Follow-up to the earlier question

[james_davis_nicoll]

Which mainstream science fiction or fantasy work would you say was the most racist mainstream science fiction or fantasy work?

(Mainstream = published by a legit publisher, not some vanity house)

Comments

[ndrosen]

Sixth Column depicts cultural and military conflict, but is not strictly speaking racist. One of the good guys is an American of Japanese descent, and it is noted that the Asian conquerors are exterminating Asian-descended Americans. Also, the hero in question is described as being “as American as Will Rogers, and more American than that fox-hunting English gentleman, George Washington.” You can say that the book isn’t great literature, or that Heinlein was an American patriot, but I deny that it is racist.

[jessie_c]

Yeah, no. The time to delete that nonsense was right after you posted it. The next best time is now. Sixth Column is indeed racist "Yellow Peril" garbage right out of Campbell's prejudices. In fact, RAH had to rewrite it to make it more racist before Campbell would publish it.

[jbwoodford]

AIUI, Heinlein did soften the racism from Campbell's original idea (adding Frank Mitsui as a character, e.g.), but it was still awful. Note that Mitsui is rewarded for his existence as a token by having his entire family killed horribly in backstory, and then dying nobly to stop the nutbar white guy.

Now that I think on it, the nutbar white guy starts out espousing a few positions not far from Campbell's, in some ways. I wonder if Heinlein did that on purpose?

[dragoness_e]

From what I've read in Heinlein's posthumous memoirs, very likely. He was the type to take a sly poke at someone he despised in a way that didn't cost him a sale. Presumably this story was written before Heinlein stopped doing business with editors that insisted on rewrites to their specifications.