Ebony White

Ebony White is a fictional character from the 1940 comics series "The Spirit", created by Will Eisner. He is a Black sidekick to Denny Colt, the title character. His age is ambiguous: sometimes he appears to be a young boy, at other times he is clearly an adult who drives a taxi. He frequently helps the Spirit out of tough situations.

Racial connotations

The appearance and characterization of White (especially early in the series) is probably the most common criticism of the generally acclaimed stripFact|date=July 2008. The character is citedFact|date=July 2008 as one of many examples of racist stereotypes in mainstream 20th century United States culture. His name is a racial pun, and his facial features - including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips - are typical of racial blackface caricatures popular throughout the "Jim Crow" era. As a loyal assistant to the white hero, he has been compared to the Uncle Tom and Pickaninny stereotypes.Fact|date=July 2008

On the other hand, the character is also sometimes citedFact|date=July 2008 as breaking new ground, as a likable recurring character at a time when black characters of any kind were uncommon in comics. The character also developed as the series progressed, becoming less like the cowardly and dim-witted stereotypeOr|date=July 2008. Eisner reported receiving letters of both praise and criticism for the character at the time. In a 1966 "New York Herald Tribune" feature by his former office manager-turned-journalist, Marilyn Mercer claimed, "Ebony never drew criticism from Negro groups (in fact, Eisner was commended by some for using him), perhaps because, although his speech pattern was early Minstrel Show, he himself derived from another literary tradition: he was a combination of Tom Sawyer and Penrod, with a touch of Horatio Alger hero, and color didn't really come into it". [Mercer, Marilyn, "The Only Real Middle-Class Crimefighter", "New York" (Sunday supplement, "New York Herald Tribune"), Jan. 9, 1966; reprinted "Alter Ego" #48 (see References)]

Eisner later expressed mixed feelings about his portrayal of Ebony White. He acknowledged that he was conscious at the time that he was using a racial stereotype and was unapologetic about it, but defended doing so by stating that "at the time humor consisted in our society of bad English and physical difference in identity." In reference to his graphic novel "Fagin the Jew", Eisner acknowledged parallels between Charles Dickens' use of racial stereotyping for that character (which Eisner criticized) and Eisner's own portrayal of White, but asserted that his own work had not "capitalized on" the stereotype.Fact|date=July 2008

Other media

In the "Spirit" television movie, Ebony was included but the producers attempted to avoid obvious racial stereotypes. For instance, Ebony was depicted as a clever street entrepreneur who attempts to act as a voice of common sense to the Spirit's idealism.

Present

In DC Comics 2007 Spirit comic-book series, White is portrayed as a street kid, driving a taxi obviously not his. In an early appearance, the script alludes critically to his historic racial portrayal, with a character asking if he "will be standing on the Spirit's lawn with a lantern". He is portrayed as putting his street experience and his daring attitude to work at the Spirit's service. His origins are now tied to Colt's, with White being the cabbie who brought Colt to the place in which Colt apparently met his demise. Knowing of his death, a guilt-stricken White acknowledged that his previous prejudices against Colt, whom he had considered an amateurish detective afraid to sully his hands, were harsh, and that White could have helped him more. Colt, who had already awakened from his apparent death, then asked White for help. The youngster gladly accepted, keeping himself on call for his new friend.

Writer-director Frank Miller said at a 2006 San Diego Comic-Con panel that White would not appear in the December 2008 motion picture adaptation of Will Eisner's series. [ [http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/02/19/complete-frank-miller-movie-adaptation-round-up/ Billington, Alex. FirstShowing.net: "Complete Frank Miller Movie Adaptation Round Up"] , February 19, 2007]

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.time.com/time/columnist/arnold/article/0,9565,488263,00.html "Time" interview with Eisner]
* [http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04eisner.html "Comic Book Artist" interview with Eisner]
* "Alter Ego" #48 (May 2005), pp. 7-25: Will Eisner interview