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| {{wikipediainfo}}
| | == there is none == |
| {{first pic|Ryan noticed (Rosa).jpg|[[Ryan Sinclair]] experiences racism in [[1950s]] [[Alabama]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')}}
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| '''Racism''' was the idea that all members of a race were superior or inferior to another race. An individual with this belief was known as a '''racist'''. ([[TV]]: ''[[Oxygen (TV story)|Oxygen]]'', ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'') Some words used to humiliate other races were also described as racist. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'' / ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'')
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| Racism was rampant in many societies, particularly on [[Earth]] among the [[human]] race, though social movements existed to challenge and combat these prejudices. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[8.46 (short story)|8.46]]'')
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| == By humans == | |
| === Early years ===
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| A few centuries before [[2020]], [[Africa]]n men, women, and children were forced into slavery by white people. When [[Lucy Wilson]] and [[Hobo Kostinen]] were brought back in time by Lucy's [[time ring]], they witnessed several chained-up African slaves being herded into a [[log cabin]], and Lucy was forced to bite her lip upon seeing a little girl screaming while being torn away from her mother. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[8.46 (short story)|8.46]]'')
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| === 14th century ===
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| The [[14th century]] [[knight]] [[Mulberry]] initially described the African American soldier [[Floyd]], who he came across having been transported to the [[American Civil War]], as "a blackamoor" - an archaic and generally offensive term used to refer to dark skinned people usually of [[African]] ancestry. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Renaissance of the Daleks (audio story)|Renaissance of the Daleks]]'')
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| === 16th century ===
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| [[Martha Jones]] was shocked to hear [[William Shakespeare]] describe her as a "delicious blackamoor lady." He then followed this up with other offensive terms - "An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric?" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Shakespeare Code (TV story)|The Shakespeare Code]]'')
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| === 19th century ===
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| While visiting [[Regency era|Regency]] [[London]] in [[1814]], [[Bill Potts]] was subjected to racist (as well as [[sexism|sexist]]) remarks from Lord [[Sutcliffe]], referring to her as a "creature" and demanding she "show respect in the presence of [her] betters". The [[Twelfth Doctor]] responded by [[punch]]ing him in the [[face]], knocking him down. However, the punch was what told the Doctor how old he was, what species he was, and that he was low on iron. ([[TV]]: ''[[Thin Ice (TV story)|Thin Ice]]'')
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| === 20th century ===
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| While [[Martha Jones]] was working as a maid at the [[Farringham School for Boys]] in [[1913]], [[Hutchinson (TV character)|Hutchinson]] made several racist remarks to her, and [[Joan Redfern (TV character)|Joan Redfern]] showed disbelief that a woman of her "colour" was really training to be a doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]''/''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'') She also feared that she would be carted off as a slave in [[Elizabethan]] [[England]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Shakespeare Code (TV story)|The Shakespeare Code]]'')
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| The [[comic book]], ''[[Le Petit Vingtième]]'', which was in publication by [[1923]], contained adventures that the [[Eleventh Doctor]] regrettably branded as "ever-so-slightly racist", before saying that they eventually got better after having "had a word". ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Doctor Shops for Comics (comic story)|The Doctor Shops for Comics]]'')
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| In [[1941]], during the [[Second World War]], [[21st century]] native [[Toshiko Sato]] was insulted by [[American]]s in [[the Ritz]] dance hall because she was [[Japanese]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Captain Jack Harkness (TV story)|Captain Jack Harkness]]'')
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| The [[Nazi]]s' hatred of people who were different from them extended to racism. In [[Berlin]] in [[1941]], [[River Song]] provoked two Nazi officers by flippantly claiming that she was on her way to a "[[Homosexuality|gay]] [[Romania|gypsy]] [[Bar Mitzvah]] for the [[disabled]]". ([[TV]]: ''[[Let's Kill Hitler (TV story)|Let's Kill Hitler]]'') In the same year, when [[Clyde Langer]] told Nazi [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer [[Koenig]] that he did not belong in [[England]], he remarked that that was "quite a statement for a negro". ([[TV]]: ''[[Lost in Time (TV story)|Lost in Time]]'')
