The Patriot Post® · Disney Cries Racism
Last weekend was the opening for the new Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” It was, according to executive producer and lead actor Ewan McGregor, the most watched series opener in the history of the app. Star Wars has a significant fan base, and after the success of “The Mandolorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett,” fans were highly invested in learning what happened in the intervening years for the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
On May 3, Disney posted a statement on social media saying: “We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.” This was followed with the comment, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
Racism is one of those words that has lost much of its impact and meaning because of the way it has been used to label anyone leftists don’t like. Its original meaning was hating someone based on the color of their skin and treating them as inferior or even less than human. In this case, it seems that actress Moses Ingram did receive some hateful messages on her Instagram calling her the N-word, which is disgraceful. She posted these messages and did a video calling out her persecutors. There is some debate as to whether these Internet racists were actually bots, but because of the method Ingram chose to disseminate the information and call out the bigots, it’s impossible to determine. You can no longer find the story on her account.
Why all the hate?
Well, Ingram is playing a character called Reva Sevander, a Jedi hunter looking for Kenobi to eliminate him. Reva is apparently loud, brash, angry, and poorly written — akin to the Anakin Skywalker character played by Hayden Christensen in the “prequels.” Star Wars fans have long been disappointed with the production of the newer generation of movies in the franchise. Characters like Rose in “The Last Jedi,” Jar Jar Binks from Episodes 1-3, and other side characters that were poorly written and didn’t really add to the plot have long plagued the franchise.
It’s not surprising that yet another Star Wars character is reportedly one-sided and leaves fans dissatisfied with her character. The shameful thing is that Disney has decided to lump all Star Wars fans together and dress them down with the accusation of racism. But fans love the characters Mace Windu, Lando, and Finn — all played by black actors. Disney is the one that routinely edits black actors and actresses out of movie promotions for China, bowing to actual racism against black people in that country.
The greatest irony in this entire fiasco is that a year ago, Disney fired actress Gina Carano for calling out cancel culture that was dehumanizing people, just as Ingram’s hateful posts dehumanized her. The difference is that Ingram calling out cancel culture (and some racist comments) falls in line with Disney’s political ideas; Carano’s comment did not.