It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a commentary about the Star Wars fandom, specifically its treatment of men and women of color. And if we’re being precise, Black women seem to get the worst kind of vitriol from the so-called fans of this franchise. There’s also the disdain for queer stories within the universe by this small but loud community of MAGA-like fans who use terms like “woke” and “forced diversity.” This is clearly a sign to their sycophants that if it’s not cis, white, and male, it’s not the Star Wars they knew or grew up with.

On August 19, 2024, the trade magazine Deadline exclusively announced that the Disney+ series The Acolyte was canceled and not renewed for a second season. This announcement ironically came on the same day that fans of the series celebrated Manny Jacinto’s birthday. Manny Jacinto plays Qimir, one of the flagship characters of the series. His performance in this season received a lot of praise from fans as he was able to play both the light and dark sides of this enigmatic character. However, not every character on the series was well received, and this was also true for many of the show’s female characters.

But what about Star Wars and black women?

The Acolytes Lead actress Amandla Stenberg, who plays dual roles as Verosha “Osha” and Mae-ho (Mae), has undoubtedly received more mixed opinions from viewers than any other character. While there are fans like me who thought Amandla delivered a stunning performance in the role of a twin sister, others didn’t see it that way. But it’s not about whether you liked her performance or not, because our opinions about an actor or character portrayal are always subjective. It’s about how the actor playing the role is treated in real life. In Amandla’s case, she received hate in her IG comments after the news of the cancellation hit the internet. And it’s awful what these toxic people are saying. The tragic part of all this is that this isn’t Amandla’s first rodeo with online hate.

In 2012, Amandla played the role of Rue in The Hunger Games. For some bizarre reason, fans of Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name assumed Rue was white. For those of us with clear reading comprehension, it was clear from Collins’ description of Rue that she was black, or at least a person of color.

At one point she writes that Rue has “dark brown skin and eyes.” At another point she describes her as having “light, dark eyes and velvety brown skin.” After reading the book myself (long before the movie came out), I always thought Rue was black. In The AcolyteThe series also stars Jodie Turner-Smith (mother Aniseya), who has a queer romance with Koril (Margarita Levieva). The Force-sensitive witches live in Brendok, and she gave birth to Mae and Osha as Aniseya’s partner in parenthood. This subculture of Star Wars incels took to social media to denounce this relationship as well. Unfortunately, targeted cyberbullying towards queer cast members occurred in real life, and showrunner Leslye Headland, who is openly lesbian, had to deal with this backlash.

This is what Moses Ingram had to endure while working on the series Obi-Wan Kenobi. In that series, she played Inquisitor Reva Sevander, also known as the Third Sister. She is Force sensitive and serves the Galactic Empire as a member of the Inquisitorius. The same cyberbullying Amandla is now dealing with on her IG, Moses faced the same hate. Her co-star Ewan McGregor addressed the hate and the official Star Wars account uploaded the video.

And when Star Wars doesn’t cast black women in lead or significant roles, the characters are “fridging” or used as a plot device to advance another character’s story. Examples include Val Beckett (Thandiwe Newton) from Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jannah (Naomi Ackie) from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

At least we can breathe a sigh of relief that we have Rosario Dawson, a black woman leading a Star Wars franchise with Ahsoka. And I can speculate as to why she hasn’t received as much backlash as other black actresses, which is largely because there was a fan-driven campaign to cast her in the role. Also, it’s significant that Ahsoka Tano doesn’t have a human appearance; her face is literally orange.

Just like Maz Kanta, voiced by Lupita Nyong’o in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Maybe it’s easier for MAGA fans to digest our blackness being erased than to see it in its full glory. I remember when Lupita’s name was first announced as an ensemble member of TFA before it was mentioned what character she was playing. I was hoping to see Lupita herself on screen rather than a CGI character.

There seems to be a lot more diversity and acceptance of black women in the literary world of Star Wars than in cinema and television. With characters like Rae Sloane, Sana Starros or Vi Moradi. But it’s clear that this fringe group of so-called “fans” don’t read. And many are, in my opinion, scammers using YouTube, Tik Tok or other social media platforms to profit from hate. Rage-bait engagement seems to feed these trolls well, and as long as they have followers who listen to everything they say, like a Trump cultist, they will continue to produce divisive content for clicks and views. That’s unfortunately the situation we’re in, and black women are the target.

I would like to add that of course black men like John Boyega, Asian women like Kelly Marie Tran, and even white female leads like Daisy Ridley have also been the target of hate. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few more names here, but you get my point. If you’re not cis, white, and male, prepare to be the subject of these people’s videos and podcast topics. The tragedy of the cancellation of The Acolyte It took us to a different part of the Star Wars universe that we hadn’t explored on screen and took us away from the Skywalker era, which was quite refreshing.

Lucasfilm uses the nostalgia of a franchise that started 40 years ago and repeats this formula again and again in its feature films. Unfortunately The Acolyte is gone, and black women are once again being attacked for simply existing. Why is there so much hate against us? There are several answers to this, and I’ll leave it up to you to debate after reading this. But what I hope is that Disney and Lucasfilm recognize the history of how the Star Wars universe treats us and take steps to ensure we feel safe in the fandoms we love.