How Star Wars Reinforces Racial Stereotypes

Sirius Naught
5 min readJan 18, 2021
Photo by Tommy van Kessel 🤙 on Unsplash

Star Wars is arguably the most famous science fiction entertainment series of all time. It appeals to all ages, whether you are a young toddler who plays with Star Wars toys, a 40 year old man, or a 40 year old who still plays with Star Wars toys.

There’s even a Star Wars religion. Yes, you read that right. It’s called “Jediism.” You can look up its Wikipedia page for more information about its adherents.

Point being, one cannot deny the influence Star Wars has had, not only in America, but around the world. It is troubling, then, when one contemplates the fact that Star Wars promotes and reinforces harmful racial stereotypes.

For context, I am well-versed in all things Star Wars, having watched all the movies and series, as well as having read many related books. I tell you this so that you understand that I am not merely some cynical hobo who has never examined anything Star Wars-related. But, through careful examination of the lore and the narrative that Star Wars perpetuates, I have developed a series of small but sufficient points that clearly articulate the many problems that overshadow the beloved Skywalker saga.

So, without further ado, let’s begin:

Point #1: The main protagonists of the Original Trilogy emulate the White Savior Trope

Look at Episodes 4–6. Who are the good guys? Well, we have Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Skywalker. All white. Look at Rogue One’s protagonist Jyn. White. Look at the Sequel Trilogy’s protagonist Rey. Also white.

And in a universe full of not only diverse humans, but near countless species of aliens and other interesting life forms, who was picked to save the day? Of course, it was white people. (It’s no wonder, as daddy George Lucas himself is white).

The need to put white people front and center in all stories is tiring, to say the least, like when Hollywood casts a white person to be the main protagonist in movie that takes place in 5th century China, for example.

“It is not surprising then to see that white saviors are the central heroes of galaxy-wide conflict.”

Point #2: Black representation in Star Wars is extremely troubling

In the very few instances that Black people are represented in the movies, we still find a myriad of cringeworthy tropes.

Lando Calrissian in the Original Trilogy ends up as a hero. But he doesn’t exactly start that way. In fact, when we finally get to know him, it is revealed that he has betrayed his white friends by making a deal with Darth Vader, making the audience skeptical of his true intentions and whether or not he is trustful.

Darth Vader himself, portrayed by James Earl Jones, is depicted as the most ruthless being in the entire galaxy. It is no surprise then that he is voiced by a Black actor. His suit is black, for goodness’ sake! But what happens when we finally see the face of The Dark Lord himself after he returns to the light and saves his son Luke? Well, we see a white face. No surprise there.

Looking to some more recent examples, we examine John Boyega’s character Finn, a stormtrooper turned Resistance hero. At first, his character seems promising. That is, until Finn is sidelined for the rest of the trilogy, only to merely accompany the white Rey.

So what can we conclude from this? At best, black people are treated as unreliable or useless. At worst, they are the voice of the most evil person of all time.

Point #3: Asian Representation in Star Wars isn’t any better

In the 2017 movie The Last Jedi, Asian actress Kelly Marie Tran was given a somewhat prominent role in the form of Rose Tico, a Resistance maintenance worker. Even thought TLJ may arguably be the worst SW movie of all time, this was a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, any progress that was made in TLJ was subsequently reversed in its sequel TROS, due to Lucasfilm bowing to the racist demands of the fans, many of whom are the white middle-aged men, who were uncomfortable with the portrayal of a strong Asian women in the franchise.

Rose Tico appears in ~11 min in The Last Jedi, while only appearing for ~1 min in The Rise of Skywalker, all because of racism.

Point #4: Alien species are treated as inferior to humans

Jabba the Hutt is an alien. He is a notorious antagonist, seemingly only interested in the acquisition of more wealth and enslaving women for his own misogynistic purposes.

Jar Jar Binks is an alien, one who is repeatedly portrayed as clumsy and ineffectual, as well as very gullible (like when he gives The Senate emergency powers, resulting in an oppressive Empire).

The Ewoks are aliens. Good ones, I might add. However, they are depicted as being extremely primitive, and many are killed in battle to solve problems that the white people created. They were completely innocent but still caught up in galactic affairs.

“In a day and age where most of the world is content with eating meat and the exploitation of animals, it does not shock most people to see that Star Wars is blatantly speciest. In fact, they probably don’t even notice”

Point #5: The source of power for evil Force-users is called the DARK SIDE

Rage, anger, fear, jealousy, and hate are just a few of the emotions that Sith tap into in order to access the full power of the Dark Side. The racial hints of this name are unequivocally clear, as the good Force users are on the Light Side.

It is time to move beyond giving unhealthy connotations to the words “dark” and “light”, especially considering the huge role racism still plays in our modern society.

Point #6: Star Wars actors themselves have acknowledged the racism of Star Wars

Recently in this past year 2020, actor John Boyega (who plays the aforementioned character Finn) made headlines when he blasted Star Wars for its racist treatment of his character and openly discussed his personal experiences with the Mouse.

There are many articles online that detail this incident if you are interested. Just google it.

SIRIUS NAUGHT’S PROPOSED SOLUTION: Now that Star Wars is in the hands of our amazing corporate overlords at Disney, they have a chance to forge a new Star Wars universe, full of equality, minorities, gay aliens, and environmental conservation efforts. They have a chance to DISMANTLE white supremacist tropes and DEMOLISH the racism of the old Star Wars.

Recently, Disney announced like a gazillion new shows for their streaming service Disney+, so hopefully they seize the opportunity to change Star Wars into something actually respectable. They certainly have the time and money to do it. But given Disney’s track record of making totally nonsensical movies, (The Last Jedi, Solo) one can only hope. But like white Jyn says in Rogue One, “Rebellions are built on hope.” So let us all rebel against harmful stereotypes in media with the hope of creating a better world.

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Sirius Naught

I'm a highly influential writer, critical thinker, and inquisitive spirit. I am only here to further the human existence. I am Sirius Naught.