Institute for Human Advancement

[Lord Liaden]

Thanks to the popularity of Marvel Comics' X-Men series, and the movies and television shows spawned from them, many players of Champions and other supers RPGs want to play superheroes with a "mutant" background. Marvel has long used mutants as a metaphor for racism, as they suffer persecution at the hands of frightened "normal humans." The official Champions Universe doesn't feature the kind of widespread anti-mutant paranoia so often displayed in Marvel's universe. To most people on  Champs Earth genetic mutation is just one source of super powers, and mutants are viewed as no better or worse than other superhumans. However, there definitely is a minority of people who do hold such fears; and one official group is particularly willing and able to exploit those fearful people, and mold them into a force dangerous to all mutants, and any other superhumans who would stand in support of them.

 

To date there's been no PnP source book dedicated to the Institute for Human Advancement (IHA). One was planned before the severe downsizing of Hero Games several years ago, but AFAIK there are no current plans to publish one. Not a lot of information has appeared in other books, and what there is is scattered; but collectively it provides enough potential for some intriguing plot uses for the IHA, or a similar group, in any superheroic campaign which features mutants, aliens, or any other minority on Earth with special abilities who are subject to mistrust and fear. When one includes not just the possible permutations of the IHA, but the nature and history of forces opposed to or potentially allied with them, the possibilities multiply for uses of a group like this which may not all have occurred to GMs. Not to mention the character depths players might plumb who like their PCs angsty.   So I thought it might be helpful to pull that information together here.

 

The core info about the Institute appears in Champions Universe. While the current edition of that book is for the Sixth Edition of the Hero System, the previous Fifth Edition book includes some significant material relevant to the IHA which wasn't reprinted. Other small but valuable data are mentioned in Book Of The Empress, Champions Battlegrounds, Champions Universe: News Of The World, Champions Villains Vols. 1 & 2, Conquerors Killers And Crooks, Millennium City, Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth, Teen Champions, Vibora Bay, and VIPER: Coils Of The Serpent.

[Lord Liaden]

Although the Institute's name makes it sound like a benevolent scientific group or think-tank, its public face is actually a political lobbying group focusing on superhumans, primarily mutants. Its goal is the advancement of "true humans" by severely restricting and controlling, even eliminating, mutants and other supers. While the IHA often objects to and lobbies against superhumans in general -- particularly those who support or defend mutants -- it regards mutant superhumans as "the single most dangerous threat to true humans on this planet today," according to its promotional material. IHA publications, including its annual "Mutant Threat Report", discuss in lurid detail the possibilities of mutants supplanting true humans, and then either killing them all or herding them into slave labor camps. Every time a superhuman battle causes significant damage or loss of human life, the Institute rails against the mutant "abomination" and the "severe hazard mutant superhumans pose to all true humans." Most people in and out of government dismiss the Institute as crackpots, but their papers are professionally-made and skillfully convey the IHA's message.

 

Founded in 1982 by Annette Berkelheimer, after her death in 1994 the IHA came under the direction of Archer Samuels, a skilled businessman and public relations expert, who if anything is even more rabidly anti-mutant than Berkelheimer was. Under Samuels the IHA has gained a higher, more positive profile in American society, significantly increased its fundraising revenue, and stepped up its lobbying efforts to have the government regulate mutants and similar superhumans.

 

The vocal support of Senator Phillip Glassman of Wyoming has given the Institute and its message greater legitimacy, which worries mutants on both sides of the law. Following the death of his beloved daughter Anelle in 1997 in a super battle in New York City, Senator Glassman became a tireless crusader against superhumans in general, and mutant superhumans in particular. A four-term senator, Glassman has a lot of clout in Washington and is skilled at manipulating the media to get out the messages he wants to convey.