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| In [[Paris]] in [[1943]], {{Dhawan}}, posing as a Nazi officer, used a [[perception filter]] to mask his non-[[Aryan]] appearance from the other officers. His cover was blown when the [[Thirteenth Doctor]] used her [[The Doctor's sonic screwdriver|sonic screwdriver]] to jam the filter. ([[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'')
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| Racism towards non-white individuals was commonplace in the [[United States of America]] for much of the early-to-mid [[20th century]]. A common behaviour in the [[1930s]] was for white people to talk down to persons of colour as if they could not understand [[English (language)|English]]. This behaviour unfortunately persisted even, to an extent, into the [[21st century]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Wonderful Doctor of Oz (novel)|The Wonderful Doctor of Oz]]'') [[Racial segregation|Segregation]] of black people was rampant in the country by the [[1950s]], in which black people were required by law to use separate facilities to the whites, particularly in Southern states like [[Alabama]] and [[Mississippi]]. These policies were in place from at least [[1943]]. On [[1 December]], [[1955]], while travelling home from work, civil rights activist [[Rosa Parks]] famously refused to give up her bus seat when the bus became crowded, leading to her arrest, an event that the [[Thirteenth Doctor]], [[Ryan Sinclair]], [[Yasmin Khan]], and [[Graham O'Brien]] witnessed. Her arrest lead to the [[Montgomery Bus Boycott]], and a further chain of events that would result in the abolishment of segregation [[1956|a year later]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')
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| [[Mexico|Mexicans]] and those of Mexican heritage were also segregated in America during the 1950s. Yasmin Khan was mistakenly perceived as Mexican in a Montgomery diner so was denied service. She also had to discretely enter a "whites-only" motel because of this prejudice. However, she was permitted to enter through the front door to board a segregated bus and could use the "white" seating area. Such mixed treatment caused Yaz to remark she was unsure of her place in Montgomery given the scarce number of people of [[Pakistan]]i heritage in the city. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')
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| As well as segregation, black people suffered racial violence in the 1950s. After Ryan Sinclair attempted to return the [[glove]] of a passerby, [[Lizzie Steele|Lizzie]], he was slapped by [[Steele (Rosa)|her husband]] and ordered to get his "filthy black hands" off his wife. The husband alluded to Ryan being lynched were he to disturb a woman in Montgomery. After Rosa Parks calmed the man, she explained to the Thirteenth Doctor, Ryan, Yasmin Khan and Graham O'Brien that outsiders were not safe in Montgomery. Having read about the death of [[Emmett Till]] in the [[newspaper]], she explained that the northern Till was found dead in a river after a "couple words to a white woman" while he was on vacation in Mississippi. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')
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| In [[1963]], a sign hanging in the window of [[Mrs Smith]]'s [[Shoreditch]] boarding-house read "NO COLOUREDS", which [[Ace]] was visibly disturbed by, so she took it down and hid it. She was about to mention it to Mrs Smith, but decided not to. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'')
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| In [[1969]], [[Canton Everett Delaware III]] was forced to quit his job as an agent for the [[FBI]] because they did not condone his [[homosexual]] relationship with a black man. After he helped the [[Eleventh Doctor]] in combatting the [[Silence]], [[President]] [[Richard Nixon]] expressed a willingness to let Canton marry who he was initially led to believe was a black ''woman'', until Canton corrected him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Day of the Moon (TV story)|Day of the Moon]]'')
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| Under the influence of the [[sorceress]] [[Morgaine]], Ace and [[Shou Yuing]] briefly turned against each other, ending with Ace telling Shou "shut up, you [[yellow]], slant-[[eye]]d..." before stopping herself. ([[TV]]: ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'')
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| The house of Ace's friend [[Manisha Purkayastha]] was firebombed by racists in [[1983]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Ghost Light (TV story)|Ghost Light]]'')
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| In [[1997]] in the [[Unbound Universe]], [[Marcus (Unbound Universe)|Marcus]] frequently made racist anti-[[China|Chinese]] comments when living in [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]], though he denied being racist when [[Adam (Unbound Universe)|Adam]] called him out on it. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'')
