History Main / OnceAcceptableTargets

See also AcceptableTargets, UnacceptableTargets, PositiveDiscrimination, ValuesDissonance, SocietyMarchesOn.

* ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' serves as the SpiritualAntithesis of a certain [[Film/TheBirthOfANation1915 1915 film]] of the same name: whereas the latter depicts the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes and the former slaves as the villains, the former -- made after [[SocietyMarchesOn a century's worth of civil rights progress]] -- is a paean to Nat Turner, leader of the most infamous slave revolt in the US.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'' one of the main characters is called "Het Negerke", which roughly translates as "The Little Nigger". The fact that the comic book series often makes [[TakeThat Take Thats]] to black people (such as in one album where the son removes the spaghetti to replace it with worms only to hear after dinner that they loved the meal) does not help the thing at all. He is like his family appropriately drawn in blackface (though has no accent). Modern books from the series depict the character not as stereotypically anymore as in the past, and his racist-sounding nickname has been changed to "Botswana". ''Urbanus: De Vuilnisheld'', an animated film adaptation of the comic book series from 2019, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this change of the character by briefly returning his former stereotypical external characteristics when the character starts to mutate due to radioactive waste. The scene goes further with the character [[CrossingTheLineTwice losing his hands and suddenly turning into the likeness of king Leopold II of Belgium]], as a reference to the [[BlackComedy horrible atrocities comitted to indigenous people during the former king's colonial rule of the Congo region.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'' one of the main characters is called "Het Negerke", which roughly translates as "The Little Nigger". The fact that the comic book series often makes [[TakeThat Take Thats]] to black people (such as in one album where the son removes the spaghetti to replace it with worms only to hear after dinner that they loved the meal) does not help the thing at all. He is like his family appropriately drawn in blackface (though has no accent). Modern books from the series depict the character not as stereotypically anymore as in the past, and his racist-sounding nickname has been changed to "Botswana". ''Urbanus: De Vuilnisheld'', an animated film adaptation of the comic book series from 2019, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this change of the character by briefly returning his former stereotypical external characteristics when the character starts to mutate due to radioactive waste. The scene goes further with the character [[CrossingTheLineTwice losing his hands and suddenly turning into the likeness of king Leopold II of Belgium]], as a reference to the [[BlackComedy horrible atrocities comitted to indigenous people during the former king's colonial rule of the Congo region.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'' one of the main characters is called "Het Negerke", which roughly translates as "The Little Nigger". The fact that the comic book series often makes [[TakeThat Take Thats]] to black people (such as in one album where the son removes the spaghetti to replace it with worms only to hear after dinner that they loved the meal) does not help the thing at all. He is like his family appropriately drawn in blackface (though has no accent).

[[caption-width-right:255:Good luck showing this to blacks nowadays. Also, [[UncannyValley sweet dreams.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:255:Good luck showing this to blacks nowadays. Also, [[UncannyValley sweet dreams.]]

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2target.jpg Good luck showing this to blacks nowadays.]]

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2target.jpg|Good luck showing this to blacks nowadays.]]

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2target.jpg]]

!!'''[[UsefulNote/FurryFandom Furries]]'''

!!'''Furries'''

The Furry Fandom has ever been an odd one in the public eye whenever it dipped into it. First gaining traction in the late 80s as a hobbyist group for cartoon animal fans and artists, it steadily grew in popularity and notoriety as the internet and media began to pick up on them more. For years they were seen as strange eccentrics and harmless enough folks which, when they came into focus (especially after the ''disastrous'' rainfurrest conference) they made an easy punching bag for whoever wanted to mock these weird people who wanted to dress and act like animals. The fact that furries referred to such discrimination as "[[InherentlyFunnyWords fursecution]]" resulted in a feedback loop of even more mockery. This came to a head when the ''{{Series/CSI}}'' episode "Fur And Loathing" came out, which depicted furries as an out-of-touch sex cult who genuinely thought they were animals trapped in a human body and dressed up in their fursuits to have wild, drug-fueled origies. To many people who weren't already in that sphere, this was their first ever view of them and that damaged the Furry Fandom's reputation for ''years''. And not missing a beat to find a new internet punching bag, sites like [=SomethingAwful=], [=4Chan=], and Encyclopedia Dramatica immediately picked up with the furry hate and more or less declared war on the fandom, doxxing and trolling furries for years.