 

But the public face of the Institute hides a much darker and more dangerous visage. Archer Samuels took over the IHA after secretly murdering Annette Berkelheimer, because she wasn't hard-line enough for him. A fanatic mutant-hater for reasons he's never clearly articulated, under Samuels the IHA has been gearing up for all-out war with mutantkind. Using the influx of money Samuels has generated, it has trained and equipped a small army of "mutant hit squads." A standard IHA "agent" (the organization refers to them as "soldiers") is a skilled normal human equipped with assault rifle, body armor, and related conventional gear. As the Institute strengthens both its finances and its ties with ARGENT (see below), it may switch to high-tech equipment like blaster rifles and force-field belts (which would give Champions players an excuse to "upgrade" their opponents as they grow in power and experience).

 

With considerable help from ARGENT the IHA has developed sophisticated "Minuteman" combat robots, able to take on and destroy even powerful superhumans. Currently on their seventh generation (although the first six never appeared publicly), the Minutemen are artificially intelligent, and equipped with a wide array of variable-configuration weapons to take advantage of known weaknesses of particular mutants. They stand at least ten feet tall (sometimes taller due to options or upgrades), with a green metallic body and gold arms and head. Their limbs and body have panels covering ports for weapons and flight jets. (The Minuteman robots have only been described and game-statted in the Fifth Edition version of Champions Universe. But clearly they were inspired by those nemeses of the X-Men, the Sentinels.)

[Lord Liaden]

Having started in the United States the Institute remains strongest there, but definitely aspires to export its campaign internationally. It's opened branch offices in a number of European cities, and has on several occasions strongly lobbied the French government -- which has some of the strictest superhuman registration laws in Europe -- to pass even harsher anti-super legislation. Archer Samuels doesn't look too closely at where donations to the IHA come from -- anything that helps him pursue his goals is worth taking. Rumored to advise foreign governments over how to handle their "mutant problem," Samuels and other IHA leaders have secretly worked with North Korea, Chiquador, Iran, Awad, and other "rogue states" to help them cope with superheroes, for which the IHA received lavish under-the-table "consulting fees." Additionally, a number of wealthy supervillains, including Dr. Destroyer and the Warlord, have covertly contributed large amounts of cash through proxies, since they think the IHA weakens their enemies. The Supreme Serpent of VIPER is considering infiltrating an operative into the Institute to direct it more toward VIPER's purposes.

 

OTOH mutant supervillains like Gravitar, Holocaust, and Menton abhor the Institute and take every opportunity to attack it or cause it as much trouble as they can... and the IHA holds those incidents up as proof that it's right. The mutant master villain Kinematik, who actively promotes an aggressive pro-mutant-superiority campaign reminiscent of Marvel's Magneto, has often attacked IHA offices and public events. The Institute has rated him #1 on its Mutant Threat Report every year since 2006. Kinematik and his followers have clashed with Minuteman robots on several occasions, although they've never been linked to the IHA. (All the preceding villains are written up in Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains. More on Kinematik below.)

 

The fourth scenario in the adventure compilation book, Champions Battlegrounds, titled "Under Construction," involves a new skyscraper being built which will include among its tenants offices for the public lobbying arm of the Institute for Human Advancement. One of the partners in the project, real-estate developer Thomas Howland Jaye, is a public supporter of the IHA, and secretly one of its members. The plans for the building include a secret sub-basement which will have a hidden tunnel to the city's sewers, allowing IHA personnel to use it as a covert staging area for their operations. It's Jaye's plan to tip off Holocaust of the IHA's intent to occupy the building, to prompt him to attack the construction site and use that in the IHA's PR campaign.

 

As mentioned earlier, non-mutant superhumans can also find the IHA their enemy, particularly if they support mutants or oppose the Institute's plans. For example, Millennium City's simian super-scientist, Dr. Silverback, is a vocal and influential advocate for the rights of superhumans, which has earned him the IHA's especial ire. (Dr. Silverback's latest write-up is in Champions Universe 6E.)

[Lord Liaden]

Aside from Archer Samuels, little has been revealed about the organizational structure of the IHA, although other "leaders" have been mentioned. The one other named official operates out of Vibora Bay. The IHA maintains a small, but well run and well funded office in the financial district of VB, which coordinates its fundraising and recruitment efforts in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The local director, Charles Bourne, is a true believer in the Institute's philosophy, and often gives interviews and press releases when superhuman violence breaks out.