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| === 21st century and beyond ===
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| By the [[21st century]], racism existed on a lesser scale than that of the 1950s, bearing a massive difference that Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan were visibly appalled at. While not physically assaulted as he was in the past, Ryan Sinclair still remarked he would be stopped by the police more often than his white peers, while Yasmin Khan suffered racial slurs such as "paki", and "[[Terrorism|terrorist]]" because she was a [[Islam|Muslim]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')
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| In [[2009]], when [[Wilfred Mott]] remarked he was saved by the [[cactus]]es, the [[Tenth Doctor]] replied with, "That's Cacti", to which the [[Vinvocci]] exclaimed "that's racist!" ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
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| In [[2013]], in a [[telephone]] conversation, an exasperated [[Frank Armitage]] told the [[Eleventh Doctor]] that he was aware that he was "an alien from space", a remark that the Doctor, perhaps jokingly, called "[a] bit racist". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Day of the Doctor (novelisation)|The Day of the Doctor]]'')
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| [[Lucy Wilson]] had faced racism at several points in her life. The first and most prominent was in [[2010]] when, aged five, Lucy was brought by [[Albert Wilson|her father]] to a [[business meeting]] with a [[Albert Wilson's client (8.46)|client]] in [[Florida]]. At a [[birthday party]], Lucy jumped into a [[swimming pool]], prompting the other white guests to quickly usher their children out of the pool, to little Lucy's fear and confusion. One of the parents told Albert that they did not want their kids splashing around with a "dirty little [[monkey]]", angering him. Later on in her life, Lucy mentioned having been followed around a [[department store]] because of the colour of her skin, and being stopped by [[police]] for carrying a [[rucksack]]. Lucy's grandfather, [[Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart]], once told her "sometimes human beings are worse than the monsters". For most of her life, Lucy had never experienced racism from people she cared about. She had learnt to accept that the occasional hurtful acts and slurs were just how things were. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[8.46 (short story)|8.46]]'')
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| In [[2020]], [[George Floyd]], an American black man, was murdered by [[police]], an act which was caught on film and quickly circulated. His death sparked mass protesting and rioting across America and the [[United Kingdom]], in spite of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic. In [[Bristol]], a statue of [[Edward Colston]] was toppled by protesters and dumped into the river, with the same subsequently happening to other statues across the UK and America. Lucy Wilson's outlook on racism completely changed upon watching the video of Floyd's death, prompting her and [[Hobo Kostinen]] to join a peaceful protest in [[Ogmore-by-Sea]], where everybody wore [[face mask]]s and stood two metres apart. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[8.46 (short story)|8.46]]'') [[Bill Potts]] also attended a socially-distanced march in Bristol. ([[WC]]: ''[[The Best of Days (webcast)|The Best of Days]]'')
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| "[[Black Lives Matter]]" was a phrase that had become synonymous with these protests. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[8.46 (short story)|8.46]]'')
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| [[Freda]]'s house was burnt down by racists in [[2069]] because of her [[Ghosty|alien]] mother. She was saved by a member of [[Torchwood Three|Torchwood]], who sent her back in time to [[2009]] via [[Cardiff Space-Time Rift|the Rift]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Asylum (audio story)|Asylum]]'')
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| [[Roz Forrester]] found it difficult to understand the racism and sexism she experienced in [[1919]] [[Paris]] since such attitudes did not exist between [[human]]s in the [[30th century]] from where she came. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Toy Soldiers (novel)|Toy Soldiers]]'')
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| By the [[79th century]], there were still racists such as [[Krasko]] who expressed a desire to alter the history of Ryan Sinclair's "kind", attempting to prevent Rosa Parks from the arrest that would begin the Montgomery Bus Boycott and lead to the end of segregation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'')
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| [[Dahh-Ren]] briefly branded Bill Potts a racist after the latter expressed surprise at his [[blue]] [[skin]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Oxygen (TV story)|Oxygen]]'')
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| === Unspecified eras ===
