Posted by Ed Kiser on August 13, 2009 at 16:59:23 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Ransome and Race posted by Duncan on August 12, 2009 at 10:10:25:
While certain terms have been identified in the writings of AR as being possibly taken as race-offensive, there is yot another usage that perhaps should be likewise questioned, and that is, the naming, in PETER DUCK, of the "heavy", the bad guy, by using the name BLACK JACK. This seems to tend to try to make use of the assumed notion that "black" means bad, as for example, as it is used in the expression "He is the BLACK sheep of the family." This annotation adds a concept of distaste, of badness, of not being liked, but to be despised, or at least, looked down upon.
Ransome also uses "Black" in the manner in which it was previously used in "Treasure Island" with the concept of, "Tipping Captain Flint the BLACK Spot" as a form of ultimatum, showing dislike or even anger.
So already, having seen the name, "BLACK JAKE", we readers are already informed, just from that name, that he is up to no good, that he is the bad guy.
Just as in the typical "western" movie, the good guys wear white hats, but the bad guys wear black hats, a form of stereotyping that identifies the type of person upon first glance.
Perhaps that American General of World War One might wish to argue this connection, as he was called, "John Joseph Blackjack Pershing," a name that was given as at one time, he was the commander of the 10th Cav, a Black unit, known as "Buffalo Soldiers."
This reference to General Pershing can be verified by looking at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=806
Even the rules of CHESS assign a Second Place to the concept of BLACK, as there are two kinds of chess pieces, the White and the Black, but, according to the rules, WHITE always moves first.
But then, on the other hand, there are those that proudly proclaim, "Black is Beautiful."
Ed Kiser, Kentucky