Carole Boston Weatherford
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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.
Weatherford claimed in a May 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 apologized and agreed to change Jynx's face from black to purple in 2002, and Shogakukan (the company that produces the Pokémon anime) changed Jynx's face color to purple in 2005. Also, as a result of her campaign, the WB has banned all anime episodes that show Jynx in her offensive colors.
In the same article, Weatherford also claimed the Cantonese name of Darlie toothpaste, "Haak Yaan Nga Gou" (Blackman toothpaste) is offensive.
Also, in that year, she claimed via The Christian Science Publishing Society in another article Japan's Bigoted Exports to Kids[3]. That Mr. Popo, a character from the Dragon Ball/Z/GT series is another negative stereotype of African Americans. The manga released in USA later had reduced the size of Mr. Popo's lips.
[edit] Selected works
- Juneteeth Jamboree, with Yvonne Buchanan (Illustrator), 1995, Lee & Low Books. ISBN 1-880000-18-0
- The Tar Baby on the Soapbox, 1999, Methodist College. ISBN 0-9670994-3-9
- The African-American Struggle for Legal Equality in American History, 2000 Enslow Publishers. ISBN 0-7660-1415-0
- The Sound That Jazz Makes, with Eric Velasquez (Illustrator), 2001, Walker Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0-8027-7674-4