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| On an [[Infirmary (Last Christmas)|infirmary base]] at the [[North Pole]], in a shared-dream between the Twelfth Doctor, [[Clara Oswald]], and various others, when [[Santa Claus]] and his two [[elf|elves]] entered, Santa said it was an invasion, to which Clara jokingly said "an invasion of elves" to which the elf [[Wolf (Last Christmas)|Wolf]] said it was racist, and the elf [[Ian (Last Christmas)|Ian]] rebranded it "elfist". ([[TV]]: ''[[Last Christmas (TV story)|Last Christmas]]'')
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| == Amongst other species ==
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| Racism in non-humans was probably most notable in the [[Dalek]]s, whose whole existence was defined by their utter hatred of anything non-Dalek, believing themselves the supreme beings. Their belief in their innate superiority and need to maintain their racial purity was so intense that it led to inevitable conflict between the [[Imperial Dalek]]s and the [[Renegade Dalek]]s. As [[Ace]] succinctly put it, "They hate each others' [[chromosome]]s. War to the death." ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'') Dalek individuals would even become self-loathing if their genome was in some way altered, such as the one in Van Statten's museum, and even drew a line between the very mild differences between Kaled and Dalek DNA. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'', ''[[Victory of the Daleks (TV story)|Victory of the Daleks]]'')
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| The [[Great House]]s of the [[Time Lord]]s were suspicious of "[[lesser species]]", usually not allowing non-Time Lords to visit their Homeworld of [[Gallifrey]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]'') [[Gustav (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)|Gustav]] described [[Cortalian]], a banished member of [[House Lineacrux]], as "''still'' [being] racist" despite having to live among other species, as evidenced by the fact that she purposefully made the climate of the [[First Auction in Heaven]] uncomfortable for everyone but herself. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Going Once, Going Twice (short story)|Going Once, Going Twice]]'') The Time Lords had themselves become hated by the universe partway into the [[Last Great Time War|Time War]]. [[Cass Fermazzi]] instantly hated [[Eighth Doctor|the Doctor]] when she recognised that he was a Time Lord, refusing to be rescued by him and telling him to go finish destroying the universe, despite his claims to have never fought in the war. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Night of the Doctor (TV story)|The Night of the Doctor]]'') Even [[Clara Oswald]] was disgusted with the Time Lords, calling them monsters who had to hide out at the end of time because the rest of the universe hated them. ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')
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| [[The Doctor]] did not tolerate racism against their companions. ([[TV]]: ''[[Thin Ice (TV story)|Thin Ice]]'', ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'') [[Susan Foreman]] saw no issue with [[Lloyd Walker]] being black and assured him that [[First Doctor|her grandfather]] held no prejudices based on skin pigmentation. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[An Unearthly Woman (audio story)|An Unearthly Woman]]'')
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| According to the [[Fifth Doctor]], the [[Pakhar]]s found the term "[[rodent people]]" extremely offensive, even racist. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Nekromanteia (audio story)|Nekromanteia]]'')
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| [[Jeff Shrubb]] was accused of stirring up racism, [[sexism]] and [[homophobia]] on [[Olleril]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Tragedy Day (novel)|Tragedy Day]]'')
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| The [[Raxacoricofallapatorian]]s became resented by their fellow [[Raxas Alliance]] members in light of the [[crime]]s committed by the family [[Slitheen]]. [[Gleda Ley-Sooth Marka Jinglatheen]] was branded "Raxacoricofallapatorian scum" by a [[Raxacoricovarlonpatorian|native]] of [[Raxacoricovarlonpatorius]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Doctormania (comic story)|Doctormania]]'')
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| The "[[Abzorbaloff]]", a native of the [[planet]] [[Clom]], took offence when the [[Tenth Doctor]] questioned if he was from [[Raxacoricofallapatorius]]. Branding their people as "[[swine]]", the Abzorbaloff proclaimed "I [[spit]] on them" before revealing that his world was their [[twin planet]]. Before that, he ranted to [[human]]s that his form was "better than that crude [[pink]] shape [they] call[ed] a [[body]]." ([[TV]]: ''[[Love & Monsters (TV story)|Love & Monsters]]'')
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| == Behind the scenes ==
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| [[File:Closer Look Episode 3 - Rosa Doctor Who BBC America|thumb|[[Chris Chibnall]] talks about ''[[Rosa (TV story)|Rosa]]'', which tackled racism.]]
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| ''The Black and White Minstrel Show'' was known for its racism in the [[1970s]]. Controversially, [[Alpha Centauri (The Curse of Peladon)|Alpha Centauri]] made a guest appearance in [[1972 (releases)|1972]].
