Star Wars is racist because Darth Vader is 'a black guy', MSNBC's Melissa Harris Perry suggests

'As soon as he claims his son, goes over to the good, takes off his mask and he is white'

Darth Vader

Star Wars has long proved to be a controversial saga, with numerous plot elements being criticised for being sexist (often pinned on Princess Leia’s bra) and racist (mainly to do with Jar Jar Binx and the Trade Federation).

However, one of the fresher accusations of racism has been pinned on Darth Vader being a “black guy”.

American station MSNBC was hosting a debate on the Star Wars films, when host Melissa Harris Perry branded the films racist because the masked Sith Lord was a black guy who “cut off white men’s hands”. Watch below.

“The part where he was totally a black guy, whose name was basically James Earl Jones. While he was black he was terrible and bad, awful and used to cut off white men’s hand, and didn’t actually claim his son.

“But as soon as he claims his son, goes over to the good, takes off his mask and he is white – yes, I have many feelings about that.”

Mediaite were quick to pick up on the mild controversy, with their “resident Star Wars expert” taking serious issue with the comments. They explained: “Darth Vader first tells Luke that he is his father when he is still in his black armour, or ‘a black guy’ as she puts it.

“There was never a point where he didn’t ‘claim his son’; as soon as he discovered Luke was alive, he took steps to reunited the family and ‘rule the galaxy as father and son.’”

They continued: “While there are only three Star Wars movies, rumour has it that George Lucas made a movie where Darth Vader is obviously white and goes around butchering children.”

In other Star Wars news, the film premiered in LA earlier this week, with reviews flooding in left, right and centre from every publication across the world.