racebend

English

Etymology

From race +‎ bend, after the pattern of genderbend.

Verb

racebend (third-person singular simple present racebends, present participle racebending, simple past and past participle racebent)

1. (intransitive) To play the role of, or cast someone in the role of, a character of a different race or ethnicity.
   • 2014, Anna Lee, "Persons of color need representation in Hollywood", The Falconer (The Torrey Pines High School, San Diego, California), Volume 40, Issue 2, 26 September 2014, page A7:

     Hollywood does not just innocently “racebend” a few characters for the sake of hiring the best actors.

   • 2015, Kristen J. Warner, “ABC's Scandal and Black Women's Fandom”, in Elana Levine, editor, Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century, University of Illinois, →ISBN, page 39:

     Similar to [Denzel] Washington racebending to become Julius Caesar for an official production, […]

   • 2015, Adolfo Aranjuez, "Power from a Different Perspective: Race, Gender and Grief in Big Hero 6", Screen Education, Number 79, Spring 2015, page 11:

     […] in which white Jake Gyllenhaal and Emma Stone, respectively – 'racebend' and play characters of Asian descent.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:racebend.