Whose Fantasy? Who’s Fantasy?

Black Stormtroopers and the White Washing of the Speculative Fiction Genre

I woke up at 4am the morning after Thanksgiving in 2014. I had been staying the night at my friends Liz and Rob’s house after imbibing what can only be called a festive amount of alcohol. The couch, comfortable as it was when I settled in to sleep, was a nightmare to wake up in as I willed myself into consciousness. Then I remembered:

The Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was set to drop that morning

In all of my revelry the previous evening, I had forgotten this fact. I scrambled to find my phone as my brain continued to process this crucial bit of information (and the alcohol from last night). There were already thousands of views on YouTube. My mouth dry and my mind racing, I pressed play.

The first character in the trailer is a harried and exhausted looking John Boyega decked out in a Stormtrooper outfit, and I did all I could do to contain my glee. When I had heard that Boyega was cast to be in the movie, I had assumed it…