CBDA – Comic Book Diversification Act

By Brandon L. Rucker

Another column I would write if I were actively still doing comics journalism would be based on the theme that what you’re seeing in modern comics (and expanded media) is what I call the Comic Book Diversification Act. It essentially amounts to the atonement of a past and legacy littered with the exclusion of diversity and inclusiveness, and in some cases effective racism. Do a little research on the Golden, Silver and Bronze Age of comics (1930s — 1980s) for edification on the comics’ industry’s white washed history. Like in modern American society, it is because of those egregious sins of the past that we’re seeing the CBDA today. This is a microcosm of what is currently happening in the larger society where progressive socio-politic have been largely effective. There’s a question being asked these days which is: is the failure or outright refusal to acknowledge racism is, in fact, racist itself? To get at a larger and more balanced truth, I sometimes like to play what’s proverbially considered ‘Devil’s Advocate’. So, for those who feel the need to ask “Why does a black kid have to have his own version of a character like Spider-Man?” or some other storied icon, should answer a question themselves, which is: why can’t he?