UsefulNotes/ColdWar, anyone? For an extended period of recent history there was a disproportionate number of evil Russian masterminds (according to Western media, anyway). Regardless of the fact that the Cold War was a bloodless war (not counting things like 'Nam or Korea), if you see a Russian on screen in a film more than 20 years old, he will be bloodthirsty, cunning, and likely a MagnificentBastard . After all, if the Russians '''weren't''' incredibly cunning and evil, an argument could be made that the US didn't gain anything from the Cold War (save Nukes). In any film made within the last 20 years, Russians will probably be brilliant scientists, drinking vodka, or still pretty damn evil. And often [[TheMafiya mobsters]]. Also, Russian woman are often portrayed as either [[BrawnHilda ugly]] or as a sexy female spy luring Film/JamesBond into a trap. Apparently there are no "average looking" women in fictional Russia.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'',the Russians are portrayed as 100% evil in the campaign, something that, while it would have flown if the game was made earlier, had come under fire for how they act. Despite the fact Russians have been the enemy in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', the response here has been much harsher. This may be because it is the modern government and not an AlternateHistory, plus the fact that, unlike the original ''Modern Warfare'' (where you spent half the missions fighting alongside the Russian government), there are no "good" Russians in this game besides the rogue mercenary who essentially betrays his country by facilitating an illegal foreign military operation on its soil.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has never been a series to shy away from making jokes at anyone's expense sooner or later. Gay jokes have been a staple since season 1, and almost every male homosexual character would be depicted as nothing short of a "flaming" CampGay (even an [[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E8FamilyGay entire episode]] depicted to the stereotype) and lesbians almost always being ButchLesbian. After homosexual marriage was declared constitutionally legal in the United States in 2015, Creator/SethMacFarlane and the other showrunners made the conscious decision to exclude jokes at the expense of homosexuals, not the least of which because even they felt that the target was being played out and it was time to move on.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', another [=MacFarlane=] show, opened with main character Stan Smith being staunchly homophobic as his part of his being the "ideal ultra-conservative". The show itself however was significantly (and ironically, given the show's openly political nature) more nuanced view to ThoseTwoGuys Terry and Greg than Family Guy above, giving a fair look at their relationship and troubles as a gay couple and treating them as "just people" besides one or two one-off gags. Stan ends up befriending the two after the events of their debut episode and ends up learning his lesson and shaking off his homophobia. On its own this would just be CharacterDevelopment for Stan, but it's noteworthy in that normally Stan is pretty much the Patron Saint of AesopAmnesia, but his acceptance of gay lifestyles sticks for the rest of the show.

Whether your parents were subjected to a particular ritual before your birth isn't today a matter of much merit. For most of Western history this was not the case. Historian Maggie Secara [[http://elizabethan.org/compendium/40.html oints out]] that in Elizabethan times you legally ''could not own property'' if you were illegitimate, could not hold public office, and could not ''marry''. This discrimination continued into modern times, often framed in terms of the illegitimate child's "right to a name": Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's 1904 novel ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'' is largely based around the notion of the hero's supposed bastardy, and on his use of the name "Freckles" because he has no "right" to any other. It wasn't until 1927 that the law in Texas was revised to remove the word "ILLEGITIMATE" from birth certificates. As late as 1959, Creator/RobertAHeinlein based a story around the notion that an "Unmarried Mother" would do everything she could to conceal her--and her child's--status.

* The notorious "Chimpout" website, described (paraphrased) as a haven for those who hate black people, was tolerated for a long time, but has been driven off at least four web-hosting platforms because of its hate speech and naked racism. About the only almost-good thing that can be said for it is that it [[EvenEvilHasStandards deplored racism towards other ethnic groups and wanted none of that going on here]]. Chimpout is currently inactive and does not look like resurfacing any time soon.

