Mickey Mouse: Racism in Plain Sight

This weekend, I took a nice drive up the Hudson Valley to attend my friends' engagement party in Monroe, NY. Driving north on I-87, I was struck by the natural, beautiful and bountiful colors of the fall leaves. The gathering of family and friends at the party was nice and intimate, and yet, I was engaged with a picture hanging in the corner of the rented room.  This picture was of a firefighter and Mickey Mouse. 

 

My curiosity grew as I stared at this picture (featured above).  I wondered for a second what real mice looked like.  Searching through the images in my mind, I only saw mice whose faces matched the rest of their fur.  However, Mickey Mouse was a black mouse whose face was either white or creamed colored.  Curious!

 

Some quick research with Wikipedia told me that this design was intentional.  Mickey’s face was originally white and later redesigned with Caucasian skin tone.  Certainly, Mickey’s creators are very much allowed to make their own artistic choices, but I can’t help but to notice how race was an intentional choice made in the early 1900’s.

 

For most of my life, I thought that racism was about direct insults or exclusion.  However, after looking at Mickey once again, I am wondering if racism in America is more insidious and hidden from plain sight in cartoons and household names like Mickey Mouse. 

 

I spent 38 years thinking of Mickey as a dear childhood friend, not realizing that his face was painted with racial overtones.

 

This made me question a few things:

1.      Why did Mickey have to have a white or Caucasian face with a black body?

2.      How many cartoons characters have I loved and cherished and not noticed that they are depicted as "white."

3.      How many cartoon characters reflect positive images of people of color?

 

I shared my discovery with a few people at the party.  They were all polite enough to indulge me with some interest, and we continued to honor the engagement of our friends.  We ate, laughed, and celebrated the afternoon away. 

 

Driving away, I felt happy for my friends. 

 

As I traveled back down the Hudson Valley, I noticed the colors of the sky in the sunset and the hues of the leaves falling onto the highway.  I became more aware of the colors in our world, and I made a wish. 

 

I whispered out to the Hudson River, “May mainstream American images reflect the natural, bountiful and beautiful colors of all people as we move towards a world where even some cartoon characters aren’t more privileged than others simply based on their skin tone.”