Little Black Sambo
A few personal reflections in anticipation of the new Captain America movie
When I was a young child – say five or six – my favourite story for my mum to read to me was Little Black Sambo.
Of course, we're not allowed to discuss such things these days because it's completely racist. What I enjoyed most, though, was the name – here was someone with the same name as me – so I could happily identify with him, and feel the tension of the tigers and the joy of the pancakes. It was a comforting story, and I was an innocent. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t identify with the main character.
Truth be told, racism wasn't really an issue when I was that young. Racism is much more of an american problem – that is, a USA problem – and not a British one (we have many others). I don't mean that there isn't racism in the UK, especially now; nor that there hasn't been racism in the past, only that the fundamental character of the British people is expressed more in this than in this. Perhaps I am still an innocent, but I am convinced that class issues are responsible for far more structural injustice than racial division. I do believe that British people are fundamentally decent.
So why do I mention this? Because the new Captain America is black, and his name is Sam, and I think he's great. This is not a universally held view. There are, of course, lunatics who have gone off the deep end but to spend time with them is not edifying so let's move swiftly on. What I really want to do is express why I think Sam Wilson is a 'worthy Cap' – and it is to do with righteousness, and it has some contemporary relevance.
After all, the point about Cap is that he isn't just a flag-waver, he isn't just a cheerleader for the USA. When he supports 'America' he is supporting an ideal. I love the famous 'no, you move' talk that he gives to Spiderman.
It is this sense of 'something higher' that makes Cap special. Of course he can be used and abused by governments, but he stands for something higher, something which can't be captured. Which is why he is ultimately subversive, why he takes the side that he does in the Civil War (both comic and movie). It's why he's a really important character to consider at this particular moment in time.
For we are seeing a resurgence of 'America First'. Much of this I am in profound sympathy with (not all, especially about Ukraine). The 'animal spirits' of the United States of America are being unleashed and the world is going to change in all sorts of ways, some predictable, some less so. I am extremely nervous about the geo-political situation, but immensely relieved on the more domestic side. Reality is asserting itself. Yet for a believer, especially one observing the rise of 'Christian Nationalism' (see Paul Kingsnorth's comments) the great danger is the identification of a particular regime with the Kingdom of God.
So for the record: Trump is not the Messiah. “There's only one God Ma'am and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.”
We can like and admire some of what Trump does, and deplore and denounce other things that he does, without falling into the equal and opposite traps of seeing him as either Jesus or Satan. He is a remarkable and fascinating man, and at this moment in time I think what he is bringing is mostly healthy – but who knows? God knows.
What we really need as a guide at this moment in time, especially in the States but also here in one of their colonies, is a hero that embodies precisely that 'US good but serve something higher' which I think Sam Wilson can do. In the Disney+ series we see him progressively understand the nature of his vocation, so that in the end he recognises that it is truly his duty to pick up the shield. It doesn't matter that he doesn't have the blond hair or blue eyes – what matters is that he understands what it means to be righteous.
I have sometimes used this speech bubble as my icon – it's original Nick Fury at a Cap memorial.
Sam Wilson has that. Consider his speech at the end of the Disney+ series: “I’m a Black man, carrying the stars and stripes. What don’t I understand? Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are going to hate me for it. Even now, here. I feel it. The stares, the judgment, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. And I’m still here. No super serum. No blond hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better.”
We can do better.
When someone understands this, friendship becomes possible, creativity becomes possible, wonderful new things are possible.
Just don't flirt with my sister.
That's it really. Just saying I really like the new Captain America, I think he's a worthy successor to Steve Rogers, I can't wait to watch him in the new movie this weekend. Strange thing is, as I get older, I identify more with Cap (never used to). I feel like a man out of time, with values that are at least two centuries out of date. Ah well. Mutatis mutandis and all that. It's good to have heroes, so long as we know they all fall short of the one true hero. And also that we remember, however much we feel isolated and identify with the solitary man standing against the hordes of evil...
...there are still seven thousand that have not bent the knee to Baal.
Nice post - and great to hear about your comic book past and read your other posts in that regard! Wow - sounds like your other super-hero choices were even edgier than Deadpool!
I don't have any spicy clever quip about Trump - just this lament.
In terms of production - China are winning. Forget Henry Ford's production line - they are building production line cities. Widget A is build in this city with 2 million people, which then goes to be fitted into widget B with 3 million people - and down the line of cities it goes! CATL have 22,000 people in R&D for new batteries alone! We cannot compete with that economically - but maybe if we are REALLY clever and create abundant free-trade across all the western economic allies and blocks, we might not be bankrupted as we try to wean off China for geopolitical reasons.
So what does Trump do in this new Cold War climate? Threaten NATO, and talk about breaking up all the "Friend-shoring" trade efforts of the Biden administration. The guy has no realpolitik - no applied economics (even though apparently we're to believe he had an economics degree - but suspiciously will not release any scores!)
Why oh why punish ALLIES with HIGHER tariffs even than China? At least Biden's IRA managed to stimulate domestic energy and clean tech and CHIPS production without punishing allies. They guy is threatening to stomp all over NATO and economic allies in the name of MAGA - but in fact will only weaken all of us! His low IQ and inherent malignant narcissism is threatening to sink this western ship!
I was born in the UK in 1966; from pretty early on, I knew that 'Sambo' was a bad word; often used in a degoratory sense. Growing up in Leicester, with the National Front in its ascendancy, I was well aware the racism was an issue: my friends who had arrived from Uganda were racially abused (strangely by many who have grown up & attempt the same things under a Reform banner).
You cite the Battle of Bamber Bridge: it does seem clear that in that instance what I'd call 'decent British values' did well. I'm at a loss, however as to how you seem to downplay racism: whilst the picture is undeniably complex & different to the USA , listening to many black & Asian voices, it is still there.
Btw: we are allowed to talk about what you say we aren't- a phrase like that coming from a very particular perspective, distracts somewhat from your nuanced arguments.