 

It's unclear whether Senator Phillip Glassman is involved with or even aware of the IHA's more immoral and illegal actions, but other prominent politicians are, although they may not be as public in their support for the Institute. (See below.) The IHA also has ties to several companies which helped fund Millennium City. While not as strong as some authorities and supers fear, those ties could prove problematic for MC heroes.

 

The IHA has built several secret bases, including at least one "concentration camp" where captured mutants are subjected to numerous tests and cruel experiments, mostly to discover exploitable mutant weaknesses.

 

The IHA has a branch called "Future Citizens" dedicated to cultivating its beliefs in teenagers. While it presents itself as similar to the Scouts or 4H, Future Citizens is more like the Hitler Youth. It teaches its members human supremist doctrine, and the threat to the "human way of life" posed by mutants and other superhumans. Local IHA offices organize retreats where youths learn survival techniques and weapon use, while guest lecturers always turn their presentations to the superiority of humanity and malice of superhumans.

 

Much of the membership's time is taken up in volunteer work. Whenever superhumans go on a rampage, Future Citizens help with the relief effort -- which gives the youth a first-hand look at the evils superhumans cause. Twice a year there's a national Future Citizens convention for teens from all over the country, usually in a city recovering from some superhuman battle.

[Lord Liaden]

Although the IHA can be used as typical combat foes for superheroes -- particularly their Minuteman robots -- some of their potentially most interesting uses would be in the arena of public relations. The Institute constantly strives to persuade more people to their way of thinking, and to discredit any mutant or other superheroes who would oppose them. The stories of mutants unfortunate enough to be the direct targets of the Institute highlight how that dimension could be added to PC role playing.

 

David Green was born with the ability to control fire, but had no desire but to live a normal life. However, one day he used his powers to rescue a woman and her young daughter from a burning building, and was lauded in the media as a hero. The next day an op-ed piece appeared accusing David of having lost control of his powers and actually starting the fire. The resulting controversy and letters from "concerned citizens" was part of a coordinated smear campaign by the IHA. David withdrew from public sight and eventually disappeared altogether. Most people assumed he'd moved away, but in fact the Institute abducted him to their mutant concentration camp for experimentation. David eventually escaped with two other mutants, but because he'd recognized visitors to the camp as important politicians he was afraid to go to the authorities. David Green ultimately became the reluctant supervillain called Firedrake. (Firedrake's story and character sheet appear in Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth.)

 

As a boy Raimundo Alvarez became part of the show of a traveling faith healer, due to his ability to mend broken bones and cure bone diseases. Years later duing a show in Texas, someone in the crowd shouted accusations of him being a "mutie" rather than a genuine faith healer. The man soon whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and Raimundo was on the verge of being beaten to death when Kinematik arrived and saved him. Kinematik revealed that the man in the crowd was an IHA plant. Raimundo joined Kinematik's pro-mutant crusade, under the code-name Fossil. (Fossil's write-up is part of Kinematik's entry in Champions Villains Vol. 1.)

 

In early 2005, in the aftermath of the Reality Storm crisis of the previous year, several "concerned citizens" groups coordinated by the Institute for Human Advancement, began to publicly campaign for the Champions to leave MC, either voluntarily or by order of the city government. They argued that the city wouldn't be subject to so many threats if it didn't have a resident superhero team drawing villainous attention. With so much recent destruction around them, at first many Lennies felt some sympathy for this position, but the Champions hired Sapphire's PR firm to counter it, backed by victims rights groups and similar organizations. Ultimately public opinion turned against the IHA's plan.

[Lord Liaden]

Some Champions books include "plot seeds" for individual characters or groups: short plot suggestions which a Game Master could choose to expand upon for their own games. A few such seeds are mentioned for the Institute for Human Advancement. While most seeds aren't noted as having happened yet in official continuity, they could inspire plots Champions players might like to run.

