The Walking Dead: Is There a 'Black Man Quota'?

Longtime fans of The Walking Dead have by now at least seen a meme or online post about the way it seems no black man is safe on the AMC horror series. If you haven’t heard about this trope yet, the idea is that it seems that there is a “black man quota” on the show— in other words, one black man has to die for another one to be introduced into the main cast. So, is the show “racist,” like a small number of fans are implying? How did this meme get started? Let’s try to figure this all out.

Before we proceed, however, I must remind you that below are MAJOR SPOILERS for every season of The Walking Dead all the way up to the most recent episode (514).

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In the beginning, the pilot episode of The Walking Dead featured a black man named Morgan Jones and his son, Duane. These two were the first living people Rick Grimes would come across after waking up from his coma in the middle of the apocalypse. While Morgan was featured very strongly in this first episode and played a very important role in helping Rick locate his missing family, Morgan would no longer be seen until the back half of Season 3 before disappearing again. Technically, this means that he isn’t a main character, which has made him safe from the trope (for now).

When it comes to the main cast, our first main character was a man named Theodore Douglas, better known as T-Dog. T-Dog would barely get the chance to speak or have his character developed in any meaningful way. However, despite all this, T-Dog became a fan favorite all the way up until his sudden death early into Season 3. Fans were very upset when the character was devoured by walkers, especially after producers promised he would get a “bigger role” before the season began.

Shortly after T-Dog’s death, convicted prisoner Oscar would join Rick’s group. Like T-Dog, he was a charismatic fellow who fans were already starting to get behind. He would even volunteer to come along with Rick, Daryl and Michonne to Woodbury to help free Glenn and Maggie. He would end up dying on this mission, and coincidentally, this would be the same episode in which Tyreese is introduced. And this was when the meme was born.

Tyreese wouldn’t end up joining Rick’s group until the end of the season, but he was featured prominently in Woodbury, and thus, a main character. Perhaps in response to the memes on the subject, Tyreese would survive all of Season 4, even after another black main character, Bob Stookey, was introduced in the first episode of the season. The imaginary “quota” would have been upped from one to two at this point, if such a quota did exist.

However, it wasn’t long into Season 5 when Bob would bite the dust after getting chomped on by both the living and the dead. Unfortunately, Father Gabriel was introduced very shortly before Bob’s death, rekindling the accusations that there can only be a limited number of black men on the show. It certainly didn’t help matters when, a few episodes later, Tyreese would go on to succumb to a zombie bite in the very episode after Noah joins the group.

Morgan Jones, the very man who helped Rick out in the pilot episode, has been seen trailing Rick’s group in various after-episode teasers in the beginning of the season. With only two episodes to go for Season 5, many are speculating that Morgan is close to meeting up with Rick’s group and joining them by the end of the season. And, oddly enough, Noah has just died.

With all that being said, it is easy to see how some fans out there can joke about the matter through memes or forum rantings, but is the show really racist? Is there a “black man quota”? Absolutely not. The fact of the matter is that people die on this show all the time. And, just as often, new people are always being introduced. Sometimes, these transitioning characters will be of the same color, and it happens much more with the white characters. You’re simply going to have coincidences like this due to the high volume of rotating characters.

Bob Stookey was white in the comics, but Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. was absolutely amazing in the role. If he was the best person they had for the part, should producers have still turned him down in favor of a white man, just to appease a miniscule amount of fans who are crying foul? Should they have altered their mapped out story to change the order of character deaths, even though it could disrupt the pacing of what was already planned? In my opinion, these things would be even more racist.

The Walking Dead is on the right track. They are letting these stories play out naturally, and sometimes, one black person might die around the time another is introduced. Rather than spending all day debating the races of these characters, we should be focusing on the storylines and actors’ performances, which have been stellar. So, chuckle at the memes if you wish, and then just sit back and continue to enjoy the show.

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The Walking Dead: Is There a ‘Black Man Quota’?

By Jeremy Dick | Mar 22, 2015