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| Various stories in ''Doctor Who'' have been alleged to be racist or had characters that were written or depicted in a racist manner. In ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'', Part 8, the Doctor says, "This place is a madhouse, it's full of Arabs!" Most infamously, the broadcast of ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang (TV story)|The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]'' in Canada led to protests by Chinese-Canadian groups and [[TVOntario]]'s decision not to repeat the broadcast. The story was criticised for having white actors depict Chinese characters, especially given the use of exaggerated [[yellowface]] make-up, as well as for incorporating various racist stereotypes in the script itself (the character of Li H'sen Chang being evocative of [[Fu Manchu]]), and having the [[Fourth Doctor]] himself display racist attitudes in dialogue.<ref>Chinese object to Dr. Who". ''Regina Leader-Post''. 7 November 1980. p. 12. Archival copy at https://www.newspapers.com/image/495995728/</ref> [[Kate Orman]] authored an essay on the topic in [[2018 (releases)|2018]].<ref>[https://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/one-of-us-is-yellow-doctor-fu-manchu-and-the-talons-of-weng-chiang-guest-post-by-kate-orman
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| “One Of Us Is Yellow”: Doctor Fu Manchu and The Talons of Weng Chiang (Guest Post by Kate Orman)]</ref>
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| Critic [[Elizabeth Sandifer]], of ''[[TARDIS Eruditorum]]'', also criticised the earlier ''[[The Celestial Toymaker (TV story)|The Celestial Toymaker]]'' (also infamous for quoting the N-word as part of a nursery rhyme) for leaning into sinophobic stereotypes with [[Celestial Toymaker|the titular character]], particularly as rendered in [[The Celestial Toymaker (novelisation)|the novelisation]]; although portrayed by white actor, [[Michael Gough]], without any yellowface, and presented as a nonhuman character, the Toymaker was conspicuously dressed as a Chinese mandarin and his character was aesthetically reminiscent, as a result, of “Yellow Peril” masterminds trapping western protagonists in fiendish games. Sandifer further criticised the use of the adjective "Celestial", which, while primarily indicating the Toymaker's cosmic nature, was also used as an Orientalist synonym for "Chinese" in the 19th and early 20th century, thus providing a potential racist double-meaning to the title.<ref>[https://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-most-totally-closed-mind-the-celestial-toymaker The Most Totally Closed Mind (The Celestial Toymaker)] on ''[[TARDIS Eruditorum]]''</ref> British Asian writer [[James Cooray Smith]] dismissed these criticisms, arguing that the serial showed a "clear anti-establishment ethos", that the use of "Celestial" was purposeful on multiple levels, and that the Toymaker was explicitly "a posh white European man who sits surrounded by the plunder of other civilisations".<ref>https://www.herocollector.com/en-gb/Article/doctor-who-trouble-with-the-toymaker</ref>
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| The presentation of [[Toberman]] in ''[[The Tomb of the Cybermen (TV story)|The Tomb of the Cybermen]]'', the only black member of the cast, as a mostly-mute strongman who is initially an instrument of the villains, speaks in broken English, and ends up sacrificing himself, has also been held up as racist by Sandifer and others.<ref>[https://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/my-writing-gets-worse-and-worse-tomb-of-the-cybermen My Writing Gets Worse And Worse (Tomb of the Cybermen)]</ref> [[Kemel]], [[Theodore Maxtible]]'s Turkish assistant in ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)|The Evil of the Daleks]]'', who similarly betrays the villains to go over to the Doctor's side only to die to save the Doctor before the end of the story, and is medically mute, was highlighted by Sandifer as an only slightly less egregious repetition of the same stereotypes, "one in a rather tedious chain of mute black strongmen during this period of Doctor Who".<ref>[https://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/everything-human-has-been-purged-the-evil-of-the-daleks Everything Human Has Been Purged (The Evil of the Daleks)]</ref>
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| == Footnotes ==
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| {{reflist}}
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| [[Category:Racism and xenophobia| ]] | | [[Category:Racism and xenophobia| ]] |
| [[Category:Psychology from the real world]] | | [[Category:Psychology from the real world]] |