 

To gain political support, the IHA hires prostitutes to seduce married Congressmen so it can blackmail them into favoring the Institute's agenda. Heroes discovering this would have to figure out how to resolve it without attracting media attention.

 

The IHA hires assassins to go after heroes, equipping them with typical VIPER technology (probably provided by ARGENT, which frequently contracts for VIPER). If the assassins fail the VIPER tech will deflect suspicion from the Institute.

 

The IHA offers to equip any police force that requests it with $10 million worth of anti-superhuman weaponry. Where are they getting the money to afford this -- what's really going on behind the scenes?

 

IHA leaders have been trying to develop a plan to lure most of America's prominent mutants to one location so the Minutemen can obliterate them at a single stroke.

 

The supervillain Mirage is a master of chemistry and holography, who uses her technology to set traps for superhumans to prove that "normal humans" are just as good as them. (Think Mysterio from Marvel Comics.) The IHA approaches her with an offer of a consulting job, but they really just want to steal her tech to use against mutants. Mirage may have to ask for heroic help to get it back... or just trick them into helping her. (Mirage is detailed in Champions Villains Vol. 3: Solo Villains.)

[Lord Liaden]

Now I'd like to explore the possibilities surrounding the IHA's main opposite number in the "war" over mutants, whom I mentioned above.

 

Kinematik first appeared in public on Champions Earth in 2004, when he attacked and damaged UNTIL's super-prison, the Guardhourse, to liberate "mutants held in oppression by norms." Two of the four mutant supervillains he freed that day became part of his core followers. Since then, Kinematik has promoted his pro-mutant agenda through violence and destruction, as when he attacked Washington, D.C. in 2007 to "protest" what he views as America's anti-mutant attitudes and policies, which resulted in damage to several monuments and the deaths of over a hundred innocent bystanders, including two Congressmen. He has no problem with hurting or killing "norms" in general as unavoidable casualties of war, although he's not so extreme that he'd willingly harm a norm who obviously treats mutants with respect.

 

Kinematik's current theory and position, which has circulated widely over the Internet through various essays he's written, is that mutants represent the next and final stage in human evolution, and are inherently superior to norms so should rightfully rule them. (And of course, as spiritual leader of this movement, Kinematik would rule the mutants.) Kinematik is a black man of average height and build, who possesses powerful but somewhat limited abilities to control momentum and inertia, including near-instantaneous transportation of himself and his followers by canceling their momentum relative to the Earth's rotation (which also works to fling enemies far from him).

 

Kinematik actively seeks to recruit other mutants to his cause. He has three committed followers: Blindside,, who can telepathically interfere with someone's neural functions, influence their minds, or even "possess" another person's body; Fossil, who can mend or damage a person's bones, grow bone weapons and armor over his body, and animate skeletons; and Overdrive, who can selectively increase any of his physical or mental abilities to formidable superhuman levels (although the more of them he augments at one time, the less he can increase any one of them). Any known mutant superhuman is likely to be approached to join him. He's made contact with many mutants in the past and worked with quite a few. No few of them have sympathy for his position but aren't yet convinced to join him. Others have clearly refused him. Some, notably mutant superheroes, forcefully oppose him. Kinematik considers any mutants in that last category, or even those who refuse him with marked disrespect or who denigrate his cause, as "race traitors" and "tools of the anti-mutant bigots," to be treated the same as norms. As far as Kinematik is concerned, if you aren't with him you're against him. In fact such mutants may be especial targets of his wrath.

[Lord Liaden]

What no one but Kinematik knows is that he isn't native to Champions Earth. He comes from an alternate Earth where mutants are oppressed and persecuted. Once a true superhero on that world, when the world's governments turned against mutants Kinematik led the mutant resistance against them. At first trying to change people's minds while using minimal force, Kinematik's attitudes grew more extreme and violent over time. But after years of guerilla warfare, despite his power and cunning he was cornered by his enemies, and forced to use an experimental device to transport himself to another universe. On Champions Earth the conditions for mutants are much better, but Kinematik still sees the seeds of future mutant oppression there and is determined to prevent it. After seeing the worst in human nature for so long there's practically no way to convince him he's wrong.