[[CashCowFranchise More pragmatically]], several major US cities put in an effort to help clean up the public image of furries after realizing that with the size of the fandom, furry conventions bring in '''a lot''' of money. Pittsburgh PA, the home of Anthrocon, has been known to be overprotective of furries in the city for cons and even loans out the city police department as security detail to keep them safe. Websites like Patreon and Subscribestar also are serious about protecting furries from harassment and other forms of abuse as furry artists make up a majority of the site's revenue and userbase. Besides a few rare pockets, these days most people who wear their hatred for furries on their sleeve are either doing it because of fearing something unfamiliar, or using it to hide a more underlying bigotry like racism, homophobia, transphobia, ect. ect.

The Furry Fandom has ever been an odd one in the public eye whenever it dipped into it. First gaining traction in the late 80s as a hobbyist group for cartoon animal fans and artists, it steadily grew in popularity and notoriety as the internet and media began to pick up on them more. For years they were seen as strange eccentrics and harmless enough folks which, when they came into focus (especially after the ''disastrous'' rainfurrest conference) they made an easy punching bag for whoever wanted to mock these weird people who wanted to dress and act like animals. The fact that furries referred to such discrimination as "[[InherentlyFunnyWords fursecution]]" resulted in a feedback loop of even more mockery. This came to a head when the ''{{Series/CSI}}'' episode "Fur And Loathing" came out, which depicted furries as an out-of-touch sex cult who genuinely thought they were animals trapped in a human body and dressed up in their fursuits to have wild, drug-fueled origies. To many people who weren't already in that sphere, this was their first ever view of them and that damaged the Furry Fandom's reputation for ''years''. And not missing a beat to find a new internet punching bag, sites like [=SomethingAwful=] and [=4Chan=] immediately picked up with the furry hate and more or less declared war on the fandom, doxxing and trolling furries for years.

In the UK, Poles are stereotyped as plumbers.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', another [=MacFarlane=] show, opened with main character Stan Smith being staunchly homophobic as his part of his being the "ideal ultra-conservative". The show itself however was significantly (and ironically, given the show's openly political nature) significantly nicer to ThoseTwoGuys Terry and Greg, giving a fair look at their relationship and troubles as a gay couple. Stan ends up befriending the two after the events of their debut episode ([[ItMakesSenseInContext after kidnapping their daughter and getting the crap beaten out of him for it]]) and ends up learning his lesson and shaking off his homophobia. On its own this would just be CharacterDevelopment for Stan, but it's noteworthy in that normally Stan is pretty much the Patron Saint of AesopAmnesia, but his acceptance of gay lifestyles sticks for the rest of the show.

Plus, of course, the mere ''existence'' of homosexuals used to be [[QueerPeopleAreFunny and still is]] considered hilarious. Possibly, this was owing to homosexuality making a lot of people uncomfortable and many people laughing to cover their discomfort. At any rate, Dick Emery's camp characters only had to ''allude'' to fancying a man, or one of the wives visiting the convicts in ''Series/{{Porridge}}'' be shown to be a gay and there was a huge guffaw on the laugh track.

Incidentally, a group may be listed on this page as a Once Acceptable Target, and still be oppressed, persecuted, mocked, negatively stereotyped or discriminated against today. It's just not ''quite'' as universally endorsed anymore.

* ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' serves as the SpiritualAntithesis of a certain [[Film/TheBirthOfANation1915 1915 film]] of the same name: whereas the latter depicts the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes and the former slaves as the villains, the former -- made after [[SocietyMarchesOn a century's worth of civil rights progress]] -- is a paean to Nat Turner, the leader of the most infamous slave revolt in the US.

* ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' serves as the SpiritualAntithesis of ''Film/TheBirthOfANation1915'': whereas the latter depicts the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes and the former slaves as the villains, the former -- made after a century's worth of civil rights progress -- is a paean to Nat Turner, the leader of the most infamous slave revolt in the US.

