College of Charleston professor Consuela Francis will lecture on superheroes and race – specifically as it relates to Marvel Comics’ 2002 series called “Truth: Red, White and Black,” which sheds light on the origin of Captain America. The event, part of the African-American Studies Program’s faculty research series, will be held on October 8 at 3:00 p.m. in room 227 of the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library.
The lecture, entitled “American Truths: Blackness and the American Superhero,” will argue that American
superheroes are constructed as an “idealized image of heroism that [is] explicitly honest, law abiding, chaste, excessively masculine, and above all, white.” Francis believes that bringing a black consciousness to the genre will bring complexity and nuance to an otherwise formulaic genre.
The lecture is the conclusion of Francis’ sabbatical research, where she took an in-depth look at this concept. The “Truth: Red, White and Black” series reveals that Steve Rogers was not the only man to wear
the Captain America uniform during World War II. The premise of this prequel is that before Dr. Reinstein deemed the top secret formula safe enough to test on all-Americans like Rogers, he first worked out the formula’s kinks on a group of black soldiers. “Truth: Red, White and Black” tells the story of this
group of black soldiers, draws parallels between the U.S. government’s treatment of black men and the Nazis’ treatment of Jews, and deconstructs the American superhero.
For more information, contact Consuela Francis at 843.953.7738.