 

Besides Kinematik one other person from his world, the former member of PSI called Lancer, has been revealed to also have come to Champs Earth. So there's precedent for additional characters, including PCs, to try to escape to the same universe. Eventually the government of that world may tire of Champs Earth being used as an "escape route" for "wanted criminals," and send their own forces to try to retrieve Kinematik and other refugees (which forces can include anti-mutant "Hunterbots"). OTOH Kinematik might be able to persuade Champs Earth superhumans to join him in trying to liberate mutants on his home world. In fact Lancer returned home with some of her former PSI colleagues to attempt just that, but failed.

 

Kinematik and his followers are fully detailed in Champions Villains Vol. 1: Master Villains. Lancer's write-up is only in the section on PSI in Conquerors Killers And Crooks. Their homeworld, referred to as "Emperor Martinez Earth," is described in Book Of The Empress -- but following is an abbreviated description of its points most relevant to this discussion.

[Lord Liaden]

Per the history of "Emperor Martinez Earth" in Book Of The Empress pp. 131-132, the divergence between that world and Champions Earth starts in 1980, and involves two key individuals who differ significantly on each world. EME's version of Menton was even more powerful than the CE one. He rebelled against Dr. Destroyer, burned out Destroyer's mind, took control of his organization, and recruited dozens of other "mentalist" supers with promises of power as the elite rulers of the Earth. After four years of battle with the global forces of justice, Menton was killed and his criminal empire collapsed; but the worldwide public backlash against mentalists, even heroic ones, was severe.

 

On both worlds Juan Martinez was the first Secretary-Marshal of UNTIL. On CE he's a man of high ideals, but on EME he's a political opportunist and schemer of the first water. Martinez played on those public fears, and UNTIL's prominent role in stopping Menton, to get himself elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, and gain sweeping new powers for the UN to counter the "mentalist threat." Because most mentalists are mutants, the campaign was later broadened to include all super-powered mutants. Martinez himself remains Secretary-General of the UN today, but in the name of ant-mutant security has consolidated power in his office, making him the effective Emperor of Earth.

 

Probably the worst-case scenario would be the Institute for Human Advancement somehow making contact with Emperor Martinez Earth. I'm sure Archer Samuels would be overjoyed to find a world run by people who hate mutants as much as he does; and EME's backing could greatly raise the threat level posed by the IHA. OTOH Juan Martinez might see the IHA as useful tools through which to prosecute the conquest of another Earth.

[Duke Bushido]

You know....

 

There's probably a small market for this.  I mean, get with Jason and see what you need to collect all this information from the sources, add text and history as appropriate, add a few agents, characters or interest, a handful of write-ups, information on sponsorship, etc--

 

and package it into one of those eight-dollar PDFs.  You know: get the official stamp.

 

Gotta level with ya:  in a world where super-powered people, high-tech warriors, and aliens with powers that boggle the mind are all matters of course, the hatred of the super powered mutant is, in my own opinion, beyond stupid, but I'd buy an inexpensive PDF just for the source material it might provide.  I like to support.
 

 

Or maybe I should have gone to bed before opening my mouth.  don't know.  Guess I'll do that now....

[Demiurgos]

47 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Gotta level with ya:  in a world where super-powered people, high-tech warriors, and aliens with powers that boggle the mind are all matters of course, the hatred of the super powered mutant is, in my own opinion, beyond stupid

 

Throughout human history, hatred of an entire group of people doesn't tend to be rational and well-reasoned.

[Duke Bushido]

Well it's 30 for thirty thus far.  My appologies; to explain:

 

That is more or less the-- while unquestionably logical-- standard reply to the "the whole basis of the X-books is unsupportable" or any similar comment. 

 

At its core, hatred of a group is based on the idea that this group is "different from me / us", and usually in an easily-percievable manner.  Stupid?  Unquestionably. 

