Black People in Pokemon

[skyraider]

I was just wondering, has there ever been at LEAST A COUPLE of black people in a Pokemon game, movie, episode, etc?


I tend to think of Battle Arcade Star Dahlia as somewhat Black, but maybe Light Skinned...

[jon328]

i used to think brock was black

[PiPVoda]

Originally Posted by jon328

i used to think brock was black

Lol, I use to think so too! But yeah the chances of a black person being in pkmn....ehh slim to zero. Remember Pokemon is from Japan, and there aren't any black people there, nor do I think most Japanese game developers would even put a black person in a game..(well excluding Sazh Katzroy from FFXIII). Though the color..or race of the people in pokemon don't matter to me! I'm black and in the games the player I'm playing doesn't cross my mind that often.. Who knows..maybe there will be a black person in pkmn black :D

[ChrisTom]

Originally Posted by PiPVoda

Remember Pokemon is from Japan, and there aren't any black people there, nor do I think most Japanese game developers would even put a black person in a game.

Wow. I didn't have a problem with this thread until I saw that. That is very close to racist.

That's like saying there aren't any Mexican people in England, or that there aren't any Japanese people in Canada.

That is just stupid. The only reason thay haven't put an African American (A term I hope you use more often) is because of the demographics. Most people in Japan are very light skinned just like most people in Canada and America are light skinned. This DOESN'T mean that all people there are like that PiPVoda. And there have been other races in the games (many people in the Sevii Islands were Polynesian-looking).

Anyways, interesting question. If I'm not mistaken there was an episode in the Anime that centered an African American.

[Narcissus Secret]

Originally Posted by ChrisTom

Wow. I didn't have a problem with this thread until I saw that. That is very close to racist.

That's like saying there aren't any Mexican people in England, or that there aren't any Japanese people in Canada.

That is just stupid. The only reason thay haven't put an African American (A term I hope you use more often) is because of the demographics. Most people in Japan are very light skinned just like most people in Canada and America are light skinned. This DOESN'T mean that all people there are like that PiPVoda. And there have been other races in the games (many people in the Sevii Islands were Polynesian-looking).

Anyways, interesting question. If I'm not mistaken there was an episode in the Anime that centered an African American.

Actually, the point the raised is exactly why there are not Black people in Japan. Also, African American doesn't suffice, because there is a difference between that and what would be African Japanese. African American would only be referring to those in "America." Pokemon, however, is produced in Japan, where they don't really have that much black people(if any, really)

[BleuVII]

Yeah, not many black people in Japan. And it wouldn't surprise me if the Sevii Islands people were supposed to reflect Okinawans. (EDIT: apparently, the Sevii Islands are based on the IZU Islands south of Tokyo harbor)

But really, the lack of black people in a Japanese game can't be considered racist. The people just reflect the regions that they are based off of. The pokemon regions are meant to represent different areas in Japan. Kanto is similar to the actual Kanto Area of Japan, aka Tokyo; even the geography is similar. Johto is based off of the Kansai area (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara), with Mt. Silver standing between them based off of Mt. Fuji, which actually stands about halfway between the Kanto and Kansai regions. Hoenn is based off of the island of Kyushu, and Sinnoh is based off of the island of Hokkaido. (That would mean that Gen V will likely be based off of Shikoku!)

[Haza]

Dahlia is not black but Middle Eastern/Indian. You can even spot hints by the Pokemon she uses. Dahlia being of another race give =s me hope that we may see other characters of other races... but as long as each generation is in a Japanese based setting I won't expect to see too many people of African Descent, but it would be awesome if we could mod our own skin tone in the games.

[Scales]

Wow I didn't realize this before.

Though you are playing a Japanese game. There's not too many black people in anime either.