Please keep in mind this page mentions examples from many places, but favors examples from contemporary American and Commonwealth culture. The tropers writing this page are primarily from those cultures.

Something of a CyclicTrope. Until TheNineties, whenever an Irish person appeared in a BritishSeries, they would either be a drunk, a fool, or both. Later, as many Irish people became rich, they are now often lumped in with [=WASPs=] (or [=WCCs=], as the case may be) and have started drifting back into the realm of AcceptableTargets. In the US, the Irish were a longtime acceptable target, with this peaking in the mid to late 19th century and early 20th. Stereotypes of the time usually depicted the Irish as drunken, lawless, buffoonish, and lazy. Combined with the fact that many Irish were also Catholic, (see details below) didn't help either. This is now mostly forgotten in the US, although stereotypes about drunkenness and such persist. Also a rich source of WesternTerrorists, see also UsefulNotes/TheTroubles. Furthermore, no matter what time period it is, Irish people are {{Fiery Redhead}}s about 80% of the time, especially in non-UK media, despite red hair being rare among Irish people. The "violent Mick" cliche sometimes sneaks back in the guise of PoliceBrutality, as the Irish cop remains a standard feature of crime dramas.

UsefulNotes/ColdWar, anyone? For an extended period of recent history there was a disproportionate number of evil Russian masterminds (according to Western media, anyway). Regardless of the fact that the Cold War was a bloodless war (not counting things like 'Nam or Korea), if you see a Russian on screen in a film more than 20 years old, he will be bloodthirsty, cunning, and likely a MagnificentBastard . After all, if the Russians '''weren't''' incredibly cunning and evil, an argument could be made that the US didn't gain anything from the Cold War (save Nukes). In any film made within the last 20 years, Russians will probably be brilliant scientists, drinking vodka, or still pretty damn evil. And often [[TheMafiya mobsters]]. Also, Russian woman are often portrayed as either [[BrawnHilda ugly]] or as a sexy female spy luring Film/JamesBond into a trap.

The US has a strong Protestant tradition, from the Mayflower onwards, and for much of American history Catholics were a small minority which was viewed with great suspicion. It didn't help, either, that most American Catholics were either Irish (see above) or natives of non-English speaking European countries, tossing xenophobia into the mix. Today, the Catholic "other" is Mexican. Anti-Catholic sentiment peaked in the 19th century, when it was widely believed in many Protestant circles, and claimed in many pamphlets and "true confession" novels, that the Catholic church was a secretive Satanic cabal which practiced human sacrifice and was plotting to destroy American democracy. These sentiments have waned enough over the years that UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, a Catholic, was able to narrowly win the 1960 presidential election, for John Kerry to come within a hair's breadth of doing the same in 2004, and for Joe Biden to be elected vice president in 2008, not to mention that from 2009 (when the Catholic Justice Sotomayor replaced the Episcopalian Justice Souter), 6 of the 9 Justices of the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Supreme Court]] have been Catholic,[[note]]As an aside, as of 2016 ''none'' of the Justices are Protestant: the three Justices who aren't Catholic are all Jewish.[[/note]] but even today there are a few holdouts convinced that the Church of Rome is evil. [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]] is probably the best known, but recent pedophilia-and-cover-up scandals have pushed the Catholic church back towards an AcceptableTarget in some eyes.
* In British history, discrimination switched between Catholics and Protestants depending on the religion of the ruler at the time. The current royal family is descended from Germans, because the Catholic James II was driven from the throne in 1688, and the nearest Protestant relatives were Mary and William of Orange, the Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, who failed to produce an heir which caused the crown to pass to Mary's sister Anne, who also produced no heir, causing the crown to pass to George of Hanover. The Act Of Settlement of 1701 remains in force, barring any Roman Catholic, or person ''married'' to one, from succession to the throne, and requiring any monarch to be a member of the Church Of England. This is ''partly'' justified in that the monarch is the ''Supreme Governor'' of the Church of England, so it helps if they're a member. Basically, it's all the fault of [[UsefulNotes/HenryVIII some fat Pommie king]]. Who, ironically, was a Catholic starting out, even being titled "Defender of the Faith" for attacking Luther in print.
* American Catholics were mistrusted partly because they were seen as having allegiance to a foreign power (the Vatican); Kennedy had to assure people that as President he would not be taking his marching orders from the Pope. Today, this prejudice has eased off considerably with the North American lay Catholic population becoming notorious for ignoring Papal directives such as ones against birth control and gay rights.