 

But the idea of hating the guy with the fur in a setting with a hundred furred men, or the guy with the wings when there is a race of birdman spewing from a crack in the earth, of the guy with super stretching--no, not him; him.  No, not that one either; the other him.  No, behind that one.  Look, it's seven stretchy guys over, four stretchy guys back.  Yeah, him.  I hate him; he's different. 

 

Heroic campaign?  Fine; hate them all you want.  Be jealous as Caine; whatever.  In supers, it actually requires more suspension of disbelief than does the existence of the supers themselves. 

 

[Lord Liaden]

Generally speaking, I agree with Duke. The widespread mutant hatred in the X-books, whereas other types of supers are more accepted, strains credulity. IMO that's why it being a fringe movement in the Champions Universe makes it much more believable. But as we've seen in the real world, even a relatively small group of extremists can be very dangerous with enough weapons and competent tactical leadership.

 

But I will say that mutants could impact people on a different emotional level: they could be your own children. Their "otherness" could infect your "tribe" without any warning, turning people you thought you were close to into "monsters" -- "corrupting" your very legacy. Like homophobia, only the difference can include super-strength or shooting laser beams. That would be a more likely and explicable source of paranoia.

[steriaca]

I would create an armed "outshoot" and call them Project Genocide. Publicly they say that the IHA does not go far enough. Publicly IHA says that Project Genocide does not represent IHA and that they are not a part of that origination. Of course, privately...

 

Also, another subgroup is CROSS, a religious charaty which responds to superpower crises in all there forms, and appears to have no ties to IHA. But they are gathering people who share the same views as IHA on religious grounds.

[Ninja-Bear]

With CROSS let’s not.

[Duke Bushido]

10 hours ago, steriaca said:

 

Also, another subgroup is CROSS, a religious charaty which responds to superpower crises in all there forms, and appears to have no ties to IHA. But they are gathering people who share the same views as IHA on religious grounds.

 

This is so much more acceptable to me (not the religious part; the over-all hatred part, if I'm reading it correctly.).  

 

Hate _all_ of them-- all the super-powered types.  Fear what they might do if they acted en masse against the mere mortals.  It's not my personal cup of tea, but it is _so_ much more believable.

 

I'm not a comic book guy, though I guess I have "normal guy" familiarity with the big names from the industry.  I know Marvel makes a big deal out of mutants because it sells a never-ending procession of X-this and X-that, and that DC (?)-- the superman / batman / wonder woman / flash guys-- have mutants and it's the much more realistic "I'm a mutant; no biggie, I just don't have a complicated origin story."

 

I also know there are other publishers out there.  How do they handle mutants?  Marvel or DC?

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

11 hours ago, steriaca said:

I would create an armed "outshoot" and call them Project Genocide. Publicly they say that the IHA does not go far enough. Publicly IHA says that Project Genocide does not represent IHA and that they are not a part of that origination. Of course, privately...

 

I've done much the same for my own games. I adapted elements of Genocide as presented in The Mutant File as the core armed extremist group of this organization, also using the name "Genocide." The Institute for Human Advancement is a public fund-raising and lobbying cover for the extremists, and a recruitment tool to swell the ranks of their combatants. So is the Pure Earth Society (also from TMF), which presents itself as an ecological defense group, but highlights the environmental damage often done by superhuman battles and other activities. As a result "pure Earth" takes on a decidedly more sinister tone in some people's minds; but some of those people would make good recruits for Genocide.

 

I know many Champions gamers object to the name "Genocide" as being impossible to recruit people under. But IMO for fanatics with this mindset it perfectly suits their objective, while the other cover groups provide a more broadly palatable public face, and serve to cultivate the true believers willing to take up arms in defense of "true humans." (Besides, in a world where people belong to groups called VIPER and DEMON -- not to mention Hydra, Kobra, or the Sons of Satannish -- it's not such a stretch.)

[Lord Liaden]

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

This is so much more acceptable to me (not the religious part; the over-all hatred part, if I'm reading it correctly.).  