[ChrisTom]

I never said it was racist BleuVII. I said that saying "There are no Black people in Japan" sounded very close to being racist. I have looked it up in the CIA World Factbook, and about 0.5% of the people in Japan are African American. There ARE African Americans in Japan, just like there are Icelandic people in America. In fact I think there are a few Tobians in America too (look it up).

Anyways, this is about the games and Anime. I think the simple reason is because of simple Demographics. There is no sense aiming towards a demographic that isn't your key audience. I'm not saying that Pokemon is not meant for African Americans, but it was originally intended for young Japanese children, and the majority of Japan is Japanese.

[Jolene]

Originally Posted by ChrisTom

I never said it was racist BleuVII. I said that saying "There are no Black people in Japan" sounded very close to being racist. I have looked it up in the CIA World Factbook, and about 0.5% of the people in Japan are African American. There ARE African Americans in Japan, just like there are Icelandic people in America. In fact I think there are a few Tobians in America too (look it up).

Assuming you're using that term properly, that 0.5% doesn't account for all of the black people in Japan - it only accounts for the black people who moved to Japan from America.

But of course, you're not using that term properly.

[Bluerang1]

ChrisTom, PiP was being ignorant, you however sounded as if you had a hint of suggestive racism in your tone, not that you are but that Japan is, which is why you signaled PiP out.

I'm pretty sure I made a Thread about this. And yes, I agree with the answers because those are what I got when I asked

[ゲンガー]

I question why you even bring this up.
It's simple, it was made in Japan.
They try to make the characters to look stylish and they might not know how to make an African American look cool because they are not of that ethnicity.
But then again, look at the Jetsons and the Flinstones...
But let's try not to get this racist, we do have children lurking the forums.

[FaithInMe]

I actually think that asking the question is semi-racist to begin with, why point out what people may assume is racial segregation. It doesnt do anyone any good.

Secondly, who really cares anyway? As far as Im aware no race on earth has complained about not having their ethnicity show up in pokemon.
First and foremost, its a game. It doesnt need to be over-analysed.

[Curious.]

Actually I never really noticed, but since Pokemon was released in different countries I think it should at least have dark skinned - black people in it. It uses different accents, why not use different skin colours? I think adding darker skinned people in pokemon would mix things up a bit making things interesting. Who knows it could happen one day!

[coolcatkim22]

It's japan. Even if they were to portray some one black I'm not quite sure if I would know if they were doing that.

[Curious.]

Originally Posted by coolcatkim22

It's japan. Even if they were to portray some one black I'm not quite sure if I would know if they were doing that.

I strongly disagree with you there though, just because it was made in Japan that doesn't chop of the right not to include Black people. Some of our Australian shows include other types of skin complexion. But meh, this is not a formal debate nor an argument stadium either; it's a dicussion board.

[Lightning]

Honestly? Japan is a very racist country. Or rather, it's very xenophobic.

But I don't think the game developers leave people of colour out on purpose. It's just that there really aren't very many people of colour in Japan, so in most Japanese media, there just isn't a "reason" to put them in. The Japanese won't complain and why should they? People of colour are minorities there like they are here, yes, but it's not like a 30% minority. As someone said earlier, it's less than 1% which just... doesn't even put them on the radar. :s

In short, they aren't purposefully leaving black people out. I'm pretty sure they just... don't really think about it. (And I think I prefer that rather than being politically correct and adding diversity for the sake of diversity.) But hopefully in future games or entries in the franchise, they'll start to add more races (or references to them, anyway) in the realization that they're making games/media for a global fanbase instead of a purely Japanese one. :>

Originally Posted by MartianOddity

Most of the time that I've seen a black character portrayed (in games and anime/manga in Japan) the japanese have portrayed him/her as an admirable and strong character.

That's odd. :s I usually notice the "token black character" in most anime/manga to be the comic relief.

[The Confuzzler]

I think they should put more black people in Pokemon, as long as the media doesn't blow anything out of the water, like Jynx.

[RelentlessRamenRaider]

First of all, I am black.

