The Negro And Science Fiction

Meta
Title:	"The Negro And Science Fiction"
Creator:	Ron Stoloff
Date(s):	1969
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS, science fiction
Topic:
External Links:	online here, posted by the author, archive link
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

"The Negro And Science Fiction" is a 1969 essay by Ron Stoloff.

first page of the essay from The Vorpal Sword #2

It was printed in The Vorpal Sword #2.

There was a long rebuttal in the next issue of that zine, as well as reactions from fans in the letters of comment. One of these letters of comment was by David Gerrold who'd portrayed Captain Kirk in the play, H.M.S. Trek-a-Star.

Some Topics Discussed in the Original Essay

• while not mentioned by name and is poorly introduced, the Star Trek scene is actually H.M.S. Trek-a-Star, a popular con skit performed at many cons
• the portrayal and inclusion of characters of color in Star Trek, and other shows on television
• the small number of fans of color involved in science fiction fandom
• the author calls out John M. Campbell (editor of Analog) and Philip Jose Farmer (science fiction writer) and their contributions to Baycon in 1968

Excerpts from the Original Essay

Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Nurse Chapel are under the control of a race of psychokenetics, Kirk and Lt. Uhura have been paired by these people and are forced to kiss. Moments later they separate, and Captain Kirk turns his face to the camera. His lips are covered with soot.

SOOT?!?!?

Yes, soot. For Uhura is not being played by Nichelle Nichols, but by a white woman in blackface. Not the way you remember it, you say? A nightmare? It cannot be! And, you would be right, at least on TV, as Gene Roddenberry had noting to do with this casting; it was the type done by the Fans in progressive Berkeley, California, and this seems to be the way they do things out there.

When I saw this I was surprised. When the surprise wore off, I was just bugged. Was it possible, in all of progressive, liberal fandom, to find one black woman to play Lt. Uhura? Sure, it's type casting, but this was akin to "Birth Of A Nation," the pro-KKK film by Griffith, where all the Negro parts were played by whites in blackface.

I said as much to the people who were near near me. But, then I looked around - not a black face to be seen. At the Con, later, the only Negro I can remember is the famous Sargent-at-Arms from New York, Elliot Shorter. Basically, however, the Con was white.

Then, I looked back on the other Cons I've attended and realized they, too, were white. Even my own home club, the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, has only two Negro members. It seems slightly weird that a show which is often put down as being retarded in the use of science fictional devices is actually far ahead in its recognition of the Negro's part in society. They were able to get up the guts to be the second or third show on TV with a Negro playing a continuous, significant role. It seems that written SF is the retarded religion. As to why, that is the goal of this essay.

At the Con itself, there was a panel of editors and authors. The question arose as to why there are so few Negro fans, writers, and characters in Science Fiction. John Campbell said he did not include them in his stories or encourage their use in his magazine because so few blacks read Analog, as he had proven in one of his surveys.

Then, on the last night came the banquet, and the GOH was Philip Jose Farmer, who gave a speech entitled "Reap" (which James Blish described as a "call to the barricades"). Only one page of this speech, 1/13th of the total, has any relevence here, but it is quite significant in light of Campbell's comments above and to what will follow. Farmer described an incident in 1952, in which he was describing a novel to an unnamed editor- a novel where Negros were the protagonists. The editor stopped him, saying it was ridiculous and making several derogatory remarks as to the potentialities and contributions of blacks "except, possibly, magic." The way Farmer described this man, it could be no other than John W. Campbell. (If you doubt me, see Psychotic for the transcript of Reap.)

Then, came the November issue of Analog. In his editorial, Mr. Campbell backed George Wallace and said he was going to vote for him, though his reason for this was, to be fair, not because he necessarily loves the philosophy that Wallace espouses, but because he offers a "choice." Mr. Campbell feels, as do many Americans, that the two parties, especially in '68, have been presenting candidates who are too much alike. OK, but is Wallace a viable choice just because he is different? Hitler was "different," as are the Neo-Nazis in Germany today, but who would call these choices?

But, after this lengthy aside, back to the point of the article: Why so few Negros around Science Fiction? Are they just turned off by Mr. Campbell's prejudice or near bigotry? I feel it is not this simple. The prime causes of the non-paticipation of Negros in SF are at least three fold:

#1 The black man is generally a member of the lower socio-economic class and like the lower class everywhere - black or white - they are not book oriented.

#2 Among those who do much reading there are, as in the general population, few who read SF - supporting Mr. Campbell's view.

#3 Those who continue reading, that is, those who are not turned off by the generally "white only" attitude expressed in SF, are little interested in white dominated Fandom.

This is, of course, circular logic, which is just precisely the problem.

