Carole Boston Weatherford
Carole Boston Weatherford is an African American author and cultural critic, now living in North Carolina, USA. She writes children's books, poetry, history, and social commentary, and has won several awards.
She claimed in a 2000 newspaper article Politically Incorrect Pokémon that Pokémon #124, Jynx, is a negative stereotype of African Americans. [1][2] Some say that the Pokémon Jynx originated from the Japanese trend of yamanba. Nintendo agreed to apologise and to change Jynx's face from black to purple in 2002. Shogakukan, the company that produces the Pokémon anime, finally changed Jynx's face colour to purple in 2005. Also, as a result of her campaign, the WB has banned all anime episodes that show Jynx in any way. Wether or not this also stands true for Cartoon Network is unknown. Although Pokemon fans are still trying very hard to find the reason why episodes AG116 and 117 are banned, because it is confirmed that the Jynx in these episodes is purple.
Also, in year 2000, she claimed via The Christian Science Publishing Society in another article Japan's Bigoted Exports to Kids[3]. That Mr. Popo, a character from Dragonball Z, is another negative stereotype of African Americans. The manga released in USA later had reduced Mr. Popo's lips.
Selected works
- Juneteeth Jamboree, with Yvonne Buchanan (Illustrator), 1995, Lee & Low Books. ISBN 1880000180
- The Tar Baby on the Soapbox, 1999, Methodist College. ISBN 0967099439
- The African-American Struggle for Legal Equality in American History, 2000 Enslow Publishers. ISBN 0766014150
- The Sound That Jazz Makes, with Eric Velasquez (Illustrator), 2001, Walker Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0802776744