps bring attention to the character.

 

 

There's been a near-total absence of dark-colored ponies

 

See my previous post.

 

 

none of the voice actors are black

 

 

There aren't very many black voice actors out there.

 

 

Zecora is entirely based on tribal African stereotypes

 

She is a zebra. Though, even I must admit that having her speak in rhyme was kind of a sketchy idea...

 

 

the best pony everyone adores is white and the evil pony everyone fears is black.

 

 

I could simply say "see my first post", but I'll go into this one a little more. As far back as there has been story-telling, White is often considered a "Good" color, while Black is considered "Bad". The simplest explanation behind this is humanity's nature fear of the dark. It makes everyone uneasy, even if we aren't outright scared. In a fantasy setting, "White Magic" is considered good, while "Black Magic" is considered bad.

 

So, it's easy to see how the white pony is the good pony, and the black pony is the bad pony. It's not a matter of racism, it's a matter of how we've been told to perceive colors in storytelling.

 

The fact of the matter is: It's a cartoon about horses. In Ponyville Confidential we can see that a pony's fur color, is not their skin color. Despite that Snips is blue, and Snails is orange, when their fur is shaved, they have the same skin color. The only way you can call this show racist, is if you absolutely try to force something not racist to be racist.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Twinhead B

[Fender 1,283]

Luna is one of the darkest ponies in Equestria, for obvious reasons....

 

Luna is royalty, and VERY powerful.

 

*Magical Racism Claims*

[lardbobobo 1,593]

So i was researching various MLP related things when i came across an article stating MLP was racist. They claim that the worker ponies are always dark colored meaning they are the same as African Americans and the dark ponies are never rich or noble. 

Bwahahahahaha

 

I actually wrote an essay as a response to this for my ENGL102 class. If I still had a copy I would totally post it up on here. My professor still might have the copy, so maybe if I email him...

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

It's not a big deal. Let them be trolls. They're not hurting anyone by saying untrue things, so there's really no cause for alarm. I don't approve of their lying but it doesn't necessarily bug me enough that I'd do anything about it.

[Shanks 10,816]

It's not a big deal. Let them be trolls. They're not hurting anyone by saying untrue things, so there's really no cause for alarm. I don't approve of their lying but it doesn't necessarily bug me enough that I'd do anything about it.

At the very least it is good entertainment it has sort of that train wreck quality of not wanting to watch but can't look away.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,802]

Mother of Celestia...How could someone really think that ?

Its gotta be fake. I don't really think someone would really believe that...

[Shanks 10,816]

Mother of Celestia...How could someone really think that ?

Its gotta be fake. I don't really think someone would really believe that...

As much as I would like to believe that people aren't stupid enough to actually believe something like that I have paid attention to politics long enough to know that is unfortunetly not the case as there are millions of people even dumber than this lady and the scary thing is a lot of them vote. As to whether or not she actually believes the nonsense she has written I would say it is 50/50 there are plenty of pundits out there that are just glorified shock jocks literally being paid to say what they are told and she could easily be one of them.

[Descant 1,897]

Does anyone not remember how surprised we were to see a black pegasus in Hurricane Fluttershy? While I certainly don't think anyone made the show deliberately racist, it's not like there's nothing to work with along those lines either. There's been a near-total absence of dark-colored ponies, none of the voice actors are black, Zecora is entirely based on tribal African stereotypes, the best pony everyone adores is white and the evil pony everyone fears is black. So if you want to find racism, there's plenty of low-hanging fruit.

The point of Zecora being baced on tribal Africa is that zebras are native to Africa, and they needed a foreign presence to show that there's nothing wrong with being different. There's no need to be afraid of something new. I think racism is percieved, and is merely invented by the eyes of the adult viewers. You're trying to see something that isn't there. 

 

Flutterguy's voice actor was black.

[Veylon 255]

The point of Zecora being baced on tribal Africa is that zebras are native to Africa, and they needed a foreign presence to show that there's nothing wrong with being different. There's no need to be afraid of something new. I think racism is percieved, and is merely invented by the eyes of the adult viewers. You're trying to see something that isn't there.    Flutterguy's voice actor was black.

I'm not the one looking for racism, per se. And, once again, I don't believe the shows creators, any of them, are racists. But there is a fair bit of lazy defaulting going on.

 

Zecora is a zebra, and therefore an African, and therefore she must a stereotypical witch doctor sort who lives in the wilderness as Africans do. Her role can basically be summed up in the Magical Negro trope. I'd love to have an episode where her own work gets some attention or  the ponies help her out with one of her problems for a change. We could even find out that Zecora isn't representative of Zebras as a whole or that her parents are shipping magnates who live in Manehattan.

 

Luna is one of the darkest ponies in Equestria, for obvious reasons....

 

Luna is royalty, and VERY powerful.

 

*Magical Racism Claims*

However much the fanbase loves her, she isn't around much on the show itself, unfortunately. Even though she's been set up to be a recurring character. Twice.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Veylon

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

The word must not have gotten out that the Grand Galloping Gala was to be a whites brights only event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if by "worker ponies" they meant earth ponies, we could say it makes some kind of sense for them to be earth-toned.

[Phoenix237 353]

(Sarcasim alert do not take this part seriously)

Oh yes clearly parent are right. The worker ponies are dark and thus they represent African slavery. I am prepared to lose all faith in the show and will start join their group in the struggle against racism in an innocent looking cartoon.

 

(Okay serious time)

seriously.

This is what parents are complaining about. First Princess Celestia is a white tyrant, then Rainbow Dash represents a lesbian, then Derpy Hooves is offensive, and now this.

 

Seriously do parents ever not try to make anything look bad.

I mean look at what they say about Sponge Bob. That cartoon you say, what's wrong with it? Well Some parents like to say that the language in Spongebob is foul. Pardon, apparently Nickelodeon was unaware that using "tarter sauce" as a substitute for a cuss word was still swearing. Oh wait there is more. Apparently when Sponge Bob put on a dress as a joke intended to be humerous it was instead as parents say "A homosexual innuendo"

 

What about Pokémon? It can't be bad. Well according to parents Jynx is a racist representation of black people. Did research and it turns out Jynx is based on a Famous Japanese story. "Well it teaches kids about evolution and Darwism and should be band" from religious parents. Look I know about the evolutionary theory and Pokemon dosn't do that. Do you think Voltorbe evolving to Electro will give it a survival advantage. Oh yes clearly changing from red top white bottem to now white top and red bottem will sure help you survive in the wild.

 

Well to complaining parents " did the Smurfs give you an idea of becoming a commincist"? (There is this theory going around that the Smurfs is a communist town, but I'm not getting into that argument.) The point is I'm attacking a show you complaining probably used to watch. While watching did you ever think "Oh let's go become communist just like the Smurfs".? Did the show ever influence your way of thought?

 

Here is what I think:

Children aren't the ones seeing bad things in these show, adults are. Adults are perverting things that should not be perverted.

 

Sorry this really dosn't make sense what parents are doing. I had a lot to say and I'm sorry if I made this too long.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Phoenix237

[Paleopony 695]

On 2013-01-13 at 8:59 PM, Rainbow Dash said:

i cried for their stupidity. if there ever was racism i would expect it to be focused around Zecora since her character is influenced by alot of African culture

Yeah, she's literally a zebra!