SPACE TRADERS OR INVADERS???

     The 1994 Short film “Space Traders” by Derrick Bell is an interesting take on the concept of Afrofuturism. In the film the United States is visited by a fleet of alien spaceships that give the country’s leaders the option of having all of their issues solved; this includes monetary and environmental, if they trade a large majority of the black population to them. Throughout the movie we follow a black government official who is trying to convince the rest of the leaders to oppose this and deny the alien the trade. However, it is unsuccessful and many Black Americans are sent on their way not knowing what exactly is going to happen to them. 

    This concept is interesting because it is the opposite of what many Afrofuturist stories depict. Typically, being taken away by aliens is the fantasy. Being able to escape persecution and leave behind a racist world that commodified black bodies, is what many writers dream of. Here it’s shown as a negative, the uncertainty and the anonymity of the creatures is what creates that source of anxiety for the black population. 

    In today’s world, It’s hard to imagine this happening because either the decision would be made very quickly to remove  black people. Or, some kind of violence would ensue following the announcement. The way it was depicted in the film reminded me a lot of the trains that Jewish people were herded onto during the holocaust. The lack of personal baggage, and the long lines before transportation allude to this being the source for inspiration.

What is also interesting, is the choice of following the family of the Black figure head instead of a less well off family. This was most likely done so as to show that racism does not care about your position. 

One last thing to point out is the fact that only people with a certain percentage of melanin were allowed to go. Anyone with less than this could stay, but anyone with more is expected to go. The minimal requirement of melanin was likened to the color of a paper bag. This is a common idea used in colorist ideology. It’s called the Paper Bag test, and its meant to show what is an acceptable amount of pigmentation in skin. Anything darker is attributed with nasty stereotypes and such. The lightness of the brown is seen as more acceptable. In this film it’s being used as a minimum requirement. Almost in the opposite way because usually having the lighter tone allows for many lightskin black people to pervade certain types of racist persecution.