For Walter Emanuel Jones, suiting up as Black Ranger in the mega hit Power Rangers franchise was nothing short of an honor.
The actor responded to headline-making comments from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers writer Tony Oliver, who recently expressed regret over the perceived stereotypical casting of Black and Asian actors to play Black Ranger and Yellow Ranger — namely, Jones as Zack Taylor/Black Ranger and the late Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan/Yellow Ranger.
Sharing screenshots of all the headlines on Oliver’s comments on Instagram, Jones challenged the notion that it was culturally insensitive and clarified that he considers it a milestone of its era.
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“While some choose to seek out the negative, I’ve always believed in focusing on the positive,” Jones wrote. “I understand the impulse to address what might be seen as cultural insensitivity, but calling it a ‘mistake’ would dismiss the impact it had on countless people around the world who found inspiration and representation in TV’s first Black superhero — morphin’ into none other than the Black Power Ranger! It wasn’t a mistake; it was a milestone. It was an honor.”
Jones made his Black Ranger debut on Fox Kids’ Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993 and appeared across all two seasons. He recently reprised the role alongside his original costars, including Amy Jo Johnson and David Yost, in Netflix’s 30th anniversary reunion special feature Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always.
Oliver and more creatives looked back on the crafting of the show and the casting in the Power Rangers episode of Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries, Hollywood Demons.
“None of us are thinking stereotypes,” Oliver, the program’s former head writer, said in the episode of Jones and Trang’s casting, adding that it was his assistant who pointed out the potentially problematic nature of it during a meeting one day. “It was such a mistake.”
Jones himself also recently discussed the topic during an appearance on Jim Cummings’ Toon’d In! podcast last month. “Me being in a black suit never bothered me,” Jones said, sharing that he had been floated for the blue and red suits as well but the characters did not quite fit him. “Black was what I wanted to wear.”
He also echoed a tidbit shared by Oliver in the docuseries, that Latina actress Audri Dubois had been cast as Yellow Ranger in the pilot but departed the show due to a pay dispute.
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