Star Wars stands with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Moses Ingram amid racist fan backlash

Image: Disney Plus/Lucasfilm

In response to a wave of racist backlash from Star Wars fans, Disney has issued a statement in support of Obi-Wan Kenobi's actor.

The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi aired last week, so it was only a matter of time before Star Wars obsessives paid attention to the character of Reva Sevander. On the Monday following this year's Star Wars Celebration event, Ingram took to her personal account to share a selection of anti-Black, misogynist messages she received. She admitted to feeling a certain degree of dejection because there is nothing anyone can do about it.

There is nothing anyone can do to stop this hate, and so I question what my purpose is in being here in front of you.

The official Star Wars account shared a message saying that Reva Sevander is a part of the franchise regardless of what anyone says.

There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.

— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2022

There are a number of reasons why people who like genre fiction like Star Wars or the Percy Jackson novels feel compelled to show their ass. The text of Obi-Wan Kenobi's book inspired the response. In the short amount of time that Reva has been a part of the Star Wars franchise, Obi-Wan has established that, while it is her job to slay Jedi.

One of the few living Jedi conscripted by the Empire to eradicate their kind as part of Order 66 is Reva, who is aligned with the dark side of the Force. Reva is committed to her mission and has shown herself to be an effective Inquisitor. Reva's past has been a point of contention for Empire villains like the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother.

The show is trying to tell a story and it's easy to see how Reva's character trait is an intentional part of that. Reva is much more quick to a level of violence that borders on lunacy, and Obi-Wan has repeatedly emphasized how Reva's temper is a problem.

Image: Disney Plus / Lucasfilm

Racist Star Wars troll have never been deterred from spouting nonsense because of telegraphed narrative intentionality. After John Boyega was cast as Finn in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, he was met with years of ongoing racist hostility.

The development of a franchise that didn't deserve them forced both Boyega and Tran to spend too much of their time in the Star Wars spotlight. The actor finished out her video by saying that she has no intentions of going into the night.

I'm not built like that, so I wanted to come on and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places that I'm now going to put myself.