Second of all, I don't think this issue is that big of a deal. The only way I would see this as disheartening, is if the game included characters that embodied cultures or particular demographics and completely left out black people.

I understand that Japan lacks a healthy population of blacks, so its logical to me that there aren't many people of a darker shade on the game.

For offended black people on this forum: don't confuse being disheartened with the developers being racist. It's just a game.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by coolcatkim22

It's japan. Even if they were to portray some one black I'm not quite sure if I would know if they were doing that.

Watch/Read Afro Samurai then come back to this thread, please.

But anyway, yeah. As already stated by everyone, because people of African descent are such a small minority in Japan, they just don't worry about it. It's not like here, in the US, where people of African descent have large portion of our population.

Although I wouldn't be surprised if the localization department started actually changing some of the NPCs in the games.

[Kepov]

Pokemon = Japanese
Japan = Not alot of Black human beings

Even if it was North American, why would it be racist.. they didn't mention anything about colors.

[Porygon-Z]

To be fair I don't think many of the characters in pokemon are meant to be white either I think their all meant to be japanese.

[ChrisTom]

Orignally Posted by Jolene
Assuming you're using that term properly, that 0.5% doesn't account for all of the black people in Japan - it only accounts for the black people who moved to Japan from America.

Firstly, I know it's not a big deal but can we call them African Americans or something like that? I understand if you have a friend and you refer to them as "Black" (like in Scrubs) but we are talking about a Demographic.

Secondly, Jolene that statistic is accurate and what you just said was a bit silly. That's like saying because they moved to America from Mexico that there are no Mexicans in America. There are plenty of African Americans who moved to Japan from where ever, and had children who would then be official Japanese citizens.

I've seen African Americans portrayed in Manga and Anime before (If I'm not mistaken there is a character from Hinata Hotel who is African). I am almost positive there are a few episodes in the Pokemon Anime with that demographic.


EDIT: I just saw your post Porygon-Z and I have to agree. They aren't meant to be Caucasian, but Asian. The fact of the matter is there are very few African Americans in Japan, so they are going to show very few in the Pokemon series. Said and Done.

[Jolene]

Originally Posted by ChrisTom

Firstly, I know it's not a big deal but can we call them African Americans or something like that?

No. Because an African American is somebody who lives in America and is of African descent. A black person who lives in Japan is just a black person who lives in Japan. And there's nothing wrong with saying "black".

It's not just you who gets this piece of terminology wrong. I've met loads of people who think that "African American" refers to black people in general. And I despair at these people.

Originally Posted by ChrisTom

Secondly, Jolene that statistic is accurate and what you just said was a bit silly. That's like saying because they moved to America from Mexico that there are no Mexicans in America. There are plenty of African Americans who moved to Japan from where ever, and had children who would then be official Japanese citizens.

At first I assumed that you hadn't got your terminolgy mixed up and that you were actually refering to actual African Americans.

[PiPVoda]

Originally Posted by ChrisTom

Wow. I didn't have a problem with this thread until I saw that. That is very close to racist.

That's like saying there aren't any Mexican people in England, or that there aren't any Japanese people in Canada.

That is just stupid. The only reason thay haven't put an African American (A term I hope you use more often) is because of the demographics. Most people in Japan are very light skinned just like most people in Canada and America are light skinned. This DOESN'T mean that all people there are like that PiPVoda. And there have been other races in the games (many people in the Sevii Islands were Polynesian-looking).

Anyways, interesting question. If I'm not mistaken there was an episode in the Anime that centered an African American.

racist? how so? I was just saying, since Japan is like 98% Japanese I don't believe they'd put a black person in many of their games. Yes they could (like I said Sazh Katzroy from FF XIII) but really I don't expect it.. I don't think you understood what I was trying to say.

There is an anime show w/ the main character being black, Afro Sumarai..and that is all that I know of. By any chance, did you even notice the part where I said I am black?