Wakanda & Black on Black Violence Forever

NOTE - This is an unfinished post from years ago that I want to clear out as I re-orient myself towards scholarship.

I was in New York a few days ago, and had the chance to go see Black Panther in the cinema. I loved its subversive take on racial politics and afro-futurism.

I have also started watching the Black Panther animated series, the first two episodes of which Marvel has generously uploaded to YouTube. The series is replete with discourses, not surprising as it has become a central Marvel property, and one designed specifically with race and American politics as a selling point. I'd like to dive into some of these here.

Born in Violence

S1 E1 of the anime starts with invisible Wakandans massacring warriors from another tribe.

That the Wakandans are invisible and use technology instead of face-to-face battle sets up a curious analogy with modern US drone strikes. Also, Black on Black Violence (BoBV) is depicted graphically here in a way that white violence is not.

Wakanda, the Anti-America

Later, in the White House, presidential aide Everett Ross tells how Wakanda repulsed colonial powers, but this is not shown.

"Wakanda is a small country in Africa for never having been conquered in its entire history. When you consider the history of the region, the fact that the French, the English, the Belgians or any number of Christian or Islamic invaders were never able to defeat them in battle, well, it's unprecedented. The Wakandans have a warrior spirit that makes the Vietnamese look like, well, the French. They've also maintained a technological superiority that defies explanation." (4:09-4:36). 

Like ancient technology, black superiority is hard for Americans to believe. This requires an attempt to compare the Wakandans, but like the realworld colonial exception that is Japan, none of the analogies make sense or are useful. Wakanda, like Japan, is its own civilization, its own empire of supposed inferior people who suprisingly give America a run for its money. Ross goes on to deny Soviet or other influences, and mentions Wakanda's independence from oil and use of environmentally-friendly technology.

Wakanda is, in effect, an anti-America. It uses technological superiority to defeat foes like America, flips the demographics for a black supremacy, and stands freer than the US ever could of both opposing state and corporate interests.

When the 1941 Black Panther says to Captain America "We take our borders very seriously, and you have crossed ours" (8:20-8:25), this is a deliciously ironic reversal of American border policy discourse. White ubermensch Cap is now the illegal alien, and the black, technologically superior Panther the 

Revising Fantasy History

The anime is notable for the absence of blacks fighting white oppressors, a palpable absence in the tory of a character named after realworld fighters for black rights and independence.

First, white oppression cannot be shown, but BoBV is on full display. There is a flashback of Nazi solders (German) being slaughtered which is filmed like history. Wrong side of the history being vanquished in a sanitized fashion compared to the bloodshed of Wakandan self-defence against other Africans.

Next, the independence of Wakanda is stressed.

WWII Cap issues the ultimatum 8:16-8:19 "These are dangerous times. You need to choose a side. "

BP replies "We have. Our own." 

This is the struggle for vibranium for rockets on either side of the UK-German conflict. Paoints Wakanda as an Afro-futurist neutral power uninvolved in white imperialism and its conflicts.


Last, black is a racial identity, not a national one, except for Wakandans.

Lots of statements trying to put Wakanda in the context of 20th century US geopolitics.

"They're a rogue state."

"Before you go adding them to the Axis of Evil, I should point out that they have never invaded anyone. The only time they've taken hostile action is defending their own borders."

"But a regime change could bring about a change in that policy."

This villifies American foreign policy and meddling in sovereign states that leads to further tyranny.

There are also subtle comments on the present day America.

"There is no way that bonehead is taking the throne. They have a literacy requirement." (13:08-13:13). Is this a jab at Trump?

Conclusions

The live action movies have had to 'play it safe' and thus have gotten progressively more conservative / boring. The hint of questioning Wakanda's aloofness and supremacy while letting black people suffer was one of the refreshing highpoints of the first film that seems lost after the untimely death of Chaswick Boseman. The anime seems to have a lot more discursive range.

Sources

Gordon, Max. (2018). "Come Get Your Life, Come Get Your Death." Medium.com.
https://medium.com/s/story/come-get-your-life-come-get-your-death-on-ryan-cooglers-black-panther-616039d97e5d

Marvel Entertainment. (2018). "Marvel Knights Animation - Black Panther - Episode 1." YouTube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry8e5ldzLDQ