At this time I was still an advid One Piece fan. I even waited in anticipation for the reveal of Hody's reason for hating humans. Oda summed up his understanding of slavery and oppression into the simplest form of misunderstanding..ignorance.
What Oda aimed for something brilliant portraying. A man or fishman rather unmoved by the suffering of his people but rather a man motivated by rage and a psychopathic drive that causes him to destroy whatever is in his path. But who are the fishman? In their own nation they are a regular nation, soldiers, workers and regular civilians,often the victims of Piracy and common attacks even infighting.
Above the sea they're strictly either outlaws or slaves. Even selling their own into slavery. It's no secret that Fishman are an allegory for black Americans. Arlong representing radical black freedom fighters from the 60's. Hody is less a character in his own right with real thoughts and emotions but instead a symbol, a characterization of what Oda thinks black people are.
It's sort of the it's bad people on both sides argument. Though in Hody's case he's worse because he's evil and weak, of ignorant of his own standing and shortsighted. In contrast of the other fishman who are just perpetual victims who's whole existence rides on whatever savior Oda wants to glorify.
Their not tricked or fighting a war they're just helpless bystsnders. While most would notice they have a quite large fighting force and hold a very real advantage on anyone that could approach their island not to mention them holding an ancient weapon in their midst.
Oda's interpretations of the fishman in my opinion is that have no right to fight for themselves. They embody the self contradicting stereotypes that define them. They are violent and dumb. To Oda the fishman people or pirates aren't brave men fighting for a just cause but instead are part of a cycle of hate. The victims are the innocent and those who rebel are racist. A racist group like the kkk. They aren't fighting for freedom or power but instead petty revenge.
As we see in the current chapters Oda likes to keep around former characters. Though of the new fishman pirates which we could pretty much sum up to the new black panthers he simply has them turn to dust. As Oda says Luffy doesn't kill because he wants his enemy's to live with defeat and crush their dreams, Hody just disappears into the dust.
Jenbe who had a understandable hatred for humans pretty much allies and becomes a retainer for multiple humans in his career. Symbolizing resistance through submission and working within the system he was given.
It's not the first time he's went this route as I don't remember when this next image was debuted but I remember it hitting me like a Buick.
Needless to say this isn't a good ending for the shandinians who easily represent natives. Showing his former freedom fighters as the guardians of God. The two gods he now rightly fought against regaining power and taking him as a vassal. This isn't meant to represent a natural conclusion or resolve to the plot but rather a natural fitting place for the shandinians. Protecting the people who for hundreds of years slaughtered his people. By the end of the skypeia arc the shandinians has complete military dominance. Waipa my top ten favorite character, I thought he was easily more badass and interesting than any of the straw hats. The man nearly killed a logia with no haki and was the strongest person in skypeia when the straw hats left. What was his characterization. A self righteous brutish war monger who now found peace in his submittence.
It was easy for a little 90's kid like me to brush past racist characterization as their was never a long running anime I had seen that didn't do these things.
Though by this point in the story it wasn't about usopp's loop lips or him being a coward or just being beaten up every arc while acting like an idiot. Oda was trying to paint a picture of a socially developed with few nuisances and he chose to represent minorities not in some in depth critique similar to a third party viewer but instead opted with centuries of well developed stereotypes with a sense of superiority. He clearly backs this agenda as while writing this I noticed that the king of fishman island is the only fishman with white skin.
While I'm not trying to rally people against one piece or ruin anybody's enjoyment of it I can't stand to watch the lunarians, buccaneers and Kuma go through what they are going through and call myself a fan of One Piecem. While Oda live isolated from anybody that could rightfully inform him on his inappropriate renditions of history it's bad none the less.
