10/14/2024
I dug deep for stories that dealt with racism and discrimination when I was a child reading science fiction in the early 1960s.
I found it in the post WWII writings of Ray Bradbury.
Bradbury published the story “Way in the Middle of the Air” in 1950 in the magazine Other Worlds The short story also appears in his book The Martian Chronicles with a follow up story in the Illustrated Man. “The Other Foot”, a sequel to “Way in the Middle of the Air”, was published in 1951 in The Illustrated Man. Both stories deal with racial prejudice and segregation
“Way in the Middle of the Air” is about Samuel Teece, a white hardware store owner in the American South during the Jim Crow era, who tries to stop African Americans from moving to Mars.
“Way in the Middle of the Air” approaches the subject of racism and segregation by seemingly embracing the separationist impulse that inspired the founders of the Back-to-Africa (or Black Zionism) movement in the 19th century. “The Other Foot”, in contrast, imagines (or rather suggests) the beginning of a utopian society: not a particularly advanced one in terms of technology, but utopian in its post-racial, post-segregated nature. In that sense, “The Other Foot” is, by far, the most optimistic of these stories."
In 1953, Comic Code Administrator (CCA) Judge Charles Murphy rejected the comic book story, Judgement Day, because the astronaut was Black. Writer Al Feldstein and William Gaines, EC's publisher and future publisher of Mad Magazine, ran the story anyway. Feldstein also became editor of Mad.
In stories like "Judgment Day"the CCA objected because "central characters" were Black. In "Judgment Day" a human astronaut is visiting an alien planet. The population is divided between a ruling orange and subjegated blue race of otherwise identical robots.
Philip K. Dick took his shot at a social injustice in America when this short story, read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, appeared in the May 1954 issue of Planet Stories.
Eons after the last nuclear war, humans have become the inferior race. Cities have become segregated, and robots rule the world. The robots did have a sense of justice, though. If a human could score high enough on an annual test, he could move up in society. There was a catch, though. The test was so slanted toward robot mentality and knowledge, a human didn't have a chance. Then James P. Crow (not his real name) arrives on the scene with his window that sees into the past and the future.
If you got young'uns that love to read. Suggest these stories. Read them yourself if you haven't
This has been my mornin-wake-up mission call for the week.
Enjoy
