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The release of the anticipated sequel to BLADE RUNNER and the largely unaltered adoption of the spatial and discursive setting in BLADE RUNNER 2049 gave newfound relevance to the topic of the Whiteness of the enslaved replicants. Because BLADE RUNNER positions the enslaved replicants in a discursive framework that repeatedly references African American history and slave narratives, their hyperbolically white depiction has caused concern and criticism among Anglophone scholars. This essay examines the construction of Whiteness in BLADE RUNNER and discursive differences in the sequel BLADE RUNNER 2049 from the perspective of Critical Race Theory, based mainly on the theoretical groundwork of Richard Dyer and Daniel Bernardi. It will outline the construction of whiteness as a means to critically portray the oppressive discourse in both films, by discussing the detachment of the replicants »invisible privileges« of whiteness. In order to appropriately characterize the, on its face very questionable, positioning of enslaved white replicants within a framework of African American slavery, the analysis will establish how both films utilize whiteness to construct a critical depiction of the historically stereotypical connection between blackness and slavery. The epitome of this criticism is to be found in the hyperbolically white stylization of Roy Batty. The depiction of »White Flight« in BLADE RUNNER and BLADE RUNNER 2049 will be discussed against the backdrop of racial Othering. The implied migration of white humans to the superior »Off-World« establishes a fear of the Other and its assimilation in the white population. The exclusion of black characters in the original film, and their inclusion in the sequel, affect the way in which the movie portrays replicants within the framework of African American enslavement. Along with the distinct non-hyperbolic depiction of the white replicants in BLADE RUNNER 2049, this necessitates an analysis of the perpetuation of the oppressive discourse. This essay aims to establish the analytical fertility of Critical Whiteness Studies within the Germanophone BLADE RUNNER debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses historic models of the susceptibility to tuberculosis among American Jews and African Americans. Both medical and anthropological accounts from the period studied (1850-1920) reflect a very low TB rate among Jews, while attributing a very high disease rate to African Americans. Explanations for this difference between the two ethnic groups varied over the passing decades, reflecting changing conceptions of the 'anthropological nature' of Jews and African Americans. This article attempts to show the extent to which the medical and anthropological disciplines were interconnected and mutually influential. Firstly, Jews and African Americans were considered to be 'other' because they exhibited specific nosological behaviour. In addition, white Gentile doctors attributed different disease susceptibilities to these groups because they appeared to constitute a 'peculiar type'.

The subject of investigation is the historical evolution of the idea of the Hottentot woman and the prostitute, as well as the relation in which both were seen to each other. For both were regarded as representative categories. In the stereotype of "black sexuality" this sexuality is seen as antithetical to European sexual morals. In the late 18th and in the 19th century the physiognomical, physiological and anatomical characteristics of the divergence of the black woman were observed. The appearances of the genitals and the barrocks are regarded as something abnormal and even pathological, which again is said to be the result of "primitive" sexual desire and activity. The prostitute--in the 19th century representing the sexualized woman in general--becomes the subject of detailed investigation. It was said that her physiognomy and her physiology stood for her "primitive" nature, thus ranging at the very end of the beauty scale. This, together with the imagination of her sexuality (perceived as pathological) moves her image very close to that of the Hottentot woman. The "atavistic" character of prostitutes, it is assumed as well could be seen from the form of their genitals as well as from other physical characteristics (obesity, "Darwin's ear", as described by Lombroso, etc.). In the late 19th century the perception of the prostitute has merged completely with that one of the Hottentot woman, which may be taken as the general conception held of the "negro Woman". Both are outsiders bearing the stigmata of sexual deviation--i.e. pathology. The negative image of both and its synthesis is expressed as well in art, for instance in Edouard Manet's "Olympia" (1862/63) and "Nana" (1877). The cause of this negative perception of prostitutes and of black women lies in the inherent fear of "the other" for being so different. This implied the fear of losing control over ones own sexuality and of losing power over women in general.