Video: Cosmic Slop – Space Traders

“The Space Traders” is a science fiction short story by Derrick Bell. Published in 1992, its subject is the arrival of extraterrestrials that offer the United States a wide range of benefits such as gold, clean nuclear power, and other technological advances, in exchange for one thing: handing over all black people in the U.S. to the aliens. The story posits that the people and political establishment of the U.S. are willing to make this deal, passing a referendum to enable it.

Political controversy – In the run-up to the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the story became a vehicle for political controversy. A review of the TV adaptation on the far-right news site Breitbart.com argued that it “captures the stupidity, paranoia, and shameless race-hustling of the people that [U.S. president and presidential candidate Barack] Obama embraces”. In The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf replied, arguing that the story’s critics “would do well to acknowledge that for many decades of American history, including years during Professor Bell’s life, a majority of Americans would have voted in favor of trading blacks for fantastic wealth, unlimited energy, and an end to pollutants.” read more…