According to Sarah Hagi of Vice, Bugs Bunny is inherently black, something she’s concluded for a while. But, when presented the million dollar question from a friend she soon found out that not everyone was at terms with her sentiment, most notably her Caucasian co-workers.
Note, we’re not talking about the voice behind the cartoon character, but rather taking what’s being presented on the television by the character, and formulating whether the characteristics are of African American, Caucasian, or any other descent.
After voyaging around the cubicle farm, Hagi found that many Caucasian co-workers didn’t understand the question.
“Is this a trick?” an unidentified Caucasian male co-worker replied.
A uncomfortable situation nonetheless, eventually another unidentified co-worker went into offense mode, firing back at Hagi with the question how does she know Bugs Bunny is black.
“I just knew,” Hagi said.
Interestingly enough, while vague on her response Hagi said she left work that day having no doubt in her mind that Bugs Bunny was a black man.
“The sky?” Hagi said. “Blue.” Grass? Green. Bugs Bunny? Very black.”
In fact, the day she declared Bugs Bunny black to her co-workers was just the tip of the iceberg. Hagi said she’s known in her heart that many other characters were “black” as well, describing it as a special case of “Synesthesia” for race and cartoons.
Nostalgically looking back on her childhood, Hagi created memo on her phone of all the cartoon characters she believed were black. The list is comprised of approximately 20 names and counting. The most notable: Jerry from Tom and Jerry and Elmo.
While none of the names listed are provided with an explanation, it’s interesting to gain the perspective of Hagi who also said she’s one of many black people who feel this way about cartoon characters.
According to Hagi, the only disagreement other blacks’ have had with her pertaining to cartoon characters are which ones are in fact black.
To round things out, let’s look at an article earlier this year by Noisey. Essentially, the article nominates A Goofy Movie has a black millennial classic. Noisey cites the protagonist being a light skinned black girl named Roxanne, and Bobby, a white boy, tip-toeing into as much trouble as Max, a black boy, as main indicators for their assessment.
Noisey brings up good points, and so does Hagi. Ultimately, the perceptive decision of whether or not cartoon characters have a race let alone are Black is up to you.
