Blackfishing in Kuroke No Baske

Dear Sensei(s) behind Kuroke no Baske,

I could smell the inferiority complexes that y’all have about your general physiques from a mile away—in fact, this “body odor” almost knocked me out. It reached a fever pitch in that episode when Japanese Kuroki (finally) blocked the 7+ foot tall Senegalese player Papa Mbaye Siki (who, perhaps, was a reference to Dikembe Wamutombo, also a 7+ foot tall center?). Why the hell does media from these alleged first- and second-world (see how dumb those qualifiers sound?) countries always want to use the defeat of a big black male as a “proof” of their “masculinity” and zeal???

PATHETIC!!!

And what, were we really supposed to believe that somehow Aomine Daiki supposed to be a non-admixed Japanese person??? All while he was playing basketball like he was Black guy from "the inner city"?!?!? FOH. NAME ONE JAPANESE NBA PLAYER WITH MOVES LIKE LEBRON JAMES—CUZ THAT’S HOW DAIKI WAS MOVING: LIKE MF’n LEBRONNN!

Senseis! Please explain: How come y’all didn’t emulate the style in which Whites did something this time (in this case, play basketball)? Tell us: why weren’t white people good enough all of a sudden? Not flashy enough? Didn’t give you rAw aThLeTiCiSm that you wanted to portray in the special effects? Stereotype much??? LOL.

And before you people hit me with the “iT’s JuSt aN aNiMe” crap, I’m gonna hit you with the title of Greg Tate’s book: “Everything But The Burden”, huh? How obnoxious. I even heard rumors about some ridiculous diary that coming out and is gonna be written in antiquated kanji just to prove that Aomine's really Japanese! Is it really so horrible that he is perceived by some viewers as Black? I mean, senseis, you’ve got people online arguing that Aomine is “just tan”.:

*Soulja Boy Voice*: “Tan?!?!?!”

No.

Nah, bob:

If Aomine Daiki is fully Japanese, then this anime is BLACKFISHING, and that's jacked up!!!

And for all y’all "pEoPlE-aRe-CuLtUrAlLy-AnD-pHySiCaLlY-aMoRpHoUs"-oppression Olympics SJWs—take several seats! Don’t act like there isn’t a particular style that Black people play basketball in, and don’t act like that isn’t what was used as a point of reference for this shonen anime, and don’t act like Daiki wasn’t looking and acting the part (straight hair and all).

Maybe I don’t know everything about the phenotypic variation in Japan, but I know y’all don’t really “tan” like that!

I guess by now some of y’all are ready to fight (what’s good?).

You’re wondering why I’ve kept watching anime for the past fifteen years of my life if I’m so critical of it. Well, the answer to that is simple:

I love it. Especially when the Japanese (and Koreans in manhwas) stay in their lane on depicting Africans/Blacks since they generally seem to have such a hard time doing it respectfully).

But back to Aomine (no, I’m not finished):

I guess I should be grateful that for once, they didn’t spend too much time flirting with xenophobia and calling him a brute with homonyms (Psycho-Pass 3: ‘gorilla’ vs. ‘guerrilla’). At least Aomine wasn’t bullied for his dark skin or assumed to be sexually loose (Peach Girl). Colorist much? LOL, at least he wasn’t mute (Afro Samurai). At least he wasn’t a servant that was named after an animal (Canary in HunterXHunter). At least he wasn’t a paper-tiger side-kick that’s weaker than all the lighter, smaller protagonists around him (Bob Makihara in Tenjou Tenge). At least he didn’t have Little Black Sambo lips (Diamond no Ace, Blood, Durarara).

I mean, yes! Our lips are often pinkish-colored and/or two-toned—but should y’all (drawing experts) really have such a hard time depicting that? Y’all could literally just draw some lips (a little thicker than usual) and leave them the same color as the rest of the skin like you do with everyone else (TF?!). Need an example? How about Haikyuu's Aran Ojiro? If that team could do it, why can't the rest of you???

But I digress,

At least they weren’t (that) classist this time: Aomine’s “tan” is supposed to be one that he got from playing outside in the streets so much. And they don’t introduce him in such a way that we’re supposed to look down on him.

Seems harmless, right?

But it isn’t: it’s just barely tolerable.

When you’re a person who is familiar with East Asian culture, you know that the old combination of ‘dark skin’ and ‘street’ is a negative one. You know that it connotes low social status and/or poverty, as well as a lack of civility and/or lack of education. Google it if you don’t believe me.

But behold: they do say in Kuroke no Baske that Aomine does poorly in school. Don’t we generally correlate poor grades with unintelligence or lack of ability?

We do.

*Sigh…*

In any case,

I will state unequivocally that I am SICK of the of the programming, propaganda, misinformation and disinformation in the media. I am SICK of the false narratives that they entrench in the minds of the nonchalant, ignorant, and uncultivated—it’s inhumane! I am SICK of sitting idly by while this media-bred brand of RWSAB is fed to us daily—

Believe me:

I know the stakes for speaking up!

Censorship…potentially adverse effects on my livelihood in the future…alienation from, how should I put it: “moderate pro-Blackers” that otherwise might have supported our endeavors here…I know that there may be potential battles with botz or trolls in which I'll have to expose my fiery temper.

But I’ve gotta say something on our behalf… because I have finally been convinced that it unethical to keep quiet any longer.