History Main / DivineRaceLift

* Averted in several ChickTracts. Even those that are "adapted for black audiences" show Jesus as white. Here is an [[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1064/1064_01.asp example]].

* The {{New52}} ''WonderWoman'' series has the deity Apollo portrayed as a black man.

* The New52 ''WonderWoman'' series has the deity Apollo portrayed as a black man.

People expect deities to look a certain way. They expect the Hindu Goddess Kali to be an Indian woman. They expect the Norse God Thor to be a red bearded Viking man. But what if a work shows Kali as a white man, and Thor as a tiny Chinese woman? Well, that would be this trope.

* As shown above, ''TheShack''. In addition to a black female God, they have a Asian hippie as the Holy Spirit.

* Siddhartha Gautama, the Hindu prince who became the Buddha after attaining enlightenment, is often depicted in art as Indian or Chinese. Recent scholarship, however, has determined that Gautama, being an Indo-Iranian from somewhere in Central Eurasia and born to an aristocratic family that didn't mix with lower castes, most likely had straight hair, light skin, and a long, pointed nose; an artist's rendering of him with these features makes him look surprisingly European. (This could lead to UnfortunateImplications, since it would suggest that every major religious tradition in the world except for Taoism and Shintoism originated with light-skinned, round-eyed Indo-European and Semitic peoples.)

* Averted in several ChickTracts, including those that are "adapted for black audiences." Here is an [[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1064/1064_01.asp example]].

People expect deities to look a certain way. They expect the Hindu Goddess Kali to be an Indian woman. They expect the Norse God Thor to be a blond bearded Viking man. But what if a work shows Kali as a white man, and Thor as a tiny Chinese woman? Well, that would be this trope.

Note the example picture may or may not be be a misleading example of this trope, depending on whether one thinks God is MorganFreeman or [[OhGod George Burns]]. Also, just because an example of this trope involves taking the appearance of a TokenMinority group doesn't mean that it's also an example of TokenMinority.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''[[TheWorldOfDarkness Demon: the Fallen]]'': God is called "She" by all demons in the know.
** Well, yes and no. Others use "He" or even "It," and a few just avoid impersonal pronouns.

* In ''{{Film/Thor}}'' the Norse god Heimdall was played by the black Idris Elba. This caused a minor controversy in white supremacist circles.

* In ''{{Film/Thor}}'' the Norse god Heimdall is played by the black Idris Elba. This caused a minor controversy in white supremacist circles.

* In ''{{Dogma}}'', God appears as a slightly spacey woman played by [[spoiler: AlanisMorissette]] toward the end of the movie. In a twist, [[PronounTrouble He/She/It]] takes the form of a white-haired man with a beard - albeit poor and homeless - when (S)He visits Earth at the ''beginning'' of the movie. It is implied that [[spoiler: Alanis]] appears because God's physical form is only [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith a convenience for mortals]], and She's what the ardently feminist protagonist needs God to look like. Presumably the old white guy- who was not witnessed by much of anyone but the camera (and some demons) - was simply habit.

* ''MoralOrel'': Parodied somewhat where Buddha has the voice and mannerisms of an effeminate southern man.

In a way, [[spoiler: the protagonist Shadow himself]] also qualifies; earlier in the book, someone trying to rile him asks if he has "nigger blood" and there are also some references to his mother possibly having some Native American ancestry, so the character is definitely multi-racial. [[spoiler: His mother's ethnicity is never specified, but she is described as being completely atypical of Wednesday's usual "type", pale skinned blondes]].

** Serendipity (a muse) says that when she inspired the writers of TheBible she wrote God as being female, which the male writers promptly re-wrote as male. Both Rufus and Metatron refute this though and insist that God is neither male, female, or anything else and imply that whatever physical form He takes is simply arbitrary with no real method or intention behind it.

* Apparently, ''{{The Legend Of Bagger Vance}}'' is a retelling of the ''{{Mahabharata}}'', an ancient Indian epic, with R. Junnah as Prince Arjuna and Bagger Vance as Vishnu/Krishna (who incarnated in the epic as Arjuna's charioteer). There were some calls of UnfortunateImplications, to which the movie-makers responded that the only way they could think of to portray the immense social distance between Arjuna and his charioteer was to make Vance a black servant.

** According to the show's own website she's supposed to have features from numerous races--dark skin (African), almond-shaped (Asian) BlueEyes (Caucasian), etc.

* The comic Crimson features an appearance by God as a mute little girl who sells flowers.

* Apparently, ''The Legend Of Bagger Vance'' is a retelling of the ''{{Mahabharata}}'', an ancient Indian epic, with R. Junnah as Prince Arjuna and Bagger Vance as Vishnu/Krishna (who incarnated in the epic as Arjuna's charioteer). There were some calls of UnfortunateImplications, to which the movie-makers responded that the only way they could think of to portray the immense social distance between Arjuna and his charioteer was to make Vance a black servant.
* Spoofed and played for laughs in the third ''Major League'' movie. When the team's manager is hit with a line drive, he sees a blurry figure as he's coming to. He first guesses it be God, then Moses before fully coming to and recognizing it as Serrano, the team's BigGuy who was introduced as a ScaryBlackMan in the first movie before subverting that all to hell. Later in the scene, Serrano teases the manager about the terror on his face when the manager realized that God was black. The manager immediately quips "Yeah, I always thought she was white".

* On ''Daves World'', Shel's young daughter goes as God for Halloween explaining that He is in fact, like her, a black woman.

Note the example picture may or may not be be a misleading example of this trope, depending on whether one thinks God is MorganFreeman or [[OhGod George Burns]].

A common subversion on the "[[GrandpaGod old white guy with a beard]]" take on the Abrahamic {{God}} is for God to take on the appearance of an oppressed/minority group instead, usually either black or female (or both). Sometimes, this stretches across to other religious figures, such as the Devil or angels. Done well, it can be a subtle and humorous take on discrimination. Done badly, it comes across as an {{Anvilicious}} attempt at generating liberal guilt, and a particularly extreme use of the MagicalNegro trope.