Essentially the reverse of the above. While Catholics were acceptable targets for Protestants, Protestants were at the same time acceptable targets for Catholics in countries with Catholic majorities. [[TheFundamentalist Some of the stricter conservative Protestant sects]] remain Acceptable Targets, though, even (or perhaps especially) to [[DontShootTheMessage other Protestants]].

At one time (generally from the 1600s up until the late 19th-early 20th century), actors, singers, and other entertainers were often viewed in a very negative light. Originally this was likely due to the fact actors traveled, showing up then leaving to never be seen again, and made a living off of pretending to be things they weren't. This idea had consequences ranging from the banning of Maypoles and other light-hearted festivals to the picketing and boycotting of theaters and the refusal by English rulers to authorize or endorse playwrights. Meanwhile, in France they were outright refused burial in churchyards ({{Creator/Moliere}} was put in a pauper's grave, and even then only because the King intervened).

** This was also a bit of a TruthInTelevision, as the standard response to injury and infection on pirate ships (which were often far from ports and lacked medicines) was to take a saw to the injured or infected limb.

* ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' was responsible for the demonization of [[ThreateningShark sharks]] in public consciousness, which would result in a fierce backlash once further research was done on them. Even Peter Benchley, the writer of the original novel, came to regret his impact on the reputation of sharks, and became a shark conservationist.

Whether your parents were subjected to a particular ritual before your birth isn't today a matter of much merit. For most of Western history this was not the case. Historian Maggie Secara [[http://elizabethan.org/compendium/40.html points out]] that in Elizabethan times you legally ''could not own property'' if you were illegitimate, could not hold public office, and could not ''marry''. This discrimination continued into modern times, often framed in terms of the illegitimate child's "right to a name": Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's 1904 novel ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'' is largely based around the notion of the hero's supposed bastardy, and on his use of the name "Freckles" because he has no "right" to any other. It wasn't until 1927 that the law in Texas was revised to remove the word "ILLEGITIMATE" from birth certificates. As late as 1959, Creator/RobertAHeinlein based a story around the notion that an "Unmarried Mother" would do everything she could to conceal her--and her child's--status.

The same techniques were used in the 19th and 20th centuries to eradicate Native American languages, again to reduce the risk of insurgency and as a perceived kindness - for Indians to thrive as American citizens they must learn English. Sioux Indians tell bitter tales of the brutality used in "Indian Schools" to destroy the Sioux languages.

The Furry Fandom has ever been an odd one in the public eye whenever it dipped into it. First gaining traction in the late 80s as a hobbyist group for cartoon animal fans and artists, it steadily grew in popularity and notoriety as the internet and media began to pick up on them more. For years they were seen as strange eccentrics and harmless enough folks which, when they came into focus (especially after the ''disastrous'' rainfurrest conference) they made an easy punching bag for whoever wanted to mock these weird people who wanted to dress and act like animals. This came to a head when the ''{{Series/CSI}}'' episode "Fur And Loathing" came out, which depicted furries as an out-of-touch sex cult who genuinely thought they were animals trapped in a human body and dressed up in their fursuits to have wild, drug-fueled origies. To many people who weren't already in that sphere, this was their first ever view of them and that damaged the Furry Fandom's reputation for ''years''. And not missing a beat to find a new internet punching bag, sites like [=SomethingAwful=] and [=4Chan=] immediately picked up with the furry hate and more or less declared war on the fandom, doxxing and trolling furries for years.