but some have the opinion that we have had a pseudo reverse white whash jones in the form of ross. it was pure genius on his part but tell me the diffence in the need for white wash jones and ross. if you are scared say you are scared but the truth remains that ross served a a bizaroo world like black/white face character so that white readers could have someone they relate to in the pages of black panther. amazing work by priest because to this day his biggest fans of the book put the character of ross in the top 3 reasons why they loved the book.
And just how exactly did you come to this conclusion?
Ross wasn't some cleverly hidden stereotype. He represented the disbelieving the disbelieving reader who didn't take Panther seriously. Priest knew alot of people would have a hard time taking Panther seriously because for the longest time, he was a second stringer who always needed the help of whatever character he was guest starring with, from Iron Man to DD. Rather than bury his head in the sand, Priest met that challenge head on. It's was Hudlin by way of recon who 'white washed' T'Challa's history, not Priest.
Ross was simply a man out of his element, and Priest used that for comedy. What's more, it allowed T'Challa to be a mysterious bad ass because we the reader didn't see inside his head, but Ross'. When Ross was surprised, generally so were we. Opinion varies yes, but I feel it allowed for better story telling, not just straight up fights.
Finally, Priest actually was very respectful of Ross' character when Ross was in his state department element. When the Senate tried to remove Panther from America, Ross made an impassioned plea, defending Panther's character and in the same issue verbally bitch slapping Captain America. In the same arc he stood on equal footing with Magneto, Namor, Dr. Doom (hologram anyways) and Warlord Kro, discussing the sinking of an American ship. In earlier issues he broke down the international business implications of Panther nationalizing all business in Wakanda with ease. So...where is the disrespect, exactly?