 

Hate _all_ of them-- all the super-powered types.  Fear what they might do if they acted en masse against the mere mortals.  It's not my personal cup of tea, but it is _so_ much more believable.

 

That's the thing about a group like the IHA as presented here -- it's very easy to expand the objects of their hatred for a particular GM's campaign, to include human mutates, aliens, AIs, undead... anything that doesn't match their definition of "human."

[Duke Bushido]

Right.  And personally,  I think you seem to know the "official" source material well enough, and have enough experience tweaking it, to seriously considering getting the rights to do PDF sourcebook on it.

 

But I'm just a guy talking-- a guy with no idea what's on your plate, or what you would or would not enjoy doing, so feel free to tell me to stuff it.

 

[Lord Liaden]

I would never say such a thing. Thinking it, though... ?

 

There are several factors why I would not be looking at such a project at this time. But thank you for your kind words.

[segerge]

I have to admit a little disappointment with the lack of development of the IHA in FRed and 6th Ed.  Enough so that when 4th Ed "The Mutant Files" became available for purchase again I did so with the intent of merging the the IHA and GENOCIDE to flesh out some Hunteds that a couple of my TASK FORCE characters had.

 

Major kudos to Lord Liaden for fleshing the IHA out like this.

[Duke Bushido]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

I would never say such a thing. Thinking it, though... ?

 

 

 

 

I don't care what anyone thinks about Australians and their accents---

 

Canadians are, hands-down, the greatest people to converse with.

 

 

[Mr. R]

The following is a story I read/heard once about the problems of anti mutant hysteria in Marvel

 

Quote

This story is basically the problem with a mutant hating group in a world with so many supers.

Ricky is walking up the driveway to Bubba Ray’s house. There he sees Bubba placing rifles and shotguns in is pickup truck. It not being hunting season, 

Ricky - What you loading up for? Huntin season isn’t for another three weeks!

Bubba - Not huntin…. Gonna go to the old Johnson place. I hear a Mutant moved in. No stinkin mutant gonna pollute my home.

Ricky - Ahh Bubba…. He’s not a mutie. 

Bubba - Say what?

Ricky - No really. Bobby Joe and I visited him the other day. Turns out he’s the victim of some sort of experiment.

Bubba - C’mon, seriously, you gonna buy thet?

Ricky - He had the documentation from the Avengers, Captain America no less, to certify he’s no mutant. Bobby Joe is organizing a potluck welcome to our town. I came to ask if Sammy Joe could make one of here great pies? C’mon, he glows in the dark, and promised use a light show.

Bubby - Well…. OK, but only if we can take him out drink’n tomorrow. Think he’ll like Hooters?

 

[archer]

18 hours ago, Mr. R said:

The following is a story I read/heard once about the problems of anti mutant hysteria in Marvel

 

 

 

As odd as it might sound, stuff like that would matter to some people.

 

When I was a kid, back in the dimness of pre-history, my dad invited a client who was visiting from abroad to attend a church service.

 

One of my brother's friends pulled me aside after the service and, upset, asked me why my dad had brought a black man to church.

 

I explained to him that the man wasn't black, that he was from India and was an Indian.

 

That explanation completely satisfied him, even though it didn't change the complexion of the visitor in the slightest. And to this day, I'm not sure why "black" would be less desirable to him on some level than "Indian".

 

Now as to why a Hindu Indian would voluntarily choose to attend a Baptist church service in the south back in that era, I attribute to either complete ignorance or outstanding bravery.

 

 

 

[DShomshak]

Well, when one of my friends attended pharmacy school he had a roommate who said that black people were stupid, lazy, etc.

 

This surprised my friend because his roommate came from Ethiopia and had the darkest skin he'd ever seen. He said, more or less, "Um?"

 

The roommate explained that as an Ethiopian, he came from an ancient and glorious civilization and was, therefore, not black. Not black American black, anyway. A completely different race.

 

Oookay... My friend thought it best to let the matter drop.

 

Dean Shomshak