Stan Lee's 1968 anti-racism column resonates again

Many consider Stan Lee the godfather of the modern comic industry and now, in the wake of his death, parts of his legacy are re-surfacing that showed how ahead of the curve his thinking was.

While characters he had a hand in creating -- including like Black Panther, X-Men and Spider-Man -- all overtly tackled bigotry, prejudices and racism, it was not uncommon for Lee himself to take a stand publicly.

Soon after the tragic news of Lee’s passing, LA Times entertainment journalist Jen Yamato tweeted out one of Lee’s old columns, “Stan’s Soapbox,” which he would include at the end of his comics between 1965 and 2001.

“Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today,” an excerpt from Lee’s column read. “But, unlike, a team of costumed super-villains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them — to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are.”

His column added that, “a story without a message, however subliminal, is like a man without a soul."

In an era when white supremacy, racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise, his words carry an eerie weight today.

Lee’s 1968 column was published during the height of the U.S. civil rights movement. That was same year that the United States passed the Fair Housing Act which mandated that people should been given equal housing opportunities regardless of what country they came from, their race or religion. That legislation was a major advancement for African Americans at the time.

Although, it’s common for people to look back and see equal rights for blacks and other minorities as obvious, at the time, many were skeptical and highly critical of Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights marchers. A 1964 poll by the American National Election Studies found that 57 per cent of Americans thought black activist’s actions were too violent and 63 per cent of people thought the civil rights movement was moving “too fast.”

In that context, Lee’s progressive stance on race in 1968 is even more noteworthy.

His beliefs were likely developed by his own history. The godfather of modern comics’ full name is Stanley Lieber was the son of Jewish parents and served as a soldier during the Second World War. He regularly faced prejudice and racism and some of the issues he faced bled into his comics.

His belief was that, regardless of skin tone, people share more in common than they may think. In Marvel comics in February 1980, he had written "None of us is all that different from each other. We all want essentially the same things outta life … So why don't we all stop wasting time hating the 'other' guys. Just look in the mirror, mister -- that other guy is you."

Many of his missives were written during times of political upheaval like the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam war, the AIDS epidemic and the ongoing drug war ramped up by U.S. President Richard Nixon.

When it comes to race, many discussions today echo those of the past. Today, there are critics who criticize Marvel casting a minority in the role of traditionally white characters such as Zazie Beatz playing Domino in “Deadpool 2,” Zendaya playing “MJ” in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and Idris Elba being cast as a Norse god in the “Thor” movies.

Some of Marvel’s detractors, including a U.S. white supremacist group accusing Marvel of left-wing social engineering or trying to make the movies too political, might have an issue with Lee himself.

The comic legend has heard similar criticisms before. He even used some of his “Stan Soapbox” columns to hit back at critics who claimed he was getting too preachy and that comics were only an outlet for escape.

Lee argued that comics couldn’t ignore issues in the world. His 1968 column went on to say, “None of us lives in a vacuum — none of us is untouched by the everyday events about us — events which shape our stories just as they shape our lives.” And the piece ended saying, “Sure, our tales can be called escapist — but just because something’s for fun doesn’t mean we have to blanket our brains while we read it! Excelsior!”

It should be noted that Stan Lee had actually tweeted a link to the same column just days after the deadly protest organized by neo-Nazi and white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA.

But if fans need more than just Lee’s musings, true believers need not worry as they can expect to still see Stan Lee cameos in several upcoming Marvel films which were filmed months in advance.

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