Fiction/World Building: Culture, Society and Technology

Depends on how long Superheroes have existed. If for a long time' Shouldn't be a biggy because HOLY FUCK PEOPLE HAVE SUPERPOWERS WHAT THE SHIT?! Now if for a short time, racists will be angry and everyone else will be pleased.

The presence of superpowered humans generally shakes up human dynamics.

The existence of Superheroes (Called Miracles in this world) started with the New Samson in the early 1940s to help change the tide of the second World War. This is why they're called Miracles, 'cause of the religious connotation of Samson himself. The book is set at a nebulous time in the present/near future.

I'm not necessarily just looking at the negative aspects of how ugly people could be, but also how Sentinel positively affects the world. People are so excited for and happy about being represented in the media with characters like Koi Boy and Moon Girl and Super-Man, so I'm wondering how they'd feel to have that kind of hero in real life.

So how did Miracles affect World War 2? The Civil Rights movement. Did movements and protests remain peaceful or did they become violent?

You really have to look at how society changes thanks to these factors.

In World War 2, the only active Miracles in the European front were New Samson and Sir Valor, a champion of England to wield Excalibur, chosen by Merlin himself. With his Superhuman Strength and indestructible form, Samson was a veritable one-man army, ending conflicts quickly and shifting the war in the Allies' favor, while Sir Valor stayed in England to protect King and Country from the Axis powers. While two man didn't completely change the war, they still shortened the length of the overall conflict and (as you might expect) Samson busted up the concentration camps, bringing their existence to the public knowledge much more quickly.

In the Pacific Theater, America crafted a fable about an "Atomic Bomb", when in actuality they were building their own miracle. a ten-foot tall metal suit of heavily-armed armor that could be piloted "By any able-bodied American". That Miracle's codename was The Star-Spangled Man. The SSM quickly shaped the Pacific Theater, leading to a final conflict against Japan's own champion, The Red Son. Their battle lasted for hours and nearly destroyed the city of Hiroshima. The SSM eventually triumphed and the pair shook hands in respect, a moment immortalized in film and photograph forever.

There are black and white Miracles by the time of the Civil Rights movement, and sometimes they fight each other, turning the Let's You and Him Fight trope on its ear, although in the end they come to realize that they're on the same side. One of the biggest advocates for Civil Rights during the 50s and 60s is Adrian Ambrose, both in his mild-mannered identity of war veteran and astronaut American hero and as Captain Astro, America's champion and the world's first flying man.

The biggest change I can think of about the Civil Rights Movement is a young James Forrester, the future Sentinel, intercepting the bullet meant for Martin Luther King, Jr.

edited 29th Aug '16 6:32:17 PM by SonOfSharknado

I'm Indonesian, so I admit that I'm not really understand the situation, but AFAIK racial tension between black and white (sorry if my languange offend anyone) actually lessened, helped a lot by facts that many military units consist of African-descent people (Black Marines, Tuskagee Airman) serves with distinction on both theatre of war. It was post-war, with many ex-Nazi being recruited and their method (and ideology) spread through intellegence, that racial tension starts to build again, culminating in Civil Rights Movement as reactionary movement against both institutionalized racism and violent Black movement.

If it's just one super powered individual, then the social position of American blacks probably won't change much, sadly. It's too easy to rationalize an exception. Might frustrate your hero a bit.

From the sounds of how long these superheroes have existed and how they did participate in Civil Rights.

It might not be that notable, this is a world that's gone through that change and by keeping one of the biggest people alive during the Civil Rights Movement would probably change the outcome and how people view race relations much differently.