There are few, if any, Negro characters in SF, and they must be culled with care: Farnham's Freehold, by Heinlein and Bester's The Stars My Destination are two which come to mind. Others, such as Tom Purdon's Five Against Arlane and Clarke's A Fall Of Moondust do not count, as these black men are either African or Aborigine, But, the question is not "Can you think of other black characters?" but, why is it so difficult to find them. Yet, even if the character is black of face, he is often white of soul, as there are few whites who can portray a Negro properly (though, for some odd reason, they have less trouble with aliens.) The result is, that the future is usually portrayed as all white - with some Asians - maybe - with the exception of Star Trek, of course. Farther, we see that even general TV is ahead of SF. Peyton Place at least has token Negros, though this is a route I don't recommend to SF. The mere presence of blacks in Fandom or stories should not be the goal, as I feel the lack of Negros is just a symptom which will change as the attitudes inside SF change.

Obviously, SF is not totally responsible for the problem but, this does not excuse us for doing nothing - once we realize the situation,. How to solve the problem? The answer is no easier for those of us in SF than it is for the rest of the nation and/or worlds the entire culture must be changed. Still, we can do something.

First, when a story such as Farmer’s is presented it should be encouraged, not just because it has black characters, but because it is a more realistic way of portraying the world.

Second, men with views such as Mr. Campbell's must have their influence reduced, I don't know how this can be accomplished as I certainly don't advocate the burning and sacking of the Analog offices, a boycott of the magazine or the expulsion of Mr. Campbell from Fandom or conventions. Campbell, and others like him, must be weakened, somehow, and I an open to suggestions as to how this can be accomplished.

Some Topics Discussed in the Rebuttal

The rebuttal to this essay was in The Vorpal Sword #2 and was titled "The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword." It was presented in the form of an introduction from the zine's editors, letters sent to the essay's writer by Campbell and Farmer.

The Intro

Those of you who read the last issue of the Sword surely remember an article entitled "The Negro In Science Fiction" by one of our astute editors, Ron Stoloff. In this article Ron (our resident instigator) tred [sic] quite hard upon the toes of one of the best known pro editors in all of science fiction fandom - John W. Campbell. Instead of suing the fanzine as was expected by some of our timid editors, Mr. Campbell sent Ron a letter stating his opinion of the article and full explanations on why he felt that way about the issues involved. The following contains the full correspondence between Mr. Campbell and Ron Stoloff.

Campbell's Response

May 1, 1969

Dear Mr. Stoloff:

Your decidedly prejudiced rumor-mongering in "Vorpal Sword" needs answering.

I am somewhat reminded of the time Theodore Roosevelt sued a miniscule newspaper in Upper Peninsula, Michigan, with a circulation of about 3,000 copies, for $1,000,000 on a libel suit. There had been a rumor passing around the country that Ted was a bastard---and the little Michigan paper was the first place the rumor had been published and hence gave Teddy his first opptunity to bring the rumor out into the open and squash it public? My friend, before publishing derogatory rumors--try check: them, huh?

What Phil Farmer said (in his WorldCon speech) was Phil Farmer's misinterpretation of what I said: he doesn't like people who disagree with him, and tends to put sour interpretations on their reasons. I don't agree with him on a number of subjects.

Your own remarks concerning my beliefs and statements are uncalled for and untruthful.

Examples: You say that "I did not include them (blacks) in his stories or encourage their use because so: few blacks read Analog, as he has proven in one of his surveys."

That happens to be 100% false. One of our distribution surveys showed, as a matter of fact, that we have circulation peaks near major research stations (Cape Kennedy, Los Alamos, etc.) near major colleges and technical schools and in the Negro ghetto areas of major cities. I imagine the reason is that science-fiction generally pits homo sapiens against the extra-terrestrial and that means all men, with no regard for color, race or religion.

Think about it a bit, and you'll realize why there is so little mention of blacks in science-fiction; we see no reason to go saying "Lookee, lookee lookee! We're using blacks in our stories. See the Black Man. See him in a space ship!"

It is my strongly held opinion that any Black should be thrown out of any story, spaceship, or any other place unless he's a black MAN. That he's got no business there just because he's a black, but every right there if he’s a man. (And the masculine embraces the feminine; Lt. Uhura is portrayed as no clinging vine, and not given to the whimper, whinny and whine type of behavior. She earned her place by competence — not by having a black skin.)

[snipped: comments about the politician George Wallace]

To sum up, part of your attack is based on 100% upside down false rumor. Part is based on the angry misinterpretations made by someone who acutely dislikes disagreements and story rejections, and none of it results from asking me what I meant. In effect, it's all hearsay evidence, which courts of justice long since found was unusable. Only police-state courts admit rumor as evidence.

Look guy -— do some thinking about this. How many Negro authors are there in science-fiction?

Now consider what effect a biased, anti-Negro editor could have on that. Manuscripts come in by mail from all over the world. (Including the Iron Curtain countries). I haven't the foggiest notion what most of the authors look like and I never yet heard of an editor who demanded a photograph of an author before he'd print their work. Nor demanded a notarized document proving he was white.

If Negro authors are extremely few it's solely because extremely few Negros both wish to, and can, write in open competition. There isn’t any possible field of endeavor where race, religion and sex make less difference. If there aren’t any individuals of a particular group in the author’s column —- it’s because either the don’t want to, or weren't able to, it’s got to be unbiased by the very nature' of the process of submission.

What I am against and what has been misinterpreted by a number of people is the idea that any member of any group has any right to preferential treatment because he is a member, I see no reason why an incompetent Chinese should be given a good job, just because he has a yellow skin - and I don’t consider that a black; red, or pink skin is any better excuse for claiming a "right" to anything. A man has a right to what he earns and it is just as much gross injustice to give him what he has not earned, as to deprive him of what he has earned.

In that limited sense, I am against much of the modern hoorah about the Negro. I insist that every man should be given what he earns, whether..it be reward or punishment. That if we are to have an even-handed justice for all men, then whites have neither more nor less privilege before the law.

And I an not impressed,' as some seem to be, by the cracks about how a history of slavery ruins a people for generations.

Instance; "Stoloff" is a Slavic name. The tern "Slav" is from the Latin root from which "slave” comes. The Slavs were slaves for a millennium or so, I believe. That's why Russia is so incompetent and unable to accomplish anything on its own, maybe?

And when people say I'm responsible for what happened to the Negros in the old South, I get exceedingly irked. One of my great grandfathers was an M.D. in the Union Army. One hadn't left Germany at that time. One was a Vermont legislator and active Abolitionist, and one was a minister operating an Underground Railway station. I'm responsible for southern slavery? How about my Italian friends who didn't leave Italy for half a century or so after De Woh?

Let us, for God's sake, get just a little perspective into this situation, a little self honesty, and stop throwing stupid accusations that are based on the paranoid-aristotelian thinking of ”If they don’t agree with me completely, they must belong to the hateful enemy completely!"

I do not agree with you completely.

And if you agreed with me completely, you'd be no one I could or would respect. My editorials are intended to goad readers into thinking not to force then to agree.

Why not stop quoting slogans --- which is typical of basically good-hearted people, and leads Germans, into being Nazis — and start thinking of what the data underlying the slogan is.

Stoloff's Response

About Phillip Jose Farmer's Reap, I will admit it would have been unfair to use it as the sole basis of an attack on you. But it was the culmination of both personal feeling and experience which, when added up, seen to yield the conclusions in the article - The conversation Farmer discussed was between the two of you and therefore a regrettable situation of your word versus his - a situation in which I should not become further embroiled as I do not know either of you well enough to make such a decision.

As for the survey question of circulation of Analog amongst blacks, I have only my own personal notes and memory which I cannot confirm either way until the Proceedings come out.

On the point of including blacks in SF itself, I can give you an argument. True, black characters should not be waggled in front our faces saying "Lookee!..." but he can just as easily be put in with as much emphasis as he would get if white. For instance, I just finished Hawkbill Station by Robert Silverberg, a novel which takes place in the U.S. from about 1984 to 2029 and [it includes] not one black character, emphasis or no. I ask you, how can a realistic story of the near future America be described to the exclusion of blacks? Silverberg spent time describing characters who are obviously white, so why not do the sane for blacks?

You backing of Wallace is a most difficult point:

[snipped]

No one should blame anyone for a past he had nothing to do with - even if his grandparents did - and I feel the recent [demar?] in a New York church for reparations to be ridiculous. If any reparations were due, the people who could receive or who should pay are long dead. Any aid given Negros in particular and the poor generally should be given because they are Men who need help now. But as a man today cannot be blamed for the crimes of his ancestors, neither can he be praised for the good deeds of those, DAR notwithstanding, it what John W. Campbell has said and done with interested me in my article, and it would made no different if your ancestor was Simon Legree himself or William Lloyd Garrison.

Finally, I wish to thank you for the gracious ending of your letter which was considerably more gracious than the ending of my article, I'm sorry to say. I agree with you no more than you with me and I will respect you as an excellent editor who has ridden some rather strange horses in his editorials but mostly as an excellent editor.

Farmer's Response

Dear Ron Stoloff, Thanks very much for VS#2, which I enjoyed, I'm happy that my REAP speech helped you in your article on "The Negro And Science Fiction, I hope you'll write others like it and that others are inspired by you to emulate.

I'm sorry I'm so late acknowledging, but my correspondence got misplaced and I'm way behind answering.

Keep up the good work. We need more like you. Best, Philip Jose Farmer

Some Topics Discussed in the Letters of Comment

I found Ron Stoloff's article on 'The Negro And Science Fiction' quite good. Having just finished a one week institute on Labrarios and the Unreached at the University of Washington, I have pretty much concentrated my thinking on some of the requirements of the Negro and other minority ethnic groups. The same things which Ron stated in his article are true for the Indian and the Mexican-American. And, perhaps, a little research would uncover fewer readers or, for that matter, characters, among these groups. Andre Norton has used Indian characters - (Beast Master and Lord Of Thunder) and a black in one of her novellas which appeared in a double. Not being the Star Trek fan which I suppose I should have been, I don’t know if I can agree that Lt. Uhura’s role was a significant role. In the episodes which I did view, I did not find the role significant, and felt that it snacked of tokenism. But, perhaps I missed shows where the contrary was true. At any rate, I think that we must accept that fandom is a minority and that we will live for a time with few blacks involved.

Are there any black SF writers? Black authors of repute writing about significant events in our social milieu. When, God grant, this is no longer necessary, they will begin to write other kinds of works from the middle class viewpoint. I can at present only think of Frank Yerby as a successful black author who doesn't write about the black problem. His successful historical novels don’t even involve black characters. So, the day will come when more blacks will be involved in SF. Fandom, as Ron pointed out, is not a social or political belief. Its members stretch from left to right. I had a letter the other day from an avowed anarchist. We kid ourselves if we say fen are different and do not represent the broad poles of our contemporary society.

Thanks for giving me a copy of the VORPAL SWORD at the WorldCon. I will admit I have not read it with the thoroughness I might apply to, say, a contract on which, I an about to affix my signature, but I did skim through the whole thing and found parts of it interesting.

Of especial merit: Harriet Kolchak's note on the best way to meet a pro or BNF, She has a good on her shoulders. (You might let her do a followup on the best way to stay in a BNF's good graces.)

The article on the Negro and Science Fiction hits especially hard with me. Nichelle Nichols was delighted with the Tribble script because it gave her a chance to do something besides open the hailing frequencies. I have long felt that TV has neglected the opportunity to treat minorities and ethnic groups fairly. ST's third season is an excellent example.

And finally, let me clear up any misunderstanding that you and any other ST fans may have. I do not hate ST fans -- except when they occur in large and illogical groups. (Remember ST was very good to me.) What I do object to is mindless worshiping instead of critical analysis. A good example is a fanzine honoring Fred Frieberger because he was producer during third season. Instead, you should be mad at the man for killing the show and copping out on too many good stories. (See Trumpet II.)

Anyway, all my best to you. I hope that soon there is another SF TV show worthy of your attention.

"The Negro In Science Fiction" - but, granted that one reason Negros do not read science fiction is their being turned off by the white dominant views, surely that is the least important of the three reasons suggested? After all, television has been white dominated for many years, and Negros watched television just as much as whites. The changing attitude, which has made it possible to tip the balance a bit back toward reality in shows like "Julia" and The Bill Cosby Show (I mean, towards the reality that Negros are just as much a part of our culture as any other group, Jews, WASPs or what have you the shows themselves are no more realistic than other television shows), hasn’t really given more TV viewers-- just better pleased ones. The other two reasons given — that most blacks are in the lower socioeconomic class which in general doesn't read much — and that the SF readers are few among readers generally — seen to me much more important. And they cannot be controlled by fans or writers, except insofar as they are members of society, acting as individuals or acting as part of society through legislation, demonstrations, etc, — but not- (except very minutely) through writing stories with Negro characters.

Incidentally, if the play being described by Ron Stoloff is "H.M.S. Trek-A-Star" - the answer to his question is no, it was not possible to find one black woman to play Lt. Uhura. In all of progressive, liberal fandom, yes. In all those members of Berkely fandom interested in putting on a parody of Star Trek, no. If there aren’t many Negros in fandom for socioeconomic reasons, you can't seriously be surprised if you don’t find any in a given small segment of such a small group as fandom.

Still, if Stoloff insists on suggestions for attacking the large problem of bigotry through one of its symptoms — the whiteness of SF - he can stop buying Analog (I have myself, but because I find Campbell's ideas in general repugnant, not on account of this one), and write letters to the publishers and editors when books and other magazines print good and multi-racial stories. Praising junk gets one nowhere. There's no particular point to writing Campbell judging by his editorials and his comments in the letter column (back in the days when I was getting the magazine), he has a closed mind. Not buying his magazine is the only "pressure" available. Which is no pressure at all while the problem of bigotry remains important in society.

Further Reading/Meta

• Optimizing the future; archive link; archive link by Alec Nevala-Lee (August 10, 2017)
• Race and Fandom