Why are Oda’s black characters super lightskin?

[Logiko]

I wonder how long it will take for this thread to be moved into the political section..

18 Hours

Sorry guys, you can't beat me. My threads are moved quasi instantly !

 

[Bullet]

How many black characters do we even have for this to be a a discussion?
Oda's a japanese dude and writing for japanese people after being inspired by former japanese works so naturally there won't be many black characters.

 

[Z-Saber]

Has anyone else noticed that there’s really no black characters in One Piece who look actually black? Most of the “black” characters look like they’re quarter black at best.

Just look at Usopp, he’s supposed to be African according to Oda, but I’ve met white people with a darker skin tone than him.

From what I understand, Japanese people are actually pretty racist against black people, so I guess it’s not surprising that Oda made them ambiguously black

As a black person, I can't say any of this has ever bothered me. Japanese culture doesn't have a ton of black representation so I don't think we can realistically expect him to be in tune with black culture. While Oda and some Japanese people in general might buy in to certain stereotypes, I don't think that makes them racist. A lot of it is simply due to a lack of exposure.

And to the people saying black people are racist towards asians and vice versa, jokes don't make you racist, beliefs do. Plus, people usually make jokes about their own culture rather than someone else's. The funniest Asians jokes I've heard have all come from Asians and its the same with black people and black jokes.

 

[Bisoromi Bear]

Has anyone else noticed that there’s really no black characters in One Piece who look actually black? Most of the “black” characters look like they’re quarter black at best.

Just look at Usopp, he’s supposed to be African according to Oda, but I’ve met white people with a darker skin tone than him.

From what I understand, Japanese people are actually pretty racist against black people, so I guess it’s not surprising that Oda made them ambiguously black

Yes Oda is secretly racist. It's true.