Does it matter that little Tony is black?

Use this forum to discuss the July 2018 Book of the Month "Toni the Superhero" by R.D. Base
Wael El-Manzalawy
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Re: Does it matter that little Tony is black?

Post by Wael El-Manzalawy »

I see it in a different way: I liked Toni and Toni is black. So, it is a good thing. I think that the story is increasing the popularity of the black children.
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Bluecobia
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Post by Bluecobia »

I feel all children have super powers. Color of skin does not matter. You just need to open your hearts and see them.
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Post by Joe Hadithi »

I think it matters that little Toni is black. There is already a huge difference in the numbers representing the various races in the superhero world and I feel like this is the right step forward.
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Post by Bushra Nasim »

You have raised an interesting question. I think that the superpowers possessed by white superheroes are just imaginary like flying or such stuff, but the actual power that one can possess is to face the real world, and Toni is good at it. Everyone cannot have extraordinary abilities, but those who use their ordinary abilities in an extraordinary way are the real superheroes!
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Post by bootsie0126+ »

No. Being an African American myself, that notion or question did not enter my mind when I read this book. Although I was conscious of Tony being black from the cover of the book, as I was reading the story, his color did not factor into the "superhero" element. I focused on the aspect of being different did not mean that you could not be relatable to others. To me, it did not make a difference what color Tony could have been. The message was not racially motivated however, I could see how some would perceive it as such.
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bootsie0126+
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Post by bootsie0126+ »

Bluecobia wrote: 08 Sep 2018, 15:36 I feel all children have super powers. Color of skin does not matter. You just need to open your hearts and see them.
I agree wholeheartedly. That was the message that I got from the book, not the focus of Tony's skin color.
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Post by Oulababe »

I think it's very important that Tony is black. I feel like it breaks the white superhero stereotype.
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Post by Trixy »

I don't see what is the problem with black kids as a superhero, I mean anyone can be a character for a superhero story, in fact, is more interesting because is original and that's what people are looking for: original stories, not the same boring ones.
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Post by kwahu »

I think the lesson I got i that even superheroes can do ordinary things. we never know what the author has in store for Tony as the series continues.
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Post by klballard »

I prefer superheroes that don’t have any true superpowers. My favorite superhero of all time is Batman, who is just a regular guy (albeit very rich). I think it’s great that the author is using an African American kid to be the superhero. Too much unnecessary racial distinction is thrown in our face in the news these days, but the fact is, though we may differ in how we look and have cultural differences, we all bleed red. A person is a person is a person. They may just have a different background.
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Post by Alicia09 »

I really don't care if Tony is black, because I grew up in an all black neighborhood and I have always been the only Latina when I have visited my black friends at their parties. With that being said, I do think it was a conscious decision on the author's part to make Tony black because there is a lot of rhetoric surrounding representation of different racial groups in children's literature right now. So I can see how maybe this current rhetoric has made some authors go above and beyond the need to represent different racial groups in children's stories. I don't think that young kids would really care because in my experience teaching kids of all ages, I've found that most kids don't start acting racist until they're in middle school or high school.
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Post by Sahar Majid »

I personally think Toni was made black to add diversity and be relatable to children who only get to see white superheros. I do think it's possible that people interpret this book as black kids can only do ordinary things but I don't think things like helping your mom out is ordinary. I think that essentially the messages here are:
1) you don't need to have powers to be a superhero (thus including everyone; even the children who don't think of themselves as special) and
2) helping others (especially those who are close to you) is a heroic act, worthy of praise and honor in itself.
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Post by Bryankurt »

It doesn't matter if Tony is black as a superhero, any kind black or white can be a superhero. We should not discriminate the black, what the white can do, the black can do also.
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Post by mayuma »

Any one can be a superhero. the fact that Toni was made black must help our children to kick away the stereotype of thinking that only white can be a hero.
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Post by HollandBlue »

Wow, you got a lot of different opinions about this question! I think all children are heroes in their own way, and it probably doesn't matter to them whether or not Tony is black, white, or any other racial background. That being said, I think that it is good for black kids to have a black superhero to relate to and that kids of all races should learn that anyone can